Personnel includes: Sam Cooke (vocals); Al Chernet, Everett Barksdale, Clitton White, Don Armone (guitar); Charles Libove, Fred Fradkin, Max Cahn, Hinda Barnet (violin); Armand Kaproff, Frederick Sevkors, Jesse Ehrlich (cello); John Kelsom, Plas Johnson, William Green, King Curtis, Tate Houston (saxophone); Joseph Wilder, Ray Copeland, Steve Lipkins, Lou Oles, John T. Grimes (trumpet); Frank Saracco, Laurence Allpeter, Albert Godis, Eddie Bert (trombone); Hank Jones, Ernie Hayes, Morris Wechsler, Ernest Freeman, Raymond Johnson (piano); Billy Preston, Hugo Peretti, Nathan Griffen (organ); Lloyd Trotman, Milton Hinton, George Catlender, James Bond, Ray Pohlman (bass); Bunny Shawker, Jimmie Crawford, David Francis, Bobby Donaldson, Earl Palmer (drums, percussion).

Compilation producer: Paul Williams.

Engineers include: Al Schmitt, Dave Hassinger, Bob Simpson.

Principally recorded at RCA Studios, Hollywood, California and live at the Harlem Square Club, Harlem, New York. Includes liner notes by Michael Hill.

Digitally remastered by Bill Lacey.

This set is near essential to fans of Sam Cooke, despite the fact that it contains none of his gospel recordings for Specialty Records or any of the work from the final year of his career (owned by ABKCO Records). Scattered every few minutes across this four-disc collection are reminders of just how far ahead of all existing musical forms Cooke was, creating sounds that stretched the definitions of song genres as they were understood and created completely new categories. Indeed, he was so successful that it's easy to underestimate the impact and importance of many of his early triumphs. "You Send Me," which opens this set, may seem today like the safest, tamest pop music, but in 1957 it was a genre-bending single, a new kind of R&B/pop music hybrid and one that quietly shook the foundations of the music business when it hit number one.

Disc one offers a fresh appreciation of the best of the early Keen Records sides, drawing on the best of nearly two years of singles and the strongest of Cooke's LP tracks in the best account to date of his early career in popular music. Disc two begins Cooke's RCA years, and the quality of his singles, which clearly and easily bridge the gap between genres, races, and generations, improves dramatically. The development of Cooke's writing and singing and his growing confidence and range culminate with disc four, which encompasses the Night Beat album and Cooke's live performance from the Harlem Square Club. The sound is extraordinary throughout, expansive, rich-textured, and vividly detailed; a choice earlier CD release, The Man and His Music, by comparison, sounds thin and tinny. ~ Bruce Eder

Although this collection's title makes a weighty claim, a tour through this rich box set makes it clear hear how Sam Cooke's fusion of gospel and pop laid the groundwork for such seminal soul artists as Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, and more recently Prince and D'Angelo. This four-disc collection is divided by era and kicks off with Cooke's initial leap from gospel sensation to secular star.

Alongside hits like "You Send Me" and "Only Sixteen" are more obscure cuts like "Desire Me" and "You Were Made for Me" that find Cooke managing to make staid, Mitch Miller-like vocal arrangements swing. Singles and album cuts from the RCA years (1960 to 1963) make up Discs Two and Three. Highlights include well-known classics ("Chain Gang," "Cupid"), Nat "King" Cole influenced saloon songs ("Out in the Cold Again"), and the occasional chestnut with religious roots ("Bring It on Home to Me"). Disc Four showcases the albums NIGHT BEAT and LIVE AT THE HARLEM SQUARE CLUB. Throughout these discs, Sam Cooke effortlessly tackles various musical genres including blues ("Little Red Rooster"), rock & roll ("Shake, Rattle & Roll"), folk ("Frankie and Johnny"), and standards ("Summertime").