January 11, 2025
The legacy of Sam Moore and Dave Prater can be heard and felt in the work of musicians such as Al Green, Michael Jackson.
Sam Moore, 89, the only surviving member of the 1960s soul duo Sam and Dave, died Jan. 10 in Coral Gables, Fla., of complications while recovering from surgery, according to his publicist Jeremy Westby. .
By: NPR:The Legacy of Sam Moore and Dave Prater can be heard and experienced in the works of musicians such as Al Green, Michael Jackson.The couple was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
During the pair’s tenure at Stax Records, they were second only to the late, great Otis Redding, and according to “Stax: Soulsville USA“The documentary, perhaps their greatest song, ‘Soul Man’ became a symbol of the civil rights movement, specifically the Black Power movement as depicted by Issac Hayes, another Stax cornerstone after Redding’s untimely demise.
By: NPR:the group, like many 1960s-era soul acts, dropped off the charts after the decade ended, but would be revived in the following decades thanks to the 1970s film The Blues Brothers, in which Saturday Night Live alums Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi revived and recorded the song with most of Booker T & The MG’s, who recorded the original song With Sam and Dave.
Moore, however, had mixed feelings about the song’s revival, as some youngsters believed the song was originally owned by The Blues Brothers.
Moore is also at odds with the 2008 film Men of Soul, starring Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac, about a pair of aging and estranged singers who believed the pair resembled the real-life “Soul Man.” The duo was a bit close to his heart.
Moore did file a lawsuit over the painting, but ultimately lost his legal battle.
True to the supposed artistic fusion of the various soul groups depicted in the film, Moore sued Prater several years after the latter hired a singer to fill Moore’s place and began touring as New Sam & Dave.
Prater later tragically died in a car accident in Georgia in 1988, leaving Moore as the only surviving band member.
Moore would later challenge retirement benefits he claimed the record industry had cheated him out of, joining a lawsuit against several record companies and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in 1993.
According to a 1994 Associated Press interview, Moore recounted his reasoning for joining the lawsuit.
“Two thousand dollars for my life,” Moore said at the time. “If you make a profit from me, give it to me. Don’t give me cornbread and say it’s a cookie.”
It’s interesting that Moore went from singing a song deeply associated with the Black Power movement of the 1960s to tacitly supporting President Donald Trump while speaking at his 2017 inauguration.
Like many artists of his generation, Moore got his start in music singing in church, where he learned to perform.
In the 1950s, he sang in soul and R&B clubs, but didn’t meet Prather until 1961, and they became a popular duo in Miami when Moore helped Prather with lyrics to a song he was working on.
This popularity led to Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records sending them to the company’s Stax subsidiary in 1965, when they signed to Atlantic.
Moore is survived by his wife Joyce, daughter Michelle and two grandchildren.
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