I am heartbroken to report that the Legendary Soul Man, Sam Moore, my friend for 25 years, passed away this morning in Coral Gables, Florida. He was 89. The cause of death was complications recovering from surgery.
Sam — with his trademark tenor that distinctively rose through every song he performed — was half of the Grammy winning duo Sam & Dave of the 1960s. Their sensational run of hits included “Soul Man,” “Hold On I’m Coming,” “I Thank You,” and many more. Sam & Dave were inducted into the Rock and Roll of Fame in 1992.
Sam was born in 1935 and grew up in Miami’s Overtown and Liberty City neighborhoods. Sam began singing in church. Sam Cooke heard him and thought Moore would be a perfect replacement for him as the lead in the gospel group The Soul Stirrers. The night before he was due to leave for Chicago and be fitted for his stage clothes and join the group, he went to the Nightbeat and saw Jackie Wilson perform. Sam realized he wanted to sing pop, not gospel professionally like Jackie and struck out on his own. He became the singing MC and talent show host at the King O’ Hearts Club. There he met Dave Prater, a local baker who tried out for the club’s talent show. Stage magic led the formation of the duo.
The legendary Steve Alamo was attending medical school at the University of Miami and playing gigs with his cover band as the opening act for Sam & Dave. He took them into the studio and recorded their first half a dozen songs which wound up in the hands of Henry Stone and TK Records. Sam & Dave’s manager, Johnny LoMelo, did not approve of Henry Stone’s involvement and insisted Henry hand over all master recordings to Morris Levy and his company Roulette Records.
Ahmet Ertegun, Tom Dowd and Jerry Wexler from Atlantic Records, saw Sam & Dave in late 1964 at the King O’ Hearts where they had become locally famous. In 1965 they were signed to Atlantic Records and the rest is music history. Jerry Wexler loaned the duo to Atlantic’s southern production arm, Stax Records. They were introduced to Isaac Hayes and David Porter. What followed was a string of hits and international stardom. Sam & Dave were so revered that they were among the few stars who were asked to perform at Martin Luther King, Jr.’s memorial concert at Madison Square Garden in 1968. Sam was a long time supporter of Dr. King.
The duo broke up in 1970. Shortly after, Sam was re-signed to Atlantic and recorded his solo album, produced by King Curtis with Donnie Hathaway and even Aretha Franklin on piano as guest artists. King Curtis was murdered on August 13, 1971, the album was completed but Wexler chose to shelf the album, depriving Sam of his solo career launch. Sam reunited with Dave for a few years in the late 1970’s breaking up for good New Years Eve 1982 at Bill Graham’s Old Waldorf in San Francisco. Sam struggled with heroin addiction after being introduced to the drug by Little Willie John in the early 1960’s. Sam and his wife, Joyce, recounted his drug use later in an oral history written by Dave Marsh and in my documentary with DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus called “Only the Strong Survive.”
The 70’s, however, were not all bad news. Thanks to Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi’s cover of “Soul Man,” performed as The Blues Brothers on “Saturday Night Live” there was renewed interest in the duo’s music, look, and athletic dancing.
Sam married Joyce McRae in 1982, who became his manager and advocate. While the FDA and NIDA were conducting clinical trials of the anti-opiate Naltrexane which blocks the opiate receptors in the brain, Joyce was able to get Sam into the program and saved him from a death due to heroin addiction. Joyce gives full credit to what she calls a God-wink, and Sam began a celebrated solo career.
Over the years, Sam became a mainstay performer at the Kennedy Center. He performed for six presidents — Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. At Dan Aykroyd’s 50th birthday, Sam performed with Clinton, who played the saxophone to accompany him. He also performed for Barack Obama at the White House.
More than once, Bruce Springsteen loudly and proudly introduced Sam as “The greatest living soul singer on the planet!” Springsteen invited him to sing on his “Human Touch” album, and again in 2023 on his collection of R&B covers (also called “Only the Strong Survive”). When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrated its 25th birthday at Madison Square Garden, Springsteen featured Sam to much fanfare.
Moore was also a vocal advocate for the rights of performers. With his wife, he testified often in Washington for a performer’s royalty on records played on AM & FM radio. This has still not been resolved by Congress. Sam has said it would be life-changing money for himself, his peers and every American phono recording artist whose music is played on AM/FM radio and worldwide. All other countries who collect on behalf of artists including Americans, do not pay any collected broadcast performance royalties due to lack of reciprocity. (Only songwriters and publishers get paid from airplay on the radio.) Sam was passionate about the subject.
Sam’s legacy as a solo artist was cemented when he was finally able to recover and release the King Curtis album, “Plenty Good Loving,” in 2002. It was met with four star reviews. Both Ertegun and Wexler publicly regretted not having initially released it. In 2006, Sam made a triumphant return with his first album in thirty years, “Overnight Sensational,” which featured Springsteen, Sting, Bon Jovi and a galaxy of other stars produced by American Idol’s Randy Jackson. He was nominated for a Grammy Award with Billy Preston on their duet of “You Are So Beautiful.” He was welcomed, as always, to the David Letterman show, the Tonight Show, and all the morning shows.
In recent years, Sam received a Special Merit Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys. He also continued to perform on a steady basis until the pandemic. His voice was heard recently on a Starbucks commercial featuring the Sam & Dave version of “Hold On I’m Coming.” He was often asked to perform at high-profile prestigious occasions. For example: Aretha Franklin asked him to sing at the funeral for her sister, singer Erma Franklin. Eddie Murphy requested Sam to perform at his Kennedy Center Mark Twain award.
Sam and Joyce came into my life in 1999 when we were planning “Only the Strong Survive.” They immediately became extended family, and vice versa. They even came to my parents’ 50th anniversary dinner years ago. We celebrated Sam’s 80th birthday in style nine years ago in Washington, DC. I haven’t had a birthday in 25 years that wasn’t marked by the dulcet sound of Sam singing to me over the phone either from Scottsdale, where the Moores lived for a long time, or Miami.
Only a few people come into your life who absolutely change it for the better. In mine, Sam Moore is in that group. We laughed, and cried, and gossiped. I was lucky enough to accompany him and Joyce on dozens of shows over the years. Every outing was an adventure the memories of which I treasure. As a kid I had revered Sam & Dave, so to become friends was a joy that cannot be described.
Condolences to Joyce, their daughter Michelle, and grandchildren Tash, and Misha. To say Sam will be much missed is an understatement. Sam never stopped recording. He was working on a gospel album with Rudy Perez dedicated to his mother. Sam’s voice remained intact. It was an extraordinary instrument he knew was a gift from God and gifted to the finest human being.
