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Samuel David Moore (b. October 12, 1935, Miami, Florida, U.S.).
David Prater (b. May 9 1937, Ocilla, Georgia, U.S. - d. April 9, 1988 in Sycamore, Georgia, U.S.).

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members and Grammy award winning artists Sam & Dave were the most successful and critically acclaimed duo in soul music history. They were largely responsible for bringing the sounds and feelings of black church music to both Pop and R&B audiences with their call-and-response gospel style, which influenced many other artists who emulated their style and/or covered their songs. They were one of Stax Records' most successful acts and finest examples of Southern Soul music, backed by the highly regarded house band Booker T. & the MG's and the horn section the Mar-Keys. Sam & Dave also collaborated and recorded primarily with the Songwriters Hall of Fame team of Isaac Hayes & David Porter on their most popular songs, who also produced their Stax recordings. Some of their best known and best selling songs included- "Hold On, I'm Comin'", "You Don't Know Like I Know", "When Something is Wrong with My Baby", "Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody", "I Thank You", "Soothe Me", "Wrap It Up", "Soul Sister, Brown Sugar", and "Soul Man".

Their 1967 #1 hit song "Soul Man"(R&B Charts/Cashbox) was considered by many to be an anthem for the black consciousness and black pride movements that year. Sam & Dave were also a primary inspiration for Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi's The Blues Brothers act, according to Ackroyd in a 1988 interview, which introduced a new generation of music fans to Soul, Rhythm & Blues and Blues music in the 1980s and helped revive the careers of many musicians from those genres. Sam & Dave were considered to be one of the most exciting and best live performing R&B acts of the 1960s, earning the nickname "Double Dynamite" for their explosive performances which combined singing, highly choreographed dancing, theatrics and audience interaction.

The Early Career Years

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Singers Sam Moore and Dave Prater both grew up with strong gospel roots, being exposed to gospel at an early age through church. Sam Moore's father and grandmother were also both church singers. They performed individually in such groups as the Mellonaires and the Sensational Hummingbirds. Sam had recorded two songs in 1954 with the doo-wop group The Majestics- "Nitey, Night" and "Caveman Rock". Sam said he was once offered the job as Sam Cooke's replacement in The Soul Stirrers, but he chose to pursue popular R & B music instead after seeing Jackie Wilson perform. Both Moore and Prater list Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke as major influences, and Sam later said he took every dance move he could from Jackie Wilson.

Sam & Dave met in The King of Hearts Club in Miami in 1961, where Moore was the MC and Prater would perform on amateur nights. When Prater forgot the words to the Jackie Wilson song "Doggin' Around" he was singing one night, Moore jumped in and started singing with him, and the musical chemistry between them quickly developed. They started working together professionally immediately after, developing a raucous live act featuring gospel inspired call-and-response performances that soon began packing nightclubs. After recording a few singles with the locally based Alston and Marlin labels and Miami producer Henry Stone, they received a recording contract with the Roulette Records label in New York. They recorded and released six two sided 45's from 1962-1964 with Roulette Records, none of which found any chart success. The songs, produced by Henry Glover, were not very distinctive from other recordings by other R&B artists of the time, despite getting material which included songs written by Jackie Wilson ("She's Alright") and Johnny Nash ("It Was So Nice While It Lasted"). Sam & Dave received writing credit for two songs which were recorded on Roulette - "I Need Love"" and "My Love Belongs to You", although Sam states in his autobiography that these songs were written by Sam Early. They were discovered by Atlantic Records A & R soul genius Jerry Wexler (who was involved in the careers of Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and others) and Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun in the Summer of 1964, who saw them perform live at the King of Hearts in Miami and signed them almost immediately to the Atlantic label. Wexler asked Memphis-based Stax Records, which Atlantic distributed nationally, to work with Sam & Dave. Wexler wanted to capture the Southern roots and gospel style of their live performances, so the pair were 'loaned out' to Stax to record and release records, although legally they remained Atlantic Records artists.

Source: Sam & Dave An Oral History, By Sam Moore and Dave Marsh, Avon Books 1988.

