From: Phil  
Date: Sun Oct 12, 2003 4:04pm
Subject: BTBWY SAM MOORE

SAM MOORE (SAM & DAVE)

Born Samuel David Moore on Oct 12th,1935, in Miami Florida.

Sam was the son of a baptist deacon so naturally his early influences 
were from the gospel field especially Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Mahalia 
Jackson and the Soul Stirrers.He sang in the church choir and in 
local gospel groups. J J Farley, the manager of the Soul Stirrers, 
approached him to join the group in 56. But Sam had discovered r&b on 
the radio and was soon sneaking off to live shows, his influences 
being Bullmoose Jackson , Sam Cooke (late of the Soul Stirrers) and 
Jackie Wilson. Sam went to see Jackie shortly after having Farley's 
offer and decided during Jackie's dynamic stage show that the r&b 
path was the one to follow, " I loved gospel but I wanted to do like 
Jackie, I was hooked, I loved his look, his stage dynamism and the 
way he carried himself like a boxer with all the moves. Cooke had a 
great charisma and voice, appealing to both sexes but he was one 
dimensional, Jackie had the range.I copied his moves and once 
dislocated my shoulders doing so, now my knees wobble when I walk."

He stayed in Miami and played the small clubs. He was emceeing an 
amateur nightat the King Of Hearts club in Miami when he was joined 
onstage by a guy in baker's whites. The baker was Dave Prater (see 
Dik's excellent BTBWY piece on Dave), he had hopped on stage during 
one of his work breaks, desperately trying to break into 
showbiz.Dave's gritty, hoarse deeper voice had a pleasing 
counterpoint in Sam's top of the register wail. Legend has it that 
Dave was nervous and forgot the words to Doggin' Around so Sam leapt 
in and covered, Dave nervously dropped his mike but Sam caught it and 
the crowd went ape!

They got together later and started appearing as a duo hoping to 
emulate Don & Dewey, the Simms Twins and Don & Juan. Although they 
recorded several 45s and an album for Roulette (recorded by Henry 
Glover)they all flopped but their scintillating live act came to the 
attention of Atlantic's Jerry Wexler. He signed the duo in Florida on 
a handshake and loaned them to the hot Memphis label Stax in 65. They 
fell on their feet (or should that be knees??) not only did they have 
the superb Booker T & the MGs s their backing group, they were also 
paired with local songwriters Issac Hayes and Dave Porter
Working with Stax's house band and songwriters/producers Hayes & 
Porter Sam & Dave created a body of sweaty, gritty soul that ranks 
among the finest and most popular produced in the late '60s. The 
duo's 1966 debut, "You Don't' Know Like I Know," kicked off a series 
of Top Ten R&B hits that included "Hold On! I'm Comin'" (1966), "You 
Got Me Hummin'" (1966), "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" 
(1967), Soothe Me (1967)"Soul Man" (1967), and "I Thank You" (1968). 
However, the duo's career began to unravel in 1968, when Stax's 
distribution deal with Atlantic ended. 

Since Sam & Dave were signed with Atlantic, not Stax, they no longer 
had access to their songwriting & production team or the house band 
and their recorded work took a slight dip in quality. Soul Sister 
Brown Sugar was a fair sized hit though. Though the switch of labels 
was unfortunate, what really caused the duo's demise was their 
volatile relationship. While the duo had enormous creative energy, 
they frequently fought off-stage. Nicknamed "Double Dynamite," Sam & 
Dave became famous for their energetic, infectious live performances 
during the late '60s, which complemented the overall high quality of 
their studio work. They may have communicated on-stage, but behind 
the scenes, it was reported that the duo could hardly stand each 
other's presence. The tension caused Sam & Dave to part ways in 1970, 
just a few years after their heyday. They were only on stage 
together, no joint interviews or off stage photos were given.In later 
interviews Sam blamed both their drug use and Dave's spousal abuse.

When they were touring the UK in their heyday on the now legendary 
Stax Revue tour with Booket T, Otis and other greats, they often 
stole the show with their vocal and physical acrobatics, the Virgin 
video Otis has stunning b & w footage of the tour and Sam & Dave's 
peformances live up to the legend, as dazzling as James Brown on the 
TAMI tv Show. Michael Jackson, eat yer heart out.Two albums were 
released of the European Stax tours, check them out mmmmmmmmmmmm nice.
Gerru Hirshey writes " a silver tour bus draws up -35 members of the 
S & D Revue - headliners names in bright white lights -They had red 
suits, lime,white also, matching patent boots, co-ordinated silk 
hankies woefully inadequate to absorb a soul man's sweat - the MC 
LADIESSS N GENNLEMENNS, the one the only (huh??) the HEATERS of Hold 
On I'm Coming, the sultans of SWEAT, DOUBLE DYNAMITE -----SAMMMMMM 
an' DAVVVEEEEEEE" -show over

During the '70s, Sam & Dave reunited several times to little 
attention. At the end of the decade, Belushi and Ackroyd's Blues 
Brothers routines on legendary US tv show Satuday Night Live (and 
later in the Blues Brothers film)- which borrowed heavily from Sam & 
Dave — sparked a resurgence of interest in the duo, and the pair 
performed a number of concerts during 1980. However, their personal 
animosity had not faded, and they separated after a performance on 
New Year's Eve 1981. Free from Heroin for the first time since 68 
(after going on a new program), Sam shuddered thinking of the days 
when he had to resort to stealing methodone, his weight down to 120 
lbs, two overdoses, one nearly killed him. He beat the habit and is 
here to tell the tale 
For the next few years, Prater toured as Sam & Dave with vocalist Sam 
Daniels. Prater was arrested in 1987 for selling crack to an 
undercover policeman. A year later, he died in a car accident. Sam 
continued to perform sporadically, the bland teen comedy film Soul 
Man garnered a small solo hit with the title song, he appeared on 
Springsteen's 1992 album Human Touch. Sam & Dave were inducted into 
the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame that same year.

Sam appears frequently in Europe these days and performed memorably 
on Jools Holland's Later BBC tv show last year, singing the old Stax 
classics. Jerry Wexler and Al Bell have expressed regrets that the 
duo's mid 60s success stopped them developing Sam as a solo 
performer. Mind you he always works well with a partner, SAO legend 
Conway Twitty recorded his final song Rainy Night In Georgia as a 
duet with Sam for the patchy Rhythm Country n Blues project in 94, 
there's a great video of their performance, thanks for seeing Mr 
Jenkins out in style Samuel, even reached 18 (with a bullet) too. Sam 
also sang Are You Lonesome Tonight on the 94 Elvis tribute recorded 
and televised from the Pyramid in Memphis (er Tennessee, that is). He 
duetted with John Fogerty at the concert for opening the US RNR Hall 
Of Fame and sang with Issac Hayes at the R & B Foundation Pioneer 
Awards that year too.

Recommended Listening
Sweat N Soul The Anthology -one of Rhino's great 2cd compilations 
from the mid 90s
There's a single Best Of cd on Atlantic, hopefully they've remastered 
it for my old copy had terrible hiss on Soothe Me
Rainy Night In Georgia, duet with Conway Twitty (see above)
Recommended Reading
Gerry Hirshey Nowhere To Run -Story Of Soul Music -Pan paperback, one 
of the great music books, plenty to interest broadminded SAOers
Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music - (should that be Sweat Soul??) 
simply essential
RC interview with Sam 2002 
Recommended Site
All Music Guide