Keep Movin' On

iTunes Review

A collection of the recordings Cooke made in the years leading up to his death, Keep Movin’ On can be a hard listen, not because the songs are morose but because they are a heartrending reminder that at the time of his death Cooke was just beginning to work on his best music yet. While the collection begins with some brilliant examples of the pop-orchestrated R&B that Cooke virtually invented (“(Ain’t That) Good News,” “Rome (Wasn’t Built In A Day),” “Basin Street Blues,” “Tennessee Waltz,” “Good Times”), the music gradually turns wholeheartedly towards the sound that would soon be called “soul.” “Shake” is a gutsy dance tune that later became an Otis Redding staple, while Arthur Conley would soon rewrite “Yeah Man” for his genre-defining radio hit “Sweet Soul Music.” “That’s Where It’s At” and “(Somebody) Ease My Troublin’ Mind” find Cooke boldly returning to his Southern roots to carve out something more emotive and gritty than anything he’d done before. The album climaxes and closes exactly where Cooke’s life did, with “A Change Is Gonna Come.” It was the work that forever confirmed his immeasurable talent, and pointed towards a well of radiant music that was silenced just as it was starting.