Samuel David Moore (October 12, 1935 – January 10, 2025) was an American singer who was best known as a member of the soul and R&B duo Sam & Dave from 1961 to 1981. He was a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame (for "Soul Man"), the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
Born in Miami, Florida, in 1935, Moore cut his musical teeth singing gospel before he began making a name for himself on Florida's R&B circuit. While playing a Miami club called the King of Hearts in 1961, he met another struggling soul singer, Dave Prater; the two discovered they worked well together on-stage when Moore helped Prater through a shaky version of Jackie Wilson's "Dogging Around," and they formed an act called Sam & Dave.
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After an unsuccessful string of singles for Roulette Records, Sam & Dave hit pay dirt when Jerry Wexler signed them to Atlantic Records in 1965 and sent them to Memphis to work with the Stax Records production crew. At Stax, Sam & Dave scored a long string of hits, including "Soul Man," "Hold On, I'm Coming," and "I Thank You’," At their peak, they had their own airplane, toured with a 16-piece band and an entourage of 35, and averaged 280 shows a year. But while they were a dynamite combination on-stage, Moore and Prater did not get along off-stage, and in 1970 the duo split up. Moore moved to New York's music scene where he was introduced to heroin and cocaine, beginning fifteen years of addiction.
Moore began his solo career after breaking up with Prater in June 1970. He formed a new act called "Sam's Soul Together 1970 Review" featuring singer Brenda Jo Harris and a 16-piece orchestra, and released three singles on Atlantic Records in 1970 and 1971. These singles, along with other recordings made during that period featuring Aretha Franklin on piano, were to be released on an album produced by King Curtis, but in August 1971.
Curtis was stabbed to death outside his apartment in Harlem and the project was shelved, to be released 30 years later. The album “Plenty Good Lovin”', was not released until 2002. Moore and Prater reunited as Sam & Dave a number of times in the 1970s and '80s, but their relationship remained strained, and Prater died in 1988 in a car wreck.
Moore toured with other soul artists, including Wilson Pickett in Europe in the spring of 1982. In 1982, he married Joyce McRae in Europe, and she became his manager and ordered him into rehabilitation. McRae helped Moore to overcome his lengthy battle with drug addiction, which the couple later described in Moore's book Sam & Dave – An Oral History, co-written with Dave Marsh. After going public with his addiction in 1983, Moore became a strong antidrug advocate and worked as a volunteer for antidrug programs. McRae became his business manager and worked with Sam to advocate for artist's rights, royalties, and pension payments.
Throughout this period, Moore continued to play live shows and record when the opportunities arose: he recorded a new version of "Soul Man" with Lou Reed for the 1986 movie of the same name, appeared in the 1988 comedy Tapeheads as part of a famous soul duo alongside co-star Junior Walker, teamed up with Conway Twitty for a cover of "Rainy Night in Georgia" on the all-star artists album Rhythm Country and Blues, and contributed backing vocals to Bruce Springsteen's 1992 album Human Touch.
In 1992, Moore was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with Sam & Dave, but he had trouble finding a record label that wanted to sign him until Rhino Records took him into the studio to record Overnight Sensational in 2005. Released the following year, the album was produced by Randy Jackson and included guest appearances from Bruce Springsteen, Steve Winwood, Jon Bon Jovi, Sting, Paul Rodgers, Eric Clapton, and many more.
Moore continued to tour and work regularly over the next decade, but he didn't release a new album until 2017, when he put out a collection of patriotic covers aptly called An American Patriot. Springsteen once again called on Moore's talents when he recorded 2022's Only the Strong Survive; the album was an homage to vintage soul music, and Moore was a guest vocalist on "I Forgot to Be Your Lover" and "Soul Days." On April 25, 2023, Moore joined a large cast of country performers honoring George Jones at the Still Playin' Possum concert at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where he sang "The Blues Man."
Moore died following surgery at a hospital in Coral Gables, Florida, on January 10, 2025, at the age of 89.
(Edited from AllMusic & Wikipedia)
