Stop me if you’ve heard this story before: A musician rises to fame, becomes hooked on drugs, and has his career nearly spiral out of control before being saved by a savvy new romantic partner. While it may be a tale as old as time, or at least as old as pop music, the way this story unfolded was anything but typical in the life and times of Sam Moore, the dynamic soul and R&B artist and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee who died this week in Florida at the age of 89.
Samuel Moore was born in Miami on Oct. 12, 1935. Actively involved in music from a young age, participating in his Baptist church’s choir and a gospel group would prove pivotal for him, providing him a unique set of vocal and performative skills that he would put to exhilarating effect in his musical career.
While performing one night at the King of Hearts club in Miami in 1961, Moore, in between sets, noticed that the singer who was onstage was having trouble remembering the words to the Jackie Wilson song he was trying to sing. Moore took pity on him, joined him onstage, and helped him out with the lyrics. The audience responded so enthusiastically to the gospel-influenced call-and-response style of singing Moore was using to guide his fellow singer through the song that Moore and his accidental partner decided to become partners, calling themselves simply “Sam & Dave.” One night in 1964, three Atlantic Records executives happened to be in the audience for one of their King of Hearts shows. Dazzled by the duo’s rousing performance, the executives signed them to a deal with the Memphis soul label Stax Records, an Atlantic subsidiary. Sam & Dave quickly became some of Stax’s biggest stars. Their 1967 single “Soul Man” earned them a Grammy. Some of their other hits, such as “I Thank You,” are now probably even more recognizable than “Soul Man” thanks to how often we hear them in commercials and movies. (It’d be especially hard to imagine modern political rallies without the staple “Hold On I’m Coming.”)
With the perks of stardom, though — entourages, groupies, private buses, fame — came some of the usual pitfalls: heroin, cocaine, addiction, and infighting. By 1970, Sam & Dave had broken up, completing the whole VH1 Behind the Music career arc.
But their story still wasn’t over. When their solo careers didn’t take off as they hoped, Sam and Dave reunited, hoping to recapture some of the old magic that had made them America’s premier ’60s soul duo. But this time their partnership would be even more tenuous than the first time around. Never exactly close friends, their relationship deteriorated even further when Dave shot and injured his wife during a fight. (Sam was no stranger to these kinds of domestic altercations; years earlier, he had been shot by the husband of a woman with whom he was having an affair.) Sam said he would continue to perform with Dave but vowed to never speak to him again.
Sam & Dave broke up again in 1981, that time for good. But their contretemps was still not over. Dave recruited a new Sam (Sam Daniels) to perform with him under the name “the new Sam & Dave Revue,” prompting the original Sam to sue him. Their feuding only came to an end when Dave died in a car crash in 1988.
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Eight years ago, Moore was one of the select few musicians invited by President Donald Trump to perform at his inaugural welcome concert. Several of the invited artists backed out, caving in to pressure from the Left. But Moore was not among them. “I am not going to let them, the left side, intimidate me from doing what I feel is the right thing to do for the country and that [presidential] seal,” Moore declared. “As an American, I am honored to perform for President-elect Donald Trump. I was a participant in the civil rights movement and have seen many positive changes and advancement in my 81 years of living in this wonderful country, but I know we must all join hands and work together with our new president. I honestly believe that if we can accomplish this, the best is yet to come. We all as Americans need to unite behind our new president and give him a chance. He needs everyone’s support to make America greater, stronger and an even better country.”
Moore’s words, like his moving rendition of “America the Beautiful” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, will be on the minds of many as Trump takes office a second time.
Daniel Ross Goodman is a Washington Examiner contributing writer and the author, most recently, of Soloveitchik’s Children: Irving Greenberg, David Hartman, Jonathan Sacks, and the Future of Jewish Theology in America.
