Yes, Sam Cooke is definitely the King of Soul.
Love Donny Hathaway too.
Best "new" soul is without a doubt D'angelo:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DMb8BhCXN...ed&search=
There are several clips on Youtube but I used that because David Sanborn is also the man
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8fNtipp5RLs
That's my favorite D'angelo song, produced by DJ Premier
R. Kelly is a total hack compared to this guy, but hey, I guess he didn't get fat and burn out on drugs...