Sam and Dave

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  • Year:
    1992
  • Inducted by:
    Billy Joel
  • Category:
    Performers

Introduction

This soul duo was a force of nature.

Sam and Dave’s work with producer Isaac Hayes and backing band Booker T and the M.G.’s made them a formidable team. Their hit “Soul Man” endures today as an R&B smash and a unifying force between black and white audiences.

Hall of Fame Essay

1992

Andy Schwartz

In the summer of 1964, Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records was attending a DJ convention in Miami. Florida record man Henry Stone suggested he stop in at a nightclub called the King of Hearts to check out a local singing duo known as Sam & Dave.

"It was like 165 degrees,” Wexler later told writer Rob Bowman. “It was hot and they were  hot...When I heard them  there that night, that was all she wrote. I signed them up immediately.