The Stax Years (1965-1968)

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When Sam & Dave arrived at Stax, according to David Porter, there was not much interest by Stax in working with the duo. They worked with several songwriters, including Steve Cropper from Booker T. & the MG's, but quickly gravitated to two emerging Stax songwriters, producers and arrangers - session musician Isaac Hayes and record store clerk and background singer David Porter. Hayes & Porter had a very significant impact on Sam & Dave, including influencing the duo's singing style, and according to Moore: "In many ways, what Sam & Dave came to be musically was Isaac's idea, not Dave's or mine."

The combination of Sam & Dave's gospel & soul infused vocal stylings, writers and producers Hayes and Porter, and the powerful sounds of the Stax house band Booker T. & The MG's and the Memphis Horns helped Sam & Dave become one of the biggest recording acts in R & B and Soul music. While their first two singles failed to chart, their third Stax single, "You Don't Know Like I Know" (#7 R&B 1966), started a string of 9 consecutive Top Twenty R&B chart hits over the next three years and 13 R&B chart appearances overall during their career. These included: "Hold On, I'm Comin'" (#1 R&B 1966); "You Got Me Hummin'" (#7 R&B 1966); "Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody" (#8 R&B 1966); "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" (#2 R&B 1967); "Soothe Me" (#16 R&B 1967); "Soul Man" (#1 R&B 1967); "I Thank You" (#4 R&B 1968); "You Don't Know (What You Mean To Me)" (#20 R&B 1968); "Can't You Find Another Way of Doin' It" (#19 R&B 1968) and "Soul Sister, Brown Sugar" (#18 R&B 1968). Sam & Dave also had tremendous success on the pop music charts with 15 chart appearances overall, most notably Soul Man (#2),"Hold On, I'm Comin'" (#21) and "I Thank You" (#9). Sam & Dave were also popular in Europe, and enjoyed four top 50 placements on the British pop charts, including "Soul Man" (#24) and "Soul Sister, Brown Sugar" (#15). During the peak period of their success in 1967, they were outselling labelmate and rival Otis Redding, who did not have an R&B #1 song or break the top twenty in the Pop Charts until after "Dock of the Bay" was released posthumously in early 1968.

Soul Man Single & Soul Men LP

The song "Soul Man" (R&B#1/Pop#2), released in August 1967, is for many people Sam & Dave's best remembered song and the song most closely associated with the duo. Sam & Dave won the Grammy Award in 1967 for Best Performance-Rhythm & Blues Group for "Soul Man". Rolling Stone Magazine named "Soul Man" one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2005 and the RIAA named it one of the top "Songs of the Century"(#168). The "Soul Man" Sam & Dave recording was also voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. "Soul Man" was also the #2 Billboard R & B song of the year in 1967 and #19 Pop song of the year. "Soul Man" also reached the #1 position in the US Cashbox charts in November of 1967. "Soul Man" also received an RIAA Gold Record reaching 1 million unit sales in 1967. According to Isaac Hayes, "Soul Man" was also much more than "just" a hit song - in 1967 it became an anthem for Black Awareness and pride. "Soul Man" also later became a larger part of contemporary culture. The song was used to introduce the Blues Brothers characters on Saturday Night Live in 1978, was released by the Blues Brothers as a hit single (Pop #19 single and a double platinum LP) in 1979 (featuring Cropper & Dunn from the MG's), and was the title song for the 1986 movie "Soul Man" (sung by Sam Moore & Lou Reed - it reached #30 on the British Pop Charts) and the BMI TV Music Award winning (1968) title song for a 1987-1988 TV series starring Dan Aykroyd.

The "Soul Men" LP (October 1967) was Sam & Dave's third Stax LP. The cover featured (for the first time in three LP's) Sam & Dave performing live during their 1967 European Tour. According to Author and Journalist/Musicologist Rob Bowman, "Soul Men" stands as one of the definitive soul albums of all time." (He also cites "Dictionary of Soul" by Otis Redding and "I Never Loved A Man" & "Lady Soul" by Aretha Franklin for top soul album honors). Bowman also notes surprise that no other singles were released from the LP. Rolling Stone Critic Jon Landau adds in his review of "Soul Men": "Sam & Dave's virtue is that they are alive (on this record) . . . and if Jim Morrison screams at us to "break on through to the other side", well Sam & Dave don't have to tell us about it, because their music is on the other side." "Soul Men" reached #68 on the Billboard LP charts in 1967 and reached #5 on the R&B LP charts.

