CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Sam Moore, the surviving half and higher voice of the 1960s duo Sam & Dave, known for era-defining hits like “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, of complications while recovering from surgery. No further details were immediately available.
Moore, who influenced musicians including Michael Jackson, Al Green and Bruce Springsteen, was inducted along with Dave Prater into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
At Memphis, Tennessee-based Stax Records, Moore and Prater were second only to Otis Redding. They turned gospel music’s “call and response” into a crazy 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 Stax house band Booker T. & The MGs, whose guitarist Steve Cropper received one of music’s most famous shout-outs, when Sam & Dave called out “Play it, Steve” midway through “Soul Man”.
Like many 60s soul acts, 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 many of the same musicians. Moore had mixed feelings about the hit being associated with the “Saturday Night Live” stars, recalling how young people thought it originated with the Blues Brothers.
In 2008, the film “Soul Men” depicted a pair of aging, estranged singers who resembled Sam & Dave. Moore lost a lawsuit, claiming the resemblance was too close.
He also spent years suing Prater after Prater hired a replacement and toured as the new Sam & Dave. Prater died in a car accident in Georgia in 1988.
Moore also made legal claims that the record industry had defrauded him of pension benefits. Moore and other artists sued several record companies and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in 1993.
Moore told The Associated Press in 1994 that he joined the legal effort after learning, despite his million-dollar sales, his pension amounted to only $2,285, which he could take as a lump sum or in monthly payments of $73 .
“Two thousand dollars for my life?” Moore then said. “If you profit from me, give me something too. Don’t give me cornbread and tell me it’s crackers.”
Moore wrote the song “Dole Man”, modeled after “Soul Man”, for Republican Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign. In 2017, he was among the few entertainers to perform at Republican President Donald Trump’s inaugural festivities. Eight years earlier, Moore had protested when Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign used the song “Hold On, I’m Comin’.”
Born October 12, 1935 in Miami, Moore got his start singing in church.
He and Prater performed in soul and R&B clubs in the 1950s, but did not meet until 1961 in Miami. Moore helped coach Prater on the lyrics for 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 often feuded, and Moore told the AP in 2006 that a drug habit he kicked in 1981 played a role in the band’s problems and later made entertainment executives afraid to give him a fresh start. The duo broke up in 1970 and neither had another big hit.
“I did a lot of cruise ships, I did a lot of oldies shows,” he said during those bouts, adding that he once opened for a group of Elvis impersonators.
“It’s funny to think back on it now. And I did a lot of shows where if I did a show with an oldie show, I’d actually have to 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 with your business and try to pay those bills. I laugh about it now, but at the time, man, it was really serious.”
Moore is survived by his wife Joyce, daughter Michell and two grandchildren.
