Every music genre shifts its boundaries over time, and soul music has done so time and time again, beginning with its heyday in the 1960s. Sam Cooke, who achieved fame first as a young gospel performer in the 40s, is often considered its inventor. Sometimes he is called the “King of Soul.” One of the last recordings he made was a country song called “Tennessee Waltz.” Cooke’s version turns the already-popular single into an electrifying lament for a lost lover.
