Looking Back

Compilation of Sam Cooke’s great production work for his independent SAR label. SAR Records was founded by Sam Cooke and JW Alexander in 1959 and closed in 1965, shortly after Sam passing away. Nobody knows knows what “SAR” stood for. Sam kept that secret and died with it. (Maybe it was “Sam and Alex Records”?). They had one employee – Zelda Samuels. She wrote songs, handled all publishing and distribution and ran the office more or less solo
Their office was just two desks and a piano in a tiny room. SAR records was the kind of small family affair that Stax was in it’s early years and Motown pretended to be. The label produced both Gospel and secular recordings, all with the odd distinction of sounding almost like Sam Cooke
SAR co-founder J.W. Alexander explains:the goals of the label as such – “We wanted to give young black artists the benefit of as good a production as they could get with a major company. We used the top studios. We didn’t short-cut. We never thought of it as a training ground. We thought of it as an opportunity to contribute something back to the community.” This compilation features Gospel side by side with soul and R&B songs. Classics by RH Harris, the Simms Twins, The Womack Brothers, The Valentinos, The Soul Stirrers and more. Stardard b/w jacket, very limited copies