Sam Cooke stood upright for a moment, stared off in the distance and slowly slid down to the floor, his head coming to rest against the splintered door jamb he had kicked in just moments before. Evelyn Carr then hung up and called the police at 3:15 a.m., advising them that “I think she shot him.” It was December 11, 1965, two weeks before Christmas, and Sam Cooke was dead at the age of 33. Soul music’s greatest voice was silenced forever. The police arrived with wailing sirens and flashing lights to find Sam Cooke dead on the scene. Soon afterwards, Elisa Boyer walked up and presented herself to the officers.
The personal inventory of Cooke’s corpse included a wristwatch and a jacket with a money clip containing $108 and some loose change in the pocket. Oh, and a single shoe. Police found a bottle of Scotch and a copy of the newspaper “Muhammad Speaks” in the back seat of Sam’s cherry red Ferrari. The pile of clothes Elisa said she stashed under a stairwell were never found as was Cooke’s wallet containing a driver’s license and credit cards (no subsequent purchases were ever made with the cards). A search of Boyer’s purse showed that she had only a twenty dollar bill. Sam Cooke is believed to have retrieved $5,000 in cash from a safe deposit box earlier in the day. Al Schmitt reported that Sam was flashing about $1,000 at the bar the night before. It has never been determined where that money went.
At 6 a.m., Sam’s widow Barbara greeted the news with hysterics, trying to shield their two young children from reporters and fans who were gathering at their house. At a coroner’s inquest five days later, Elisa Boyer, Bertha Franklin, Evelyn Carr and other witnesses recounted their stories in a short hearing that barely allowed Sam’s lawyer enough time to ask one question. In just two hours, the inquest was complete. Tests showed that at the time of death, Sam had a blood alcohol level of .16 (twice the legal limit for driving). The shooting was ruled “justifiable homicide.” and the case was closed.
Sam Cooke’s L.A. funeral included three full days of viewing. His $4,000 casket was specially fitted with a glass top to allow his fans (including heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay, a.k.a. Muhammad Ali) one last look. Cooke’s remains were flown to Chicago for a funeral service in his hometown then returned to Hollywood for another funeral. The Staple Singers, Lou Rawls, Billy Preston and Ray Charles all presented musical tributes to Sam. Sam Cooke’s body was buried in the “Garden of Honor” in Hollywood’s Forest Lawn cemetery just a few miles away from his home. There he rests alongside some of the biggest names in the history of Hollywood: Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Jimmy Stewart, Jean Harlow, Humphrey Bogart, Mary Pickford, Errol Flynn, Spencer Tracy, George Burns & Gracie Allen, W.C. Fields, Tom Mix, Sammy Davis Jr., Walt Disney, Red Skelton, Ted Knight, Nat King Cole, William Boyd (“Hopalong Cassidy”) plus western author Louis L’Amour and the Wizard of Oz’s L. Frank Baum.
Although he sang like one, Sam Cooke was no angel. He was always known as a womanizer. As his friend Bumps Blackwell once said, “Sam would walk past a good girl to get to a hooker.” Over the span of a five week period from March to April 1952, three young women each gave birth to a daughter fathered by Cooke. He was beset by paternity lawsuits up until his death and most were quietly settled with payoffs. Despite his gospel music roots, he epitomized the Hollywood lifestyle: Live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse.
As for Barbara Cooke, her husband’s infidelity was nothing new to her and likewise, she was no angel herself. Keep in mind that the couple was still dealing with the loss of their toddler son Vincent, who drowned in the pool of the family’s Hollywood home in June of the previous year — a tragedy that many said Sam still blamed her for. At the time of Sam’s tragic death, she was having an affair with a local bartender. On the day of Sam’s funeral, friends and family were aghast when her paramour showed up wearing Sam’s ring and the watch he was wearing at the time of his death.
True, 50 years ago, Sam Cooke was in a place he didn’t belong, preparing to commit an immoral act with a woman who was not his wife. While unacceptable in polite society, it is sadly not uncommon in the entertainment world. And although I view the sad episode of his untimely demise through the biased eyes of a fan, I believe Sam Cooke was set up. On that night, Sam Cooke was not the “King of Soul,” he was just another trick carelessly flashing a wad of money unaware that he was being sized up by what the cops would call, “The perfect little China doll.”
On January 11, 1965, exactly a month after Cooke was shot, Elisa Boyer was arrested for prostitution at a Hollywood motel after agreeing by phone to have sex with an undercover cop for $40. The Hacienda Motel, which offered $3-per-hour rate, was a well-known hangout for hookers. Night clerk Bertha Franklin had a past of her own, she was an ex-madam with a criminal record. Whether Elisa and Bertha knew each other is a matter of speculation, but based on their backgrounds, it seems likely they were in it together.
