Sam Moore, the vocalist of more than half of the surviving members of 1960s duo Sam & Dave, known for seminal hits of the era including ‘Soul Man’ and ‘Hold On, I’m Comin’, has died. He was 89 years old.
Publicist Jeremy Westby said Moore died Friday morning in Coral Gables, Florida, due to complications while recovering from surgery. Additional details were not immediately available.
Moore, who influenced musicians including Michael Jackson, Al Green, and Bruce Springsteen, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 along with Dave Prater.
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Moore and Prater were second only to Otis Redding at Stax Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee. They transformed gospel music’s “call and response” into a wild stage show, including “You Don’t Know Like I Know”, “When Something is Wrong With My Baby” and “You Don’t Know Like I Know”. He recorded some of soul music’s most enduring hits. “Thank you.”
Most of the hits were written and produced by the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter and featured Stax house band Booker T. & the MGs. His guitarist Steve Cropper received one of the most famous shout-outs in music when Sam & Dave sang “Play it,” ‘Steve’ appears about halfway through ‘Soul Man’.
Like many soul acts of the ’60s, Sam & Dave disappeared after the 1960s. But “Soul Man” hit the charts again in the late 1970s when the Blues Brothers, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd recorded it with the same musicians. Moore had mixed feelings about the hit song’s association with the “Saturday Night Live” star, recalling that younger people believed it originated with the Blues Brothers.
The 2008 film ‘Soul Men’ portrayed a pair of aging, estranged singers who bear a slight resemblance to Sam and Dave. Moore lost the lawsuit, claiming there were too many similarities.
He also spent years suing Prater after Prater hired a surrogate and toured as New Sam & Dave. Prater died in a car accident in Georgia in 1988.
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Moore also filed a legal claim that the recording industry defrauded him of retirement benefits. Moore and other artists sued several record labels and the Federation of Television and Radio Artists of America in 1993.
Moore told The Associated Press in a 1994 interview that he joined the legal effort after learning that despite his million-selling record, his pension was worth only $2,285, which he could receive in a lump sum or $73 a month.
“Two thousand dollars for life?” Moore said at the time. “If you’re profiting from me, give me some too. Don’t give me cornbread and say biscuits.”
Moore wrote the song “Dole Man,” modeled after “Soul Man,” for Republican Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign. In 2017, he was one of the few celebrities to perform at Republican President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Eight years ago, Moore objected to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign when he used the song “Hold On, I’m Comin’.”
Moore was born in Miami on October 12, 1935, and began singing in church.
He and Prater performed in soul and R&B clubs in the 1950s, but did not meet until 1961 when they met in Miami. Moore helped coach Prater’s song lyrics, and they quickly became a popular local duo. After signing with Atlantic Records in 1965, producer Jerry Wexler sent it to the label’s Stax subsidiary in Memphis.
Moore and Prater often argued, and Moore said in a 2006 interview with the Associated Press that his drug habit, which he began in 1981, contributed to the band’s problems and later made entertainment industry executives reluctant to give him a fresh start. The duo broke up in 1970 and neither had another major hit.
He married his wife, Joyce, in 1982, who helped him get treatment for his addiction, which he credited with saving his life.
“I’ve done a lot of cruise shows, a lot of old shows,” he said, adding that he once opened for Elvis impersonators.
“It’s funny when I think about it now, and I did a lot of the old shows where you actually had to audition,” he said. “But you know what? You shut up, get up, sing your ass off, perform as hard as you can, make a little money and try to keep the business going and pay the bills. I laugh about it now, but it was really serious back then.”
Moore continued to record and sing. He frequently performs at the Kennedy Center Honors and has performed for presidents, including Obama.
Moore is survived by his wife, Joyce, daughter, Michel, and two grandchildren.
