Sam & Dave (photo right courtesy of Stax Muesum), the duo of Sam Moore and Dave Prater, Jr., were the voices in front of another famous duo, songwriters Isaac Hayes and David Porter.

Miami Amateurs
The duo of Sam & Dave formed accidentally one night at an amateur singing contest at the King of Hearts Club in Miami. They had recorded a few singles locally in Miami before Jerry Wexler signed them to Atlantic Records.

Bound For Stax
Once with Atlantic, Wexler sent Sam & Dave to Stax to record, where they were paired with songwriters David Porter and Isaac Hayes. Hayes and Porter had written a number for Carla Thomas, but this was their real first chance, and then all kinds of things fell into place. A string of hits in 1966 began with “Hold On, I’m Coming,” which was followed with “You Got Me Hummin’,” and “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby.”

“Soul Man”
On a roll, Sam & Dave reached new artistic and commercial heights with their next single, “Soul Man,” released in 1967. Written by Hayes and Porter, “Soul Man” helped to redefine the R & B genre as soul music. The title actually came out of the ashes of the riots in Detroit that summer. Isaac Hayes remembered, “I saw the news flash where people were burning [buildings]. Where the buildings weren’t burnt, people would write ‘soul’ on them...So I said, ‘Why not do something called “Soul Man”... About rising above one’s present conditions...a pride thing?’”

Europe Loves “Soul Men”
Following the success of “Soul Man,” the duo appeared on numerous popular programs including NBC TV’s Johnny Carson Show. Their strength as performers came from their vocal interplay and energetic stage performances. Trumpeter Wayne Jackson tells of Otis Redding having to follow their act at the 1967 Stax-Volt European revue. “Every night you would feel sorry for Otis. Sam & Dave had taken this audience to heaven and back. They would jump out in the audience and just go crazy like they were having a fit and then jump back on stage and faint. They would have to carry Dave off like he was dead and then carry him back on like he was resurrected. By the time that was over with... Otis would be standing over there in the corner praying,” he recalled.

Renewed Fame
The fallout between Stax and Atlantic in late spring of 1968 hurt the duo of Sam & Dave, perhaps more than any other Stax performers. Not to be underestimated, their flawless chemistry with Hayes and Porter meant everything to the level of success Sam & Dave achieved at Stax. Not long after their contract with Atlantic forced Sam & Dave to leave Stax, the duo broke up in 1970. Sam & Dave returned to Memphis to play a 1973 New Year’s Eve concert, backed by a former Stax group, Larry Raspberry and the Highsteppers. In 1980, the two enjoyed renewed popularity when “Soul Man” emerged as the theme song of the hit motion picture The Blues Brothers. The real Blues Brothers played their final show together in 1981. Dave Prater, Jr., struggled with drug addiction for several years, and then died in a car accident in 1988. Sam Moore continued performing, and appeared in the Blues Brothers 2000 film in 1998 along with several other Stax alumni. Sam & Dave were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.