KIWI SOUL

Artist: SAM COOKE & BUMPS BLACKWELL ORCHESTRA; Title: YOU SEND ME; Label: LONDON; Format: 7"; Cat. No.: 45-NZ.281; Year: 1958; Country: NEW ZEALAND

Looking today at this New Zealand issued classic from Sam Cooke - so we're back onto the international pressings again vinyl fans!

The A Side is the classic and sublime early Soul that is "You Send Me" - and interesting it's co-credited to Bumps Blackwell's Orchestra, which as far as I remember isn't the case on the UK issued singles from the same period.  I seem to remember that I can across this one Brighton, and bought at the same time as a couple of singles by The Drifters.

The B Side is another good one - this rather good version of "Summertime" - and like the A Side well worth checking out! It's interesting to see how Sam Cooke took what started out as almost classical piece in Gershwin's black opera 'Porgy & Bess', and transformed it into this piece of Soul music. It's one of Sam Cooke's tunes that doesn't get heard too often these day, which is a bit of a shame.

The other thing I noticed with this is it's on Decca's London imprint (which was their main outlet of blues R'n'B, and what we'd later regard as Soul) but here pressed up their behalf by HMV in New Zealand - one of those quirky things that being a record collector is about to a level.