The soul singer who wrote and recorded "A Change Is Gonna Come" in 1964 was Sam Cooke.
Cooke recorded the song on January 30, 1964, at RCA Studios in Hollywood. It was inspired partly by personal experiences of racial discrimination, including an incident in which Cooke and his entourage were turned away from a whites-only motel in Louisiana. The song also reflected the wider civil-rights struggle unfolding across the United States.
The recording first appeared on Cooke's album Ain't That Good News, released in February 1964. A shorter edit was issued as a single on December 22, 1964, after Cooke's death. It was released as the B-side of "Shake," with production by Hugo & Luigi and an arrangement by René Hall.
Its orchestral opening, gospel-influenced vocal and message of determined hope made it one of the defining songs of the civil-rights era. The title is sometimes confused with later protest songs by Marvin Gaye or other soul artists, but both the writing and original recording belong to Sam Cooke.