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"Sam & Dave created some of their century's most enduring music in the pop form." (Stylus Magazine January 2007)
"There can be no argument that as a duo, Sam and Dave introduced the previously successful sound of the black church music, so successfully to pop music." (This review)
This is album review number One Hundred and Ninety Seven in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
The series is called Cream of The Crate and each review represents an album that I believe represents significant musical value, either because of its rarity, because it represents the best of a style or styles of a music or because there is something unique about the music, the group or the particular production. The first fifty reviews were based on vinyl albums from my collection, with the following fifty on CD albums from my collection. Links to all these reviews can be found at the bottom of the page.
So much excellent R&B came out on the Atlantic label and over the years Cream of The Crate has been published, we have visited the Atlantic label many times. Once again as i dig into my vinyl album crate, it;s an Atlantic album that comes out.
The artists are Same and Dave and the vinyl album and is titled - The Best Of. Released on the Atlantic label in 1984 and has the identifying code of 81279 -1.It only has 12 tracks and includes their best known releases.
Sam was born Samuel David Moore on the 12th October 1935 in Miami, Florida) and Dave - David Prater, was born on the 9th of May 1937 in Ocilla, Georgia.
Dave Prater
Sam originally sang in his father’s Baptist church before joining a group called the Melonaires, while Dave was actually gospel-trained and worked with the Sensational Hummingbirds. It was R&B that brought the two singers together onstage at Miami’s King of Hearts nightclub one fateful amateur night. Before that night they had never met and further, if not for a chance meeting with Club-owner, John Lomelo, they may have never risen to the great heights they achieved, for it was Lomelo who became the duo’s manager and was instrumental in securing their contract with the Roulette label.
Between the years 1962 and 1964 they recorded five singles and one album, all produced by R&B veteran Henry Glover. However, when Jerry Wexler signed Sam And Dave to Atlantic Records, their true potential was revealed and given the platform to to build a fantastic musical career on.
For political reasons, their records initially appeared on Stax Records and they used the Memphis-based house band. Many of their strongest tracks came from the Isaac Hayes / David Porter staff writing team. You Don’t Know Like I Know, Hold On I’m Comin' (both 1966), Soul Man (1967) and I Thank You (1968), featuring Prater’s gritty delivery and Moore’s higher interjections.
They developed a beautiful balance of black church music and commercial pop music to the stage and translated it perfectly to recordings. On stage the two were one and the developed a wonderful stage presentation where they would constantly play off each other, which along with the use of a full horn backing group, duel drummers and dancers resulted in the complete show.
Yet in an amazing twist of irony, they didn't ever developed a real friendship and it is variously reported that they rarely spoke off-stage.
By June of 1970 they called it a day, there style had fallen out of favour and neither man had the heart to keep going. They variously came together and parted for a series of reunions and reminded everyone of their abilities when they performed Hold On I'm Coming in the 1979 classic Blues Brothers movie.
Sam and Dave finally called it quits after a performance in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve, 1981. Some seven years later Dave Prater was killed in an auto accident on April 9, 1988.
Sam Moore continues to perform as a solo act.
A recent picture of Sam Moore
In a 1983 interview with the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Moore admitted that he had been a drug addict for 12 years and that the main reason for his feud with his ex-partner was that he'd "lost respect" for him after Prater shot his own wife during a 1968 domestic dispute. Prater escaped prosecution in that instance, but in 1987 he was arrested for selling crack to an undercover cop and sentenced to three years' probation. [The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001].
Track Listing:
Side 1
1. Hold On, I'm Comin'
2. You Don't Know Like I Know
3. Soul Man
4. Soothe Me
5. When Something Is Wrong With My Baby
6. Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody
Side 2
1. You Got Me Hummin'
2. I Take What I Want
3. Wrap It Up
4. Soul Sister, Brown Sugar
5. Can't You Find Another Way (Of Doing It)
6. I Thank You
When you combine the talents of Sam and Dave, Booker T. and the MG's and the duo's most illustrious songwriting team, Isaac Hayes and David Porter you end up with the most brilliant music. So it is that the album kicks off with what is surely their signature tune - Hold On I'm Coming. Hold On I'm Coming which is supposed to have come out of a rather strange incident when songwriter/producer David Porter was in the toilet, his songwriting partner Isaac Hayes yelled at him to hurry up so they could get back to work, as he was frustrated by the lack of progress they had made that day. Porter responded, "Hold on man, I'm coming." The immediately inspired Porter quickly finished his business and excitedly told Hayes that "Hold On, I'm Coming" would be a great title for a song. Hayes has repeated this story in various interviews over the years.
The title that is suggestive of something often heard in the bedroom snd as a result when it was released the song was deemed too suggestive to air by many radio stations, and it stalled at #21 in the US. However, the lyrics are actually quite innocent, with the duo offering emotional support to help the lady through some tough times - what could be wrong with that?
Don't you ever be sad,
Lean on me when times are bad.
When the day comes and you're down,
In a river of trouble and about to drown
Just hold on, I'm comin',
Hold on, I'm comin'.
I'm on my way, your lover.
If you get cold I'll be your cover.
Don't have to worry `cause I'm here,
No need to suffer baby, I'm here.
Just hold on, I'm comin',
Hold on, I'm comin'.
Hold on, I'm comin',
Hold on, I'm comin'.
(Lookie here)
Reach out to me for satisfaction,
(Lookie here. All you got to do)Call my name now for quick reaction.
Don't you ever be sad,
Lean on me when the times are bad.
When the day comes and you're down baby,
In a river of trouble and about to drown,
Just hold on, I'm comin',
Hold on, I'm comin'
Just hold on,don't you worry, I'm comin',(here ya come)
Hold on, I'm comin'.
Just hold on,don't you worry I'm comin',
Hold on, I'm comin'.