Hold On, I'm Comin' Single & LP

"Hold On, I'm Comin" (R&B#1/Pop#21), released in March 1966, was the first song where the higher voiced Sam Moore took over sole lead vocals on the first verse and the deeper, rougher voiced Dave Prater was given the "response" role and second verse (at Hayes and Porter's suggestion) and the duo stayed with this winning formula on most of their future songs. The song was created when Hayes was trying to write and called to Porter, who was in the bathroom. Porter responded with "Hold on, I'm comin" and a major hit song was born. "Hold On, I'm Comin", when originally released, received objections from radio station and Atlantic Record officials over the potentially sexually suggestive title, resulting in a quick name change, with the official U.S. Stax single released as "Hold On, I'm-A-Comin". The song was the #1 song of the year for 1966 on the Billboard R & B charts, and in 1988 Rolling Stone magazine named it one of the best 100 songs of the past 25 years. "Hold On, I'm Comin" received an RIAA Gold Record award for 1 million units sold in 1995, 29 years after its release.

The LP "Hold On, I'm Comin'" (4/66) reached #1 on the R&B album charts, was an RIAA certified Gold Album, and was ranked the #16 Billboard R&B album of 1966 and achieved a peak position at #45 on the Billboard Pop album charts. Other singles included on the LP are "I Take What I Want" and "You Don't Know Like I Know". After the success of "Hold On, I'm Comin", Roulette re-released an old Sam & Dave single and also released "Sam & Dave" (Roulette), a collection of the A & B sides of their six Roulette 45's.

Double Dynamite LP & Singles

"When Something is Wrong with My Baby" (R&B#2/Pop#41), was released in January of 1967 and is one of Sam & Dave's most successful R&B singles. Wayne Jackson of the Mar-Keys, who played on the record, called "When Something is Wrong With My Baby" the greatest song of all time. (Jackson also recorded on all the hit Otis Redding, Aretha, Wilson Pickett songs and also Elvis Presley's "In the Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds".) Rob Bowman called this song "One of Sam & Dave's greatest moments and one of the most sublime records in soul music's history".

"Double Dynamite" (12/66) was "Sam & Dave's second LP on Stax and reached #118 on the Billboard LP charts, ranked #7 on the R&B LP charts, and was ranked the #32 Billboard R&B LP of the year for 1967. The LP featured the singles "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby", "Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody", and "You Got Me Hummin". It also includes a studio version of "Soothe Me" which was later released as a live single. The UK version of this LP, "Double Trouble" features a gritty, sweaty cover photo of Sam & Dave performing.

I Thank You LP & Singles

"I Thank You" (R&B#4/Pop#9) was released in January 1968 and is one of the group's many gospel inspired tunes, with the record opening with Sam Moore encouraging the listener with "I want everybody to get up off your seat, and put your arms together and your hands together, and give me some of that ooooold soul clappin'..." "I Thank You" was another major hit for Sam & Dave, enjoying top ten status on both charts like "Soul Man". The flipside was another driving soul tune "Wrap It Up", which author Rob Bowman believed could have been a separate hit single. The "I Thank You" chart success landed Sam & Dave onto the Ed Sullivan show in May of 1969, where they also performed "Soul Man" and "Born Again". The single was the last to be issued on the Stax label.

The "I Thank You" LP (Atlantic 10/68) including the non-single cuts, were recorded at Stax but issued on Atlantic when the distribution agreement between Atlantic and Stax was terminated in May of 1968. The "I Thank You" LP charted #38 on the R&B charts, and was the only LP by Sam & Dave of their Stax recordings not to chart on the Pop LP charts. Other Singles on the LP included "You Don't Know What you Mean to Me" and "Everybody Got to Believe in Somebody".

