Sam Moore, the surviving half and higher voice of the 1960s duo Sam & Dave that was known for such definitive hits of the era as "Soul Man" and "Hold On, I'm Comin,'" has died.He was 89.Publicist Jeremy Westby said Moore died Friday morning in Coral Gables, Florida, due to complications while recovering from surgery.
No additional details were immediately available.Moore, who influenced musicians including Michael Jackson, Al Green and Bruce Springsteen, was inducted with Dave Prater into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.At the Memphis, Tennessee-based Stax Records, Moore and Prater were second only to Otis Redding.They transformed the "call and response" of gospel music into a frenzied stage show and recorded some of soul music's most enduring hits, which also included "You Don't Know Like I Know," "When Something is Wrong With My Baby" and "I Thank You."Most of their hits were written and produced by the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter and featured the Stax house band Booker T.
& the MGs, whose guitarist Steve Cropper received one of music's most famous shoutouts when Sam & Dave called "Play it, Steve" midway through "Soul Man."Like many '60s soul acts, Sam & Dave faded after the 1960s.But "Soul Man" hit the charts again in the late 1970s when the Blues Brothers, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd recorded it with many of the same musicians.
Moore had mixed feelings about the hit becoming associated with the "Saturday Night Live" stars, remembering how young people believed it originated with the Blues Brothers.In 2008, the movie "Soul Men" depicted a pair of aging, estranged singers who bore more than a little resemblance to Sam & Dave.
Moore lost a lawsuit claiming the resemblance was too close.He also spent years suing Prater after Prater hired a substitute and toured as the New Sam & Dave.Prater died in a 1988 car crash in Georgia.Moore also pressed legal claims that the record industry had cheated him out of retir...