Sam
Moore of Sam & Dave
Perhaps
no act epitomized soul music as the secularization of gospel more
than Sam & Dave. Samuel Moore and David Prater were both raised
in the Southern United States, where they sang in church as children.
During the '50s, they performed in soul and R&B clubs with
the gospel groups The Melionaires and The Sensational Hummingbirds,
respectively, before meeting each other in at the King of Hearts
club in Miami in 1961. Moore was hosting an amateur-night contest
where Prater was singing. Once, Dave forgot the lyrics to Jackie
Wilson's "Doggin' Around," Sam coached him through the
song. Following that night, the singers agreed to work as a duo
and soon became a popular local Miami act and signed with Roulette
Records, releasing a handful of unsuccessful singles before being
signed to Atlantic Records in 1965. Atlantic persuaded their Memphis
affiliate, Stax Records, to produce them.
Working with
Stax's house band, 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), "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 the production team of Hayes and Porter or the house band of
Booker T. & the MG's, and their recorded work took a dip in
quality. Though the switch of labels was unfortuante, what really
caused the duo's demise was their volatile relationship. While
the pair 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 complimented 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.
During the
'70s, Sam & Dave reunited several times to little attention.
At the end of the decade, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd's Blues
Brothers routine, which borrowed heavily from Sam & Dave,
sparked a resurgence of interest in the two, 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. For the next few years, Dave Prater toured as Sam &
Dave with vocalist Sam Daniels. During the mid-'80s, Sam Moore
revealed the sources of the duo's tensions in a series of interviews.
Moore disclosed that he had been addicted to drugs during the
'70s. Prater was arrested in 1987 for selling crack to an undercover
policeman.
Dave Prater
met with an even worse fate, when he was killed in a car accident
near Sycamore Georgia, on April 9, 1988. Moore went on to appear
with Junior Walker in the 1988 film "Tapeheads" and
enjoyed a renewed solo career in 1994 when his duet with Conway
Twitty, "Rainy Night In Georgia" appeared on the Top
10 crossover album "Rhythm, Country, and Blues". He
rarely plays on the Oldies circuit these days, but has continued
to record with the likes of Don Henley and Bruce Springsteen,
as well as hosting his own show at Boombox Radio.
Sam and Dave
were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
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