Other Singles

Sam & Dave recorded five more singles which were recorded at Stax and produced by Hayes-Porter from May 1968 through February of 1969 but released on Atlantic, including "You Don't Know What You Mean to Me" written by Eddie Floyd, which Sam & Dave would later say (Blitz Mag-1978) was their favorite song, and "Soul Sister, Brown Sugar", which charted big in the UK (#15)

Sources for the Stax years and singles and LP sections: Soulsville, The Story of Stax Records, by Rob Bowman (1997) Music Sales Corporation; Rolling Stone Magazine Articles from 1968-70, Billboard Magazine Charts and database of chart listings, and Sam and Dave, an Oral History, already cited above

Sam & Dave's Live Performances "Double Dynamite"

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On stage, Sam & Dave were celebrated as one of the best live acts in music, firing up their audiences with their Soul and Gospel intensity, and they earned the nickname "Double Dynamite" for their energetic performances. Phil Walden, Otis Redding's manager, added "I think Sam and Dave will probably stand the test of time as being the best live act that there ever was. Those guys were absolutely unbelievable. Every night they were awesome." According to Sam in the 1978 Time Barrier #26 article, Sam & Dave once gave a Buckingham Palace performance for Queen Elizabeth. They were asked to perform more conservatively than normal, but their grinding and shaking performance proved too hot, and they had the curtain pulled on them quickly. An October 1968 Time Magazine article reads: "Of all the R & B cats, nobody steams up a place like Sam & Dave . . . weaving and dancing (while singing!), they gyrate through enough acrobatics to wear out more than 100 costumes per year!"

In the spring of 1967, they were the #2 headliner for the "Hit the Road Stax Tour" in Europe, which included Booker T & the MGs, The Mar-Keys, Eddie Floyd, Carla Thomas, Arthur Conley and headliner Otis Redding. The 30 day tour included England, Wales, Scotland, France, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, with many nights being two shows per night. For most of these musicians, it was their first time in Europe, their first time performing in front of all white audiences, and by far the largest crowds they had ever played in front of (sometimes 2,000 plus people). For most of the African-American artists, it was also the first time they did not encounter regular racial discrimination. The European audiences were rabid and enthusiastic R & B fans, and this tour was described in the British press as the "Soul Invasion", in much the same way as the Beatles and the British invasion hit the U.S. in 1964. The Beatles, who were big fans of the Stax artists, sent their limos to pick up the bands at the airport, and Paul McCartney attended a warmup show with the MG's before the opening night.

Although Otis Redding headlined the tour, many musicians and fans agreed that Sam & Dave stole the show on many of the nights. The Memphis Horns Wayne Jackson added-"Every night you had to feel sorry for Otis. Sam & Dave had taken the audience to heaven and back. They'd have to carry them off. They would jump out in the audience and just go crazy like they were having a fit and then jump back onstage and faint. They would have to carry Dave off like he was dead, and then would carry him back on like he was resurrected. By the time it was over with, all the wax on the floor was gone, burnt up. Otis would be standing there in the corner praying..." According to Otis Redding's and Sam & Dave's manager Phil Walden, after this tour, Otis Redding refused to be booked on the same bill with Sam & Dave again. During the Olympia Show in Paris, fans were grooving so hard to Sam & Dave's performance that they were violently shaking the balconies, and the manager of the theatre came out and stopped the show during the middle of Sam & Dave's set, for fear the balconies would collapse and kill many people. Sam & Dave's popularity and legendary performances from these shows enabled them to have additional tours in Europe as headliners during Fall/Winter of 1967-1968.

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Once Sam & Dave became headliners, they travelled with a 14-16 piece band (depending on the tour) which included an 8 piece horn section, one or two drummers, keyboards, rhythm section, and go-go dancers. Sam said they had a plane, a bus and car and were travelling up to 280 days a year to pay for it all. The shows would often include five or six acts, and Sam & Dave would perform 4 to 6 songs per show as headliners. They would often do extended versions of songs like "Hold On, I'm Comin" (over 7 minutes during the 1967 European tour) working in audience participation, call and response, dance routines, band interaction, and whatever else they could think of to entertain their audiences. They continued to enjoy strong support in Europe, where they toured frequently, and also had a successful tour in Japan in 1970.

