Twistin' the Night Away

Although he was a well known name, both in soul circles and the wider pop market, and already had some nine studio albums under his belt, even Sam Cooke sometimes had to record what he was instructed to rather than what his own musical ear told him. It was his producers Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore who came up with the idea of doing a twist album, largely in an attempt to capitalise on the dance craze that was sweeping across the country in 1962. Yet even with a seemingly limited subject matter, Sam Cooke injected the proceedings with some real soul, penning the title track Twistin The Night Away, which would go on to become a Top Ten pop hit and R&B chart topper in the US as well as making #6 in the UK for good measure. The album would become one of the most successful of Sams career, peaking at #74 on the chart and selling in significant numbers, as did all of his subsequent albums. Aside from the obvious twist songs, there were some of Sams most magical moments, including A Whole Lot Of Woman, Soothe Me and Movin And AGroovin, co-written with Lou Rawls.