Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 [Holland Import]

Sam Cooke never sounded rawer than on Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963, pressed here on 140-gram black vinyl imported from Holland.

This is the night the silky hitmaker let it all hang out. RCA recorded the show at a small, crowded club in Miami's Overtown neighbourhood in 1963 and then shelved it, worried that such a loud, raucous performance clashed with the polished image the label was building for Cooke as an international pop star. The tapes sat unheard until 1985, two decades after his death, when the album finally appeared and reshaped how he was remembered.

Backed by a band featuring saxophonist King Curtis, Cooke tears through his own hits with gospel fire and a hoarse, preacher's edge. Chain Gang gets pushed harder than the studio version ever dared, Bring It On Home to Me stretches into a pleading back-and-forth with the room, and Twistin' the Night Away turns the place into a dancefloor. Having a Party brings the night home in a haze of sweat and goodwill.

It is one of the great live soul records, joyous and unvarnished, and the perfect counterweight to the elegance of his studio work. For anyone who only knows the smooth Sam, it is a revelation.