Recorded live performances of Sam & Dave are rare, and few examples are commercially available. The "Remembering Otis" DVD has "When Something is Wrong with My Baby" and "Hold On I'm Coming" recorded from the Oslo, Norway show during the 1967 "Hit the Road Stax" European Tour, and the Ed Sullivan Show DVD "Rock & Roll Classics" has a performance of "I Thank You" on DVD featuring the eight piece "dancing horns" section. These performances also show up on YouTube from time to time. Stax also recorded audio from the London and Paris shows from 1967 and feature three Sam & Dave live songs each on "Stax-Volt Revue 1-Live in London" and "Stax-Volt Revue 2-live in Paris" which have been re-released on DVD. Sam Moore also appears during the encore of Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness" finale on the Live in Paris LP and sings together with Otis Redding, the only occasion where the two Stax soul stars were known to have been recorded singing together.

Source: Time Magazine October 1968 article on Sam & Dave, Soulsville USA by Rob Bowman cited above Phil Walden and Wayne Jackson Quotes), Queen Elizabeth story from Time Barrier #26 1978 "Looka Here-Its Sam & Dave"

The Atlantic Records Years (1968-1971)

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Atlantic released "The Best of Sam & Dave" LP in January of 1969, which contained all of their Stax A side singles (except "A Place Nobody Can Find") and several few B sides. The LP showed Sam & Dave still had selling power by charting #24 on the R&B LP charts and #89 on the Billboard LP charts. For some reason, Atlantic waited eight months after the last Stax produced single "Born Again" was released to issue the first Atlantic produced single, titled "Ooh, Ooh, Ooh/Holdin On". It was the first time in four years that a Sam & Dave single did not chart. Sam & Dave no longer had the use of Hayes & Porter as songwriters or producers, or the Stax house musicians. Atlantic executive Jerry Wexler tried producing them in New York, with Atlantic songwriters and musicians, then sent them back South to Muscle Shoals and Miami with producers Brad Shapiro and Dave Crawford. The singles all failed to even reach the top tiers of any major charts, except for their last effort, "Don't Pull your Love" 10/71 (R&B#36/Pop#102). According to Wexler, "We just made some shit-ass records with them. I never really got into their sensibilities as a producer." The lack of chart success added stress to the increasingly volatile personal relationship between the two performers. In 1969, Prater escaped prosecution for shooting his then-girlfriend Judy in the face by marrying her in December that year. Sam was quite shaken by the event, and repeated the story many times that he told Dave shortly after that incident "Dave, I will perform with you, but I will never speak to you again." Sam said he literally did not speak to Dave offstage for the next 12 years. Their stalled recording career, their personal disputes, and their increased drug use (which Sam discussed in great detail in his autobiography by Dave Marsh) all contributed to their first break-up in June of 1970.

Sources: "Sam & Dave" By Sam Moore & Dave Marsh; "Soulsville" by Rob Bowman

Later Years (1971-1988)

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Sam & Dave reunited after only one year apart in August of 1971 (out of financial necessity according to Sam), and found there was still demand for their public performances, even if they weren't finding a label to make new records. A 1973 review from Blues and Soul magazine said of a recent UK show "With the audience in the palm of their hands, the order to clap was made, and nobody disobeyed" and (at the show finale),"they danced away in a sea of sweat, leaving the audience yelling for more, clapping, foot stomping and happy." Sam & Dave continued to be occasionally visible during this period, performing on several TV shows including "The Midnight Special" and the "Mike Douglas Show". They recorded an album of new songs on United Artists in 1975 titled "Back at Cha" which was produced by Steve Cropper, and featured the MG's and The Memphis Horns and produced a minor R&B hit, "A Little Bit of Good"(R&B#89). Songwriters for the LP included Cropper, Alan Toussaint, and Jimmy Cliff. A little known but excellent song recorded by Sam & Dave during this period was the track "Come On, Come Over" which appeared on the debut LP (1976) of the late jazz bass player extraordinaire Jaco Pastorius. In 1976-77, Sam & Dave spent time in the UK with producer John Abbey to record a new LP. Two singles were released on Abbey's Contempo label in the UK and Germany, with limited success. Ironically, one of the last singles by Sam & Dave was a cover of The Beatles "We Can Work It Out".

