Sam Cooke recorded the song “You Send Me” in June of 1957. It was released in September of that year and would go all the way to #1. The song topped the charts for the first time on this day in 1957. Not bad for a debut single.

Cooke wrote “You Send Me” but gave the writing credit to his younger brother L.C. (who used the original family spelling “Cook”) because he did not want his own publisher to profit from the song. The B-side of the single was a cover of “Summertime.” That was supposed to be the A-side, but radio DJs favored You Send Me and played it instead.

The song almost didn’t get released. Songfacts.com says: Cooke was signed to Specialty Records, which was a gospel label. Cooke’s producer, Bumps Blackwell, brought this to Art Rupe, who owned the label. Rupe objected to the use of the choir on this track and was afraid it was too secular and would alienate the label’s gospel fans. He offered Cooke a release from his contract in exchange for outstanding royalties. The song was passed to the Keen label where it sold over 2 million copies.

Fun Fact: Aretha Franklin recorded a version of the song and it was the B-side to her hit “Think” in 1968.

The song was named as one of the 500 most important rock and roll songs by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1998, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Let’s give a listen to Sam’s only #1 song on the Hot 100: