Random Rising Soul Singer Sam Cooke Perished Under Mysterious Circumstances In 1964 And Case Is Still Unsolved (16 items)

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  (#10) Boyer Lied On The Stand About Where She Met Cooke

  A few days after Cooke's demise, Franklin and Boyer testified at the medical examiner's inquest. Boyer took the stand reportedly showing little emotion and wearing a headscarf with dark sunglasses. Her version of the story differed greatly from those of other witnesses. Though witnesses claimed Boyer met Cooke at Martoni's, Boyer said she met him at a dinner party in Hollywood where he sang a song for the guests.

  Boyer also alleged she took Cooke's clothing by accident. When police searched her purse, they found $20, but not Cooke's missing wallet, money, or credit cards. As the only person in the car and motel room with Cooke, Boyer's claims that she was snatched and nearly taken advantage of couldn't be investigated.
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  (#2) Cooke Took Boyer To A Night Club Where He Allegedly Argued With A Man Flirting With Boyer

  After leaving Martoni's Italian restaurant, Cooke and Boyer traveled to PJ's club on Santa Monica Boulevard. Cooke had already reportedly consumed at least three martinis at Martoni's and continued to drink at PJ's. He also bought drinks for Boyer and others.

  According to one version of the story, Cooke was supposed to be meeting the Schmitts, whom he abandoned at dinner, but they had left the club by the time he and Boyer arrived. He then reportedly became protective of Boyer and began arguing with a guy he accused of flirting with her.

  Cooke stuck around PJ's long enough to greet the many people he knew at the club before he and Boyer took off. According to Boyer, she asked Cooke to take her home. They left PJ's around 2 am.
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  (#15) Barbara Cooke, Sam’s Wife, Married His Back-Up Singer Two Months After He Perished

  Although losing her husband was difficult, Barbara Cooke was not surprised he was with another woman. Cooke had a reputation as a womanizer, according to songwriter Bumps Blackwell. The Cookes reportedly had trouble with their marriage, although Barbara claimed she would have helped her husband out of the situation if she could, saying, "Had he called me and told me he was in a hotel without any clothes - to bring him something to wear... I'm his wife. No matter how it might sound, I would have done that."

  Despite her allegiance, she attended Cooke's service with a bartender she had been dating, and the man arrived wearing Cooke's ring and watch. That relationship didn't last long, and Barbara soon began dating Bobby Womack, who was Cooke's backup singer and friend. Womack and Barbara married two months after Cooke perished.
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  (#4) Cooke Allegedly Left Boyer Alone In The Room, Though She Says He Planned To Take Advantage Of Her

  According to Boyer, things turned ugly when she and Cooke entered the room. "I started talking very loudly: 'Please, take me home,'" Boyer claimed. "He pinned me on the bed. He kept saying, 'We're just going to talk...' He pulled my sweater off and ripped my dress... I knew he was going to [hurt] me."

  One version of Boyer's story suggests she tried to escape the room after Cooke allegedly pinned her to the bed, but she couldn't open the window since it had been painted shut. She was allegedly unable to hide in the bathroom since the lock didn't work. Boyer told police that Cooke went into the bathroom at some point, and she took the opportunity to run away.

  Grabbing clothing as quickly as she could, Boyer picked up a few pieces of Cooke's clothing, as well. She then claimed she ran to the motel manager's office in an attempt to get help, but no one answered when she knocked on the door. Afraid Cooke might come after her, Boyer said she ran away from the motel in her slip and then called the police from a payphone at 3:08 am. She told them, "Will you please come down to this number. I don't know where I am. I'm kidnapped."
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  (#16) Cooke’s 'A Change Is Gonna Come' Was Released Posthumously And Became A Civil Rights Anthem

  Cooke began his career as a gospel singer before he became involved with pop music. Until he wrote "A Change Is Gonna Come," he often kept social politics out of his songs. As he became more involved in the civil rights movement, Cooke felt the power of songs like Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" and wanted to write something that could inspire change. After he was turned away from a Louisiana venue in 1963 because of his race, Cooke could stay quiet no longer.

  About a month later he wrote "A Change Is Gonna Come," and released the song in February 1964 on Ain't That Good News. Cooke only played the song live once, and didn't release it as one of the first singles, so audiences didn't immediately take notice. It came out as a single after Cooke passed, and was soon embraced as an anthem of the civil rights movement.

  "We all feel in some way or another that a change is gonna come, and he found that lyric," biographer Peter Guralnick said. "And that makes it almost endlessly adaptable to whatever goal, whatever movement is of the moment."
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  (#5) Motel Manager Bertha Franklin Said Cooke Broke Down Her Door Looking For Boyer

  It is possible that Cooke emerged from the bathroom to find Boyer, his clothing, and his wallet missing and became extremely upset. It seems he jumped into his car and drove around the building to the manager's office, likely thinking Boyer may have gone there. Because Cooke was inebriated and Boyer took his clothes, he was only wearing one shoe and his sports jacket when he began pounding on the manager's door.

  Franklin was on the phone with the motel's owner, Evelyn Carr, when Cooke showed up and heard him yell, "Is the girl in there?"outside her door. Franklin claims that when she told Cooke she didn't know where Boyer was and refused to open the door, Cooke didn't believe her and tried forcing his way inside.

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