Sam Moore, the surviving half and higher voice of the 1960s duo Sam & Dave that was known for such definitive hits of the era as Soul Man and Hold On, I’m Comin,’ has died. He was 89.
Publicist Jeremy Westby said Moore died Friday morning in Coral Gables, Florida, due to complications while recovering from surgery. No additional details were immediately available.
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Moore, whose admirers ranged from Al Green to Bruce Springsteen, was inducted with Dave Prater into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
“Over on E Street, we are heartbroken to hear of the death of Sam Moore, one of America’s greatest soul voices,” Springsteen said Saturday on Instagram. “He was filled with stories of the halcyon days of soul music, and to the end had that edge of deep authenticity in his voice I could only wonder at.”
At the Memphis, Tennessee-based Stax Records, Moore and Prater ranked only behind Otis Redding as the label’s biggest stars. They transformed the “call and response” of gospel music into a frenzied stage show and recorded some of soul music’s most enduring hits, which also included You Don’t Know Like I Know, When Something is Wrong With My Baby and I Thank You.
Most of their hits were written and produced by the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter and featured the Stax house band Booker T. & the MGs, whose guitarist Steve Cropper received one of music’s most famous shoutouts when Sam & Dave called Play it, Steve midway through Soul Man.
Like many ’60s soul acts, Sam & Dave faded after the decade ended. But Soul Man hit the charts again in the late 1970s when Blues Brothers John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd recorded it with many of the same musicians. Moore had mixed feelings about the hit becoming associated with the Saturday Night Live stars, remembering how young people believed it originated with the Blues Brothers.
In 2008, the movie Soul Men depicted a pair of aging, estranged singers who bore more than a little resemblance to Sam & Dave. Moore lost a lawsuit claiming the resemblance was too close.
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He also spent years suing Prater after Prater hired a substitute and toured as the New Sam & Dave. Prater died in a 1988 car crash in Georgia.
In 1993, Moore was among numerous artists who pressed legal claims that the record industry had cheated them out of retirement benefits. Moore and other artists sued multiple record companies and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Moore told The Associated Press in 1994 that he joined the legal effort after learning, despite his million-selling records, his pension amounted to just $US 2,285 (approx. $3,717.), which he could take as a lump sum or in payments of $US 73 (approx. $118) monthly.
“Two thousand dollars for my lifetime?” Moore said then. “If you’re making a profit off of me, give me some too. Don’t give me cornbread and tell me it’s biscuits.”
Moore also became involved in politics. He wrote the song Dole Man, modeled on Soul Man, for Republican Bob Dole’s presidential campaign in 1996. In 2017, he was among the few entertainers who performed for Republican President Donald Trump’s inaugural festivities. Eight years earlier, Moore had objected when Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign used Hold On, I’m Comin’.
Moore was born Oct. 12, 1935, in Miami and got his start singing in church.
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He and Prater performed in soul and R&B clubs in the 1950s, but didn’t meet until 1961 in Miami. Moore helped coach Prater on the lyrics of a song and they quickly became a popular local duo. In 1965, after signing with Atlantic Records, producer Jerry Wexler sent them to the label’s Stax subsidiary in Memphis.
Moore and Prater argued often and Moore told the AP in 2006 that a drug habit, which he kicked in 1981, played a part in the band’s troubles and later made entertainment executives leery of giving him a fresh start. The duo broke up in 1970 and neither had another major hit, though Moore did work often with Springsteen, whom Moore would call one of his closest friends. They performed together on stage and sang on each other’s albums, including on the high energy duet Real World.
“RIP Sam Moore,” Springsteen sideman Steve Van Zandt posted on X. “Him and Dave Prater were the inspiration for me and Johnny to start Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. An important righteous wonderful man.”
He married his wife, Joyce, in 1982, and she helped him get treatment for his addiction that he credited with saving his life.
“I did a lot of cruise ships, I did a lot of oldies shows,” during those struggles, he said, adding that he once opened for a group of Elvis impersonators.
“That’s funny to think back to it now. And I did a lot of shows where if I did a show with an oldie show, I had to actually audition,” he said. “But you know what? You keep your mouth shut and you get up there and you sing as hard and perform as hard as you can, and get the little money and go on about your business and try and pay those bills. I’m laughing about it now, but at that time, man, it was really serious.”
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Moore kept recording and singing. He was a frequent performer at the Kennedy Center Honors and sang for Obama among other presidents.
Moore is survived by his wife, Joyce; daughter, Michell; and two grandchildren.
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