In the 1950s Sam Cooke (1931-1964) was a gospel star to the young black girls but was tempted to pursue wordly fame, which he achieved. In 1964 Cooke was invited to do a guest spot for his old gospel group The Soul Stirrers. But instead of the expected rapturous applause for the return of the Superstar, there was a deadly hush. The audience cried: “Get that Blues singer down: This is a Christian programme. There was no way that the gospel people were going to allow him to come back after denying the message of his own songs.
A little later he checked into a LA motel with a 22-year-old woman, Elisha Boyer, (he was married). She wanted to leave and departed with Cooke’s clothes. The singer pursued her semi naked and when Cooke couldn't find her, he battered down the door if the manager’s office. The manager, 55-year-old Bertha Franklin, responded by pumping three bullets from a 22 calibre pistol into Cooke. The former gospel singer exclaimed, "Lady, you shot me", before falling, mortally wounded.
A little later he checked into a LA motel with a 22-year-old woman, Elisha Boyer, (he was married). She wanted to leave and departed with Cooke’s clothes. The singer pursued her semi naked and when Cooke couldn't find her, he battered down the door if the manager’s office. The manager, 55-year-old Bertha Franklin, responded by pumping three bullets from a 22 calibre pistol into Cooke. The former gospel singer exclaimed, "Lady, you shot me", before falling, mortally wounded.
Less than three months after Cooke's death, his protégé, soul guitarist/singer Bobby Womack, wed Cooke's widow, Barbara Campbell. The publicity was intense and their marriage was considered a scandal. Womack found himself ostracized in the soul music world.
Cooke's daughter, Linda, later married Cecil Womack, Bobby Womack's brother.
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