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Sam Cooke had become the star of the Soul Stirrers. His voice, his looks, and his style brought him adulation that could not always be described as holy. As Peter Guralnick revealed in his recent biography, Cooke managed to get his Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland girlfriends pregnant within weeks of each other. He was living the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, and all that remained was to switch to rock ‘n’ roll. By 1956, gospel records no longer made up fifty percent of Art Rupe’s release schedule. The success of Little Richard had reoriented his thinking in a hurry, and reoriented Sam Cooke’s thinking, too. “Sam felt guilty at first,” said Rupe, “but when he observed Little Richard and Larry Williams and Lloyd Price making the big bucks and driving the Cadillacs, he wanted to make secular records, too.”
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