What probably happened is that Sam paid for Boyer’s services, and when he stepped into the bathroom, she ran out with his cash, clothes and credit cards. It appears that Sam Cooke, who was no novice when it came to dealing with prostitutes, had been worked like a common street john. Sam should have know better than to leave his wallet and cash unattended while he used the bathroom. Taking a john’s belongings is an old streetwalker’s trick. The man is less likely to pursue if he’s stark naked, barefoot and humiliated. Sam Cooke, however, was drunk, enraged and embarrassed. Given his star status, Cooke made the alcohol-fueled mistake of taking matters into his own hands and paid for it with his life.
On February 24, 1964, 66 days after Cooke was buried, his widow married Bobby Womack, Sam’s 21-year-old guitar player and back-up singer. Womack later said he wed Barbara out of sympathy, fearing she might be suicidal if left alone. The couple divorced in 1970. Strangely, Cooke’s daughter Linda later married Bobby Womack’s brother, Cecil, and they enjoyed a moderately successful career as a soul duo known as Womack & Womack.
Bertha Franklin was forced to quit her job at the Hacienda Motel after receiving several death threats. She filed a $200,000 lawsuit against Sam Cooke’s estate for punitive damages and injuries, but lost. She moved to Michigan where she died a year-and-a-half later of a massive coronary. I’m not sure whatever happened to Hacienda Motel owner Evelyn Carr, but as far as I can tell, the Hacienda Motel is still around and is today known as the “Star Motel” on Figueroa Street in Los Angeles. What about Sam’s car? It is rumored that Dennis Wilson from The Beach Boys later bought Cooke’s red Ferrari 250 GTL Lusso. Wilson, a huge Sam Cooke fan, supposedly routinely drove around L.A. in the car listening to Cooke’s music. On December 28, 1983, a drunken Wilson drowned in Marina Del Rey. Sam’s car was parked nearby. In 2007, the car sold to a Japanese collector for an undisclosed, but reportedly, world record sum.
Elisa Boyer continued to rack up a long rap sheet using multiple aliases (Lisa Boyer, Lisa Lee, Crystal Chan Young, Elsie Nakama, etc.). She had a reputation in the underground as a “roll artist.” Posing as a prostitute, she would lure a john into a motel. The minute he stepped out of the room, or fell asleep after the act, she would then rob him, and then take his clothes so that he would be less inclined to pursue her. In 1979, Elisa Boyer was found guilty of second degree murder in the death of her boyfriend. She is jail today serving a twenty-five to life sentence for that crime.
In 1986, Sam Cooke was elected as a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Three years later, he was inducted again as a member of the Soul Stirrers. Cooke was among the first modern black performers and composers to attend to the business side of his musical career. He opened the door for many more black artists to capitalize on their record sales in ways that had never been possible before. He was one of the very first of his era to take interest in and control of his own copyright protection. He founded both a record label and a publishing company as an extension of his career as a singer and composer.
He also took an active part in the early African-American Civil Rights Movement. Released in 1964 as a single, “A Change is Gonna Come” became known not only as one of Sam Cooke’s greatest works but also as one of the most cherished songs of the civil rights era. Cooke wrote the song after he was arrested and jailed for refusing to leave a hotel that wouldn’t honor his reservation because of his race. On Oct. 8, 1963, Cooke and three other blacks tried to check into a whites-only Holiday Inn in Shreveport, La. When they were turned away by the manager, they got into a shouting match and sat outside in their car, honking the horn. Cooke was arrested for disturbing the peace, along with his wife, Barbara and two others. On February 7, 1964, when he appeared on The Tonight Show, the producer asked him to sing one of his hit songs, but Sam insisted on debuting “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Three days later on February 10, 1964, the House of Representatives voted in favor of House Bill HR 7152, known forever as the Civil Rights act of 1964. In spite of his personal faults and moral shortcomings, his talent was undeniable and his devotion to the cause is unchallenged.
My personal favorite Sam Cooke song is “Bring It On Home To Me.” The song was written the year I was born in 1962 and it helped, along with many other well-known Cooke standards, win my wife’s hand back in 1989. It has been covered by a list of greats that includes Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Van Morrison & Rod Stewart and the Faces. In my opinion, Cooke’s version is the most perfect recording of soul music ever made. The song features a unique call-and-response structure between Cooke and back-up singer Lou Rawls (A childhood friend of Sam’s) that forms a timeless, haunting melody. That song explains more about Sam Cooke’s greatness than any biography could ever do. Google it, close your eyes, lay your head back and listen and you’ll learn everything you need to know about Sam Cooke. A powerful voice silenced way too soon a half a century ago.
Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest book is “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.