In 1978, Sam & Dave re-recorded their old hits for the LP "Sweet & Funky Gold"(Gusto), and also recorded their songs and other soul hits for the LP "Sweet Soul Music"(KTel). In 1982, they again re-recorded many of their hits along with Sam Cooke and Otis Redding covers for LP's titled "Soul Study Vol.1" and "Soul Study Vol. 2(Odyssey)". These recordings, generally considered inferior to the Stax/Atlantic material, have frequently shown up on later CD compilations along with the re-licensed Roulette recordings. The result is that many buyers have bought Sam & Dave CD's expecting to hear original hits and recordings, and have not gotten what they expected.

Their last reunion resulted from revived interest in the group as a result of Dan Aykroyd's and John Belushi's sketch characters The Blues Brothers, and their 1979 top 40 re-recording of "Soul Man", and 1980 movie The Blues Brothers. The Blues Brothers' personas and stage act were heavily influenced by Sam & Dave, and as a tribute, they played the songs "Hold On, I'm Comin" and "Soothe me" in the film during the first car chase scene in the movie. Dan Aykroyd recalls-""Soothe Me" was the first rhythm and blues song I heard. I just turned 14 years old and was at Expo '67 in Montreal, where I saw Sam & Dave in concert. And I went away not being able to think of anything else." Aykroyd later said "If there wasn't a Sam Moore, there never would have been a Jake and Elwood." In 1980, the duo appeared in Paul Simon's film One Trick Pony and also performed on Saturday Night Live. The pair last performed together on New Year's Eve, 1981, at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco. According to Moore, when they walked off stage it was the last time they ever spoke to one another or saw each other face to face again.

In March 1982, Moore married Joyce McCrae. Joyce helped Sam overcome his drug issues, partially by secretly putting medication in his eggs every morning. Joyce also became Sam's business manager during this period, has managed his career since, and has also been an industry champion for artists' rights and back royalty payments.

In 1982, Prater started touring under the Sam & Dave name with other Sam's including Sam Daniels. Moore attempted to legally block Prater from using the group's name without his participation, but Prater persisted until his death performing with different new "Sam's". In 1984, Edsel Records (UK) released a Sam & Dave LP titled "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" which included mainly the Atlantic singles released from 1968-1971, and a few Stax singles not previously released on a Sam & Dave LP. Prater released a single on Atlantic in 1985 with Sam Daniels "Stars on 45 Medley" which charted(R&B#92). Sam Moore made the label recall the single for using his name without permission and properly re-label the record as "The New Sam & Dave Revue". Prater had his own problems with drugs, and was arrested for selling crack to an undercover police officer in 1987. Dave Prater had his last performance with Sam Daniels on April 3, 1988 at a Stax Reunion show at the Atlanta Civic Center which also featuring Isaac Hayes, Eddie Floyd, and Rufus and Carla Thomas. Six days later, on April 9, 1988, Prater died in a car crash in Sycamore, Georgia, while driving to his mother's house.

Sam & Dave's Legacy

Sam & Dave were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 (Dave Prater posthumously). At the award ceremony, Sam Moore brought Isaac Hayes & David Porter, his Stax songwriters and collaborators, onstage with him to honor their contributions to the duo's success. A two CD compilation of Sam & Dave's songs, "The Definitive Soul Collection", digitally remastered, was released in 2006 by Rhino Records and contains 30 tracks spanning the Duo's Stax and Atlantic career.

Sam & Dave's hits have proven to have lasting appeal over the years, and other groups have also had success covering their songs. In addition to the top 40 Blues Brothers' version of "Soul Man" (which drove sales of the album "Briefcase Full of Blues" to Double Platinum), both ZZ Top and Bonnie Raitt have made "I Thank You" one of their own signature songs, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds hit the Top 40 in the 1980s with their take on "Wrap It Up". James & Bobby Purify re-cut "I Take What I Want" in 1967 and hit the Pop Charts at #42. Lydia Pense and Cold Blood covered "You Got Me Hummin" a few years after Sam & Dave and reached #52 in the Pop Charts. "Hold On, I'm Comin" has been recorded by at least 17 different artists, including one of Sam's idols, Jackie Wilson, as well as by Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton & BB King in a duet, and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas. Elvis Costello recorded an uptempo version of "I Can't Stand Up for Fallin' Down" which he still regularly performs live.

