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SAM AND
DAVE (ARTIST BIOGRAPHY)
Sam & Dave,
veterans of the gospel groups The Melionaires and The Sensational
Hummingbirds, were an American soul duo.
Most of their hits were penned by Isaac Hayes and Dave Porter. In
most recordings they were backed by Hayes on piano with Booker T. &
the M.G.’s and the Memphis Horns.
Samuel David Moore (b. October 12, 1935, Miami, Florida), David
Prater (b. May 9, 1937, Ocilla, Georgia,- d. April 9, 1988) in
Sycamore, Georgia, are American Soul and Rhythm & Blues (R&B)
singers who were members of the soul vocal duo Sam & Dave. They
recorded and performed together from 1961 through 1981; Sam Moore
was the tenor (higher) vocalist and Dave Prater was the baritone/tenor
(lower) vocalist.
Sam & Dave are members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Grammy
Award and multi-Gold Record award winning artists, and are the most
successful and critically acclaimed duo in Soul Music history. Their
recordings were largely responsible for bringing the sounds,
feelings, energy and spontaneity of southern black gospel church
music to both Pop and R&B audiences, by integrating elements of
call-and-response gospel music within popular music song structures,
and utilizing a fully electric rhythm section, horns and keyboards.
Their style of music, often labeled as Southern Soul and described
as a more raw, unpolished and live sound than the Northern Soul
style typlified by Motown Records, emerged from the Deep South in
the Mid-1960’s and was popularized by Sam & Dave and other
contemporaries including Otis Redding,Aretha Franklin,and Wilson
Pickett.
Sam & Dave made their best known recordings at Stax Records, which
was a pioneer record label for Southern Soul Music based in Memphis,Tennessee.
Sam & Dave’s records at Stax were primarily written and produced by
Isaac Hayes and David Porter, a Songwriters Hall of Fame team who
also wrote most of Sam & Dave’s biggest hit songs. The musicians
that also collaborated to create, write and record Sam & Dave’s
songs were the highly-regarded band members of Booker T. & the MG’s
also Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Members, and the featured horn section,
the Mar-Keys. Most of their songs were engineered by Stax co-owner
and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member Jim Stewart.
Sam & Dave enjoyed significant commercial success as recording
artists and performers from the mid to late 1960’s, including 9
consecutive Top 20 Billboard R&B singles from 1966 to 1968 and 14 R
&B chart appearances overall, and 16 appearances on the Billboard US
Pop music charts overall. They had the #1 Billboard R&B single for
the year for 1966 - “Hold On, I’m Comin’”, and the #2 R&B single for
the year in 1967 with “Soul Man”. Both “Soul Man”(1967) and “Hold On,
I’m Comin’” (1966)also reached the number 1 position as R&B singles
during the year they were released, and they had Pop crossover hits
with Soul Man(#2 Pop, #1 Cashbox), “I Thank You”(#9 Pop), and “Hold
On, I’m Comin’”(#21 Pop). Both “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Comin”
have been voted on greatest song lists in Rolling Stone Magazine,
and “Soul Man” was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which was
established to honor truly timeless recordings. The Album “Hold On,
I’m Comin” reached the #1 position during its 19 weeks on the
Billboard R&B charts in 1966, and was an RIAA certified Gold album.
Their hit song “Soul Man” was also considered both by Stax musicians
of the period and music historians to have been an anthem for the
black consciousness and black pride movements that year, when the
term “having Soul” or being a “Soul Man” or “Soul Brother” reflected
a sense of self-worth, pride, connection and community.
Sam & Dave were also a primary inspiration for Dan Aykroyd and John
Belushi’s The Blues Brothers act which was introduced on Saturday
Night Live, according to Aykroyd in a 1988 interview, and The Blues
Brothers had their biggest hit record covering Sam & Dave’s “Soul
Man”(#19 Pop). The Blues Brothers, which have become pop culture
icons, introduced a new generation of music fans to Soul, Rhythm &
Blues and Blues music in the 1980s and helped revive the careers of
many musicians from those genres, including Sam & Dave. “Soul Man”
was also the title of a 1986 film and a 1987-1988 television series.
Sam & Dave’s music and electrifying live performances have also
influenced countless other artists, including Bruce Springsteen,Elvis
Costello, Michael Jackson, Steve Winwood, and Phil Collins. Their
touring horn section, “the dancing horns”, were also emulated by
numerous later live acts.
Sam & Dave were considered to be one of the most exciting and best
live performing acts of the 1960s, earning the nickname “Double
Dynamite” for their explosive and electrifying performances which
combined singing, choreographed and improvised dancing, theatrics
and audience interaction. Their live performances were featured on
many television programs, including American Bandstand, The Johnny
Carson Show,The Ed Sullivan Show, The Midnight Special,Saturday
Night Live, and many others both in the US and Europe.
In mid-1968, Stax and Atlantic severed their joint recording and
publishing agreement for Sam & Dave, and by early 1969, Sam & Dave
were no longer able to work with Hayes, Porter, the Memphis
musicians and the Stax studio. Sam & Dave were somehow unable to
recreate their prior Stax chart success with Atlantic’s musicians
and writers. Sam & Dave broke up in mid-1970, due to their personal
disputes with each other. They rejoined forces many times throughout
the 1970’s until their final break-up in 1981, recording and touring
sporadically. Dave Prater died in a car accident in 1988, and Sam
Moore continues to perform and record, and has received recognition
as a solo artist and Soul Music pioneer and legend. |
