A Change Is Gonna Come at 50

The Beatles coming to America isn't the only 50th anniversary coming - 50 years ago this week Sam Cooke recorded the still-astounding A Change Is Gonna Come:

"When he first played it for , who was his protégé, he said, 'What's it sound like?' And Bobby said, 'It sounds like death.' Sam said, 'Man, that's kind of how it sounds like to me. That's why I'm never going to play it in public.' And Bobby sort of rethought it and said, 'Well, it's not like death, but it sounds kind of spooky.'"

It was more than spooky. Just before the song was to be released as a single in December of 1964, Sam Cooke would be shot to death at a motel in Los Angeles.