ideas, and then changed them and rearranged them," said Hall. Cooke was well known as a perfectionist and "control freak" in the recording studio, so giving Hall total latitude was unprecedented. AFO drummer John Boudreaux was intimidated by the orchestral arrangement and refused to leave the control room; session player and close collaborator Earl Palmer was working next door and filled in for the song. Luigi Creatore asked Cooke to provide one more take, and the eighth take was "nearly perfect." Luigi was very pleased with the song, considering it among his best, both very serious and still uniquely his own. Cooke had initially imagined that Luigi, first and foremost a pop hitmaker, would not respect the socially conscious song. Composition Each verse is a different movement, with the strings carrying the first, the horns the second, and the timpani carrying the bridge. The French horn present in the recording was intended to convey a sense of melancholy. Cooke incorporated his own personal experiences as well into the song, such as encounters in Memphis, Shreveport and Birmingham, to reflect the lives and struggles of all African-Americans of the time. The lines "I don't know what's up there / Beyond the sky" could refer to Cooke's doubt for absolute true justice on earth. The final verse, in which Cooke pleads for his "brother" to help him, is a metaphor for what Alexander described as "the establishment". The verse continues, 'But he winds up knocking me / back down on my knees.'" Personnel "A Change Is Gonna Come" was recorded on January 30, 1964, at RCA Studios in Hollywood, California. The engineer present was Wally Heider, and the session was conducted and arranged by René Hall. The musicians also recorded "Falling in Love" the same day. Credits adapted from the liner notes to the 2003 compilation Portrait of a Legend: 1951–1964. Sam Cooke – lead vocals SR Crain – backing vocals Paul Foster – backing vocals Jimmie Outler – backing vocals Richard Gibbs – backing vocals JJ Farley – backing vocals René Hall – guitar Norman Bartold – guitar Arnold Belnick – guitar Clifton White – guitar Chuck Badie – bass guitar Earl Palmer – drums Harold Battiste – piano William Hinshaw – French horn Emil Radocchia – marimba, timpani, percussion William Kurasch – trumpet Louis Blackburn – trombone John Ewing – trombone David Wells – trombone Harry Hyams – viola Alexander