JEREMY WESTBY
SAM MOORE, 1935-2025
After playing Sam & Dave’s 1967 hit “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby” on his SiriusXM satellite radio show “From My Home to Yours” on Sept. 1, 2021, Bruce Springsteen remembered seeing them perform that song, once in Philadelphia. “Also,” he continued, “at the Satellite Lounge in Fort Dix, N.J. And at The Fastlane: That’s right, The Fastlane in Asbury Park. I saw Sam & Dave three times while they were still playing together. And literally, every time, they brought me to tears. …
“They were just one of the most powerful, incredible duos of all time. And when I saw them at The Fastlane, it was heartbreaking, because it was a relatively small crowd there, and they simply sang their hearts out. And I can tell you, I stood in the back of the room and wept at seeing this great, great, great talent, later in the day of their performing together, bringing in, really, quite a small audience, and it was just so undeserved, and they were so epic and so profound that it touched me incredibly deeply.”
Sam Moore died in Coral Gables, Florida, on Jan. 10 — due to complications recovering from surgery, at the age of 89 — after outliving his estranged musical partner for almost 40 years. (Dave Prater died in 1988, at the age of 50). Together, they had possibly the greatest run of any R&B duo, ever, with hits such as “Soul Man,” “You Don’t Know Like I Know,” “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” “I Thank You” and “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby,” between 1964 and 1968. I never got to see them perform together, though I did see Moore, and interviewed him (for the Star-Ledger newspaper) — in person, in New York — when he released his Overnight Sensational album in 2006. He was 70 at that point, but still a force of nature, behind a microphone or enthusing about his new project in his New York hotel room.
Springsteen posted on Facebook: “Over on E Street, we are heartbroken to hear of the death of Sam Moore, one of America’s greatest soul voices. There simply isn’t another sound like Sam’s soulful tenor in American music. Having had the honor to work with Sam on several occasions, he was a sweet and funny man. He was filled with stories of the halcyon days of soul music, and to the end had that edge of deep authenticity in his voice I could only wonder at. We offer our prayers to his wife Joyce and thanks for the immortal recordings Sam left us. God bless.”
Stevie Van Zandt posted on X: “RIP Sam Moore. One of the last of the great Soul Men. Him and Dave Prater were the inspiration for me and Johnny to start Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. An important righteous wonderful man.”
Check out this exchange — about seeing Sam & Dave at The Satellite Lounge in Cookstown — that took place when Springsteen, Southside Johnny and Van Zandt were all on “From My Home to Yours” on July 1, 2020.
Springsteen: How did you guys get the Jukes together? And then whose idea was it to have a horn section in a club band, where it wasn’t very affordable, back at that time?
Van Zandt: You know, I think it was the fact that we went and saw Sam & Dave.
Southside: Yeah.
Van Zandt: That night was an incredibly important night. We were all there, the three of us.
Springsteen: Are you talking about the Fastlane or the Satellite Lounge?
Southside: Satellite Lounge! Wow, what a place.
Van Zandt: Up until then, it was kind of a blues band. … and we decided, let’s take it to the next level, I think after that night.
Springsteen: Oh, ’cause I remember that show like it was yesterday. It was incredible. Oh my God. Sam & Dave at that little Satellite Lounge.
Van Zandt: And we were, like, six feet away.
Springsteen: We were six feet away, and we watched Sam Moore lead that band, and it was just probably one of the greatest musical nights of my life.
Van Zandt: Yeah, I think that’s what did it.
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Here are are some videos documenting Springsteen and Moore’s musical relationship:
Moore sang on three songs on Springsteen’s 1992 Human Touch album, including “Man’s Job.”
Moore sings “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby” with Springsteen and others at a holiday benefit show at Convention Hall in Asbury Park in December 2003.
Moore sings “I Thank You” with Springsteen and others at a holiday benefit show at Convention Hall in Asbury Park in December 2003.
Springsteen sang on “Better to Have and Not Need” on Moore’s 2006 album Overnight Sensational.
Moore sings “Hold On, I’m Comin’ ” with Springsteen and the E Street Band at a 25th anniversary concert for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden in New York, on Oct. 29, 2009.
Moore sings “Soul Man” with Springsteen and the E Street Band at a 25th anniversary concert for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden in New York, on Oct. 29, 2009.
Moore, Springsteen and others perform “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” at a 25th anniversary concert for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden in New York, on Oct. 29, 2009.
Moore sings some of “634-5789 (Soulsville, USA)” at a show by Springsteen and the E Street Band at The Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on Dec. 6, 2012.
Moore sang on two songs on Springsteen’s 2022 album Only the Strong Survive (Covers Vol. 1), including “Soul Days.”
Moore, in New Jersey to be honored at the American Music Honors show presented by The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, talks about Springsteen on NJ PBS. Due to COVID, Springsteen was unable to attend show (which took place at The Pollak Theatre at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, on April 14, 2023), but inducted Van Zandt and Darlene Love via video. Southside Johnny inducted Moore, saying, among other things, that when he saw Sam & Dave perform, he thought, “That’s what I want to do.” (NOTE: Moore describes meeting Springsteen at The Stone Pony, though it may be the same Fastlane show Springsteen mentioned, above.)
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Here is the complete text of a press release about Moore’s death, released by 2911 Media:
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Legendary Soul Man Sam Moore passed away this morning in Coral Gables, Florida. He was 89. The cause of death was complications recovering from surgery.
Moore — 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.
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.
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