Sources: include those cited in the previous sections, as well as Liner notes from the following Sam & Dave CD's: Sam & Dave "Sweat & Soul" Rhino (1992); An Anthology of Sam & Dave:The Stax Years (1990) Atlantic-Canada; Sam & Dave "The Definitive Soul Collection" (2006) Rhino; Sam Moore "Overnight Sensational" (2006) Rhino; and Sam Moore "Plenty Good Lovin" (2002) Swing Cafe. The Grammy.Com website provides listings of past winners and nominees.

Sam Moore Solo Career

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In 1970, Sam worked on a solo LP, which was produced by King Curtis, and featured Aretha Franklin, Donnie Hathaway and other top Atlantic musicians. Although several singles were released during 1970-71, the LP was shelved after King Curtis was murdered on the streets of New York City. Sam and his wife Joyce eventually re-discovered these recordings and acquired the rights from Atlantic, and released the LP "Plenty Good Lovin'" in 2002 to strong critical reviews and modest sales. The title track did appear on BBC radio charts for five weeks.

In 1986, Moore re-recorded "Soul Man" with Lou Reed for the film of the same name, which reached #30 on the UK charts and demonstrated Sam & Dave's lasting popularity in England. Sam Moore appeared at the 40th Anniversary of Atlantic Records celebration at Madison Square Garden with the Blues Brothers Revue in May of 1988 and received positive reviews. He also toured briefly with Aykroyd under the name Elwood Blues Review later that year.

Sam Moore appeared with Junior Walker in the 1988 film Tapeheads, and recorded five tracks with Walker on the soundtrack LP. He also had a hit song in 1994, when his duet with Conway Twitty, "Rainy Night In Georgia" appeared on the Top 10 crossover album "Rhythm, Country, and Blues". Moore also appeared on LP's by Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley and others. Sam has also performed duets with many other top artists, including Springsteen, Henley, Annie Lennox, Elton John, Sting, Billy Joel, Aretha Franklin, Lou Reed, Phil Collins, James Brown and Wynonna Judd. Sam continues to receive strong praise and recognition for both his voice as well as his work with the duo. BB King said "To me, Sam Moore is the Frank Sinatra of Soul Music." Well known Rock critic Dave Marsh, one of the senior foundation members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, said in 2002 "Sam Moore is the Greatest Living Soul Singer".

As of 2007, Sam Moore continues to perform on a limited basis to strong reviews at the age of 71, and also record, and was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 for the song "I Can't Stand the Rain" (a tribute to Billy Preston featuring Billy on vocals) from his August 2006 album of collaborations produced by American Idol judge Randy Jackson, "Overnight Sensational". Sam performed with Fantasia in January of 2007 on American Idol in front of over 30 million viewers. The Idol judges and audience definitely approved of his performance.

Sources: include those cited in the previous sections, as well as Liner notes from the following Sam & Dave CD's: Sam & Dave "Sweat & Soul" Rhino (1992); An Anthology of Sam & Dave:The Stax Years (1990)Atlantic-Canada; Sam & Dave "The Definitive Soul Collection" (2006) Rhino; Sam Moore "Overnight Sensational"(2006) Rhino; and Sam Moore "Plenty Good Lovin" (2002) Swing Cafe. The Grammy.Com website provides listings of past winners and nominees.

Singles Discography

Never, Never/Lotta Lovin'-Alston 777(1961)
My Love Belongs to you/No More Pain-Marlin 6104(1961)
I need love / Keep walkin' - Roulette 4419 * (1962)
No more pain / My love belongs to you - Roulette 4445 * (1962)
She's alright / It feels so nice - Roulette 4461 * (1963)
It was so nice while it lasted / You ain't no big thing baby - Roulette 4480 * (1963)
If she'll still have me / Listening for my name - Roulette 4508 * (1963)
I found out / I got a thing goin' on - Roulette 4533 * (1964) [January]

Sam & Dave switch to Stax in 1965.

A place nobody can find / Goodnight baby - Stax 168 * (1965)
I take what I want / Sweet home - Stax 175 * (1965)
You don't know like I know / Blame me - Stax 180 * (1966)
Hold on, I'm Comin / I Got everything I need - Stax 189 * (1966) [No. 1 R&B, Gold Record]
Hold on, I'm Comin/I Got Everythin I need-Stax 189 * (1966) second version

Roulette releases older Sam & Dave Recordings and markets it as "the next Sam & Dave record!"

