THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

530-Sam & Dave-Soul Man.

1967-Number 24 single.

Best Bit-At 0.08. Soul Music is a genre of music that originated in the African/American community throughout the United States in the 1950.s, and 1960’s, but it was this songs title that made ‘Soul’ a household word, and known to a much wider audience.

Sam & Dave were the American singing duo of Sam Moore, and Dave Prater, (1937-1988) Moore is a tenor, and Prater was a baritone, they formed in Miami, Florida, United States, in 1961, and remained active as a duo through until 1981. They were nicknamed ‘Double Dynamite,’ or ‘The Sultans of Sweat,’ due to their all action live performances, and the American Soul revivalist duo ‘The Blues Brothers’ were modelled on them. The discography of Sam & Dave includes five Albums released between 1966-1975, and 10 official compilation Albums released between 1966-1993, they have also released 32 singles between 1962-1977. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, three of their singles have reached the top 40, with ‘Soul Man’ peaking the highest at Number 2 in 1967, they have also had 13 chart entries on the ‘Billboard R&B chart, with ‘Hold On, I’m Comin” (1966) and ‘Soul Man’ (1967) both making Number 1. In the UK Sam & Dave have had four top 40 hits, with ‘Soul Sister Brown Sugar,’ peaking the highest at Number 15 in 1969.

Sam Moore was born Samuel David Moore, on October 12th, 1935, in Miami, Florida, United States. Both he, and David Prater, were both experienced Gospel music singers, having performed individually with groups the ‘Sensational Hummingbirds,’ and the ‘Melionaires.’ They first met in ‘The King of Hearts Club,’ in Miami, in 1961, where they were soon discovered by the regional producer Henry Stone, (1921-2014) who signed them to ‘Roulette Records.’ In 1964 they were signed by Jerry Wexler (1917-2008) (see also best songs 882 and 644) to ‘Atlantic Records, and then were ‘loaned’ out to ‘Stax’ Records to produce, record and release their records. As well as Sam Moore’s recordings as ‘Sam & Dave,’ he has also issued one solo studio Album ‘Overnight Sensational,’ in 2006, and Two Christmas Albums, both of which were released in 1998.

Dave Prater Jr. was born on May 9th, 1937, in Ocilla, Georgia, United States, he died in a single car accident, on April 9th, 1988, at the age of 50. According to the American monthly magazine ‘Rolling Stone,’ ‘Sam & Dave were the most successful and critically acclaimed duo in Soul Music history, and brought the sounds of the black Gospel church to Pop music with their string of call-and-response hit records. In 1992 they were both inducted in to the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,’ and in 1999 they were inducted in to the ‘Grammy Hall of Fame,’ for their song ‘Soul Man.’

‘Soul Man’ was the only single released from Sam & Dave’s third Album ‘Soul Men,’ from October 1967, the song was co-written and co-produced by Isaac Hayes, (1948-2008) (see also best songs 398 and 1) and David Porter. Isaac Hayes was watching a television news programme in July 1967 about the ‘Civil Rights Movement,’ and the aftermath of the 12th Street riot in Detroit, Michigan. Hayes noted that black residents had marked buildings that had not been destroyed during the riots, mostly African/American owned and operated, with the word ‘Soul.’ Hayes related the scene to the story of Passover in the Bible. Isaac Hayes has said, ‘I got the idea from watching on TV the riots in Detroit. It was said that if you put ‘soul’ on the door of your business establishment, they wouldn’t burn it. Then the word ‘Soul,’ it was a galvanising kind of thing for African Americans, and it had an effect of unity, it was said with a lot of pride. So I thought, ‘Why not write a tune called ‘Soul Man.’ And all you had to do was write about your personal experiences, because all African Americans in this country at the time had similar experiences. But we realised that in addition to being an African American experience, it was a human experience, and therefore it crossed over and became very commercial.’ Hayes has also said, ‘It’s a story about one’s struggle to rise above his present conditions. It’s almost a tune kind of boasting, I’m a Soul man. It’s a pride thing.’

Isaac Hayes may have come up with the songs title, but it was David Porter who wrote the lyrics, describing what he thought a ‘Soul Man’ should be. Porter has said, ‘He didn’t have the fancy big slant, but had the emotional thing happening inside of him that made people really love him. In 1971 Isaac Hayes was commissioned to write the soundtrack to the film ‘Shaft,’ in which Hayes describes the ‘Soul Man’ John Shaft, as a ‘bad mother…..’ As Sam & Dave recorded on the ‘Stax’ record label, the instrumentation was provided by members of ‘Booker T & the M.G.’s, (see also best songs 906) as well as the ‘Mar-Key Horns.’ ‘Soul Man’ has a very famous intro that was written and played by Steve Cropper, (see also best songs 906 and 828) who had been asked by Isaac Hayes to develop something, as he was struggling with the start of the song.

‘Coming to you on a dusty road, good loving, I got a truck load. And when you get it, you got something, don’t worry, ’cause I’m coming. I’m a soul man.’