Australian musical based on Sam Cooke set to tour in 2019

A new musical written and produced in Australian, based on the US soul legend Sam Cooke, is set to go on the road.

Songs & Times Of Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come features Melbourne-based R&B and gospel singer-songwriter Gary Pinto in the lead.

Based on the spirit of Cooke’s legendary concert at the Harlem Square Club from 1963, it was written by acclaimed theatre director Greg Carroll and produced by Melbourne Creative Music Company.

It features a six-piece star-studded band and horn section led by music director and drummer Kyrie Anderson.

Growing up listening to Cooke via his parents’ record collection, Pinto says,  “He is like the Godfather of soul music.

“The way he is so relaxed in his singing, his musicality has shaped R&B music – his entire approach to music and the way he builds through songs.”

Pinto hopes to convey during the performances how Cooke continues to influence current day music despite his death in the 1950s

“As The Beatles were to pop music, Sam Cooke is to soul and R&B,” he says.

“His music has not dated and still influences popular culture. He was wholesome in his approach – wholesome melodic songs that were romantic in their structure.”

Regarded by Aretha Franklin as “a genius”, Cooke was a pioneer in that he fused gospel, soul and pop, and wrote some of the great classics in his time including “You Send Me”, “Bring It On Home To Me”, “Chain Gang,” “Cupid”, “Another Saturday Night”, “Twistin’ The Night Away” and “Having A Party.”

He was one of the first black music entrepreneurs who set up his own record label, publishing and management company, signed up emerging names as Bobby Womack and Johnnie Taylor and made stars out of them.

He was also a civil rights activist and womaniser.

The official story is that he was shot by a motel owner after an incident with a hooker.

But there is a reason to believe his death was at the hands of hoodlums who wanted a share of his empire.

Songs & Times Of Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come begins with a run at the Powerhouse, Brisbane, and then heads to Victoria.

Full details here.