It feels so nice / It was so nice while it lasted - Roulette 5671 * (1966) [reissue]

Back to the Stax hits:

Said I wasn't gonna tell nobody / If you got the loving - Stax 198 * (1966)
You got me hummin' / Sleep good tonight - Stax 204 * (1967)
When something is wrong with my baby / Small portion of your love - Stax 210 * (1967)
Soothe me [live version, recorded in Paris] / I can't stand up for falling down - Stax 218 * (1967)
Soul man / May I baby - Stax 231 * (1967) [No. 1 R&B for 7 weeks, #2 pop, #1 Cashbox, Gold Record]
I thank you / Wrap it up - Stax 242 * (1968)

Stax breaks up with Atlantic; Sam & Dave continue to record at Stax but are released on the Atlantic label.

You don't know what you mean to me / This is your world - Atlantic 2517 * 1968
Can't you find another way / Still is the night - Atlantic 2540 * 1968
Everybody got to believe in somebody / If I didn't have a girl like you - Atlantic 2568 * 1968
Soul sister brown sugar / Come on in - Atlantic 2590 * 1969
Born again / Get it - Atlantic 2608 * 1969

Born again was the last record produced by Hayes & Porter at the Stax Studios. The B side, Get It, was recorded at the Criteria studio in Miami. The next three records were produced by Jerry Wexler & Tom Dowd (which says recorded in NY).

Ooh ooh ooh / Holdin' on - Atlantic 2668 * 1969
Baby baby don't stop now / I'm not an Indian giver - Atlantic 2714 * 1970
When you steal from me / One part love two parts pain - Atlantic 2728 * 1970

The next couple of records were produced by Brad Shapiro & Dave Crawford, which means a turn to the south again.

Knock out in the park / You easily excite me - Atlantic 2733 * 1970
Don't pull your love out / Jody Rider got killed - Atlantic 2839 * 1971

Sam & Dave go back to some of their roots and release the following singles backed by their old Stax band and produced by Steve Cropper.

A Little Bit of Good(Cures a Whole Lot of Bad)/Blinded By Love - United Artists 438*1974
Under the Boardwalk/Give it What You Can - United Artists 531*1974

Sam & Dave go to England in 1977 to record with producer John Abbey on the Contempo Label. Ironically, one of their last singles is a ballad remake of "We Can Work it Out" by the Beatles. The Medley of older Sam & Dave songs is recorded with a Disco groove.

We Can Work it Out/Why Did You Do It - Contempo 1977 7004(UK only)
Why Did You Do it/Dont Mess with My Money, My Honey or My Woman - Contempo 2109 1977(UK/Europe Only)
We Can Work It Out/Medley:You Dont Know Like I Know/Hold on Im Comin - Contempo 2124(UK Only)
Living It Down(a single track from these recording sessions which appears on Compilation LP Soul Deep Vol. 2) Contempo CLP 606(UK Only)

Stars On 45 The New Sam & Dave Review: Medley/Hold On, Im Comin-Atlantic 7-99636 1985 (with Sam Daniels & Dave Prater)

LP Discography

Hold On, I'm Coming Stax 708/S708 March 1966 Sam & Dave Roulette R25323 1966 Double Dynamite Stax 712/S712 December 1966 The Stax/Volt Revue Volume 1-Live in London July 1967 The Stax/Volt Revue Volume 2-Live in Paris July 1967 Soul Men Stax 725/S725 1967 I Thank You Atlantic SD8205 1968

Best of Sam & Dave Atlantic 1969 Back At Cha UA 524-G 1975 Soul Express Contempo 1977 Sweet & Funky Gold Gusto 1978 Soul Study Volume 1 1982 Soul Study Volume 2 1982 I Cant Stand Up for Falling Down Edsel ED 133 1984

Discography Sources-listings from Sam & Dave an Oral History, by Sam Moore and Dave Marsh; Soulsville USA by Rob Bowman and Time Barrier #26 1978; Article Looka Here It's Sam & Dave; actual album releases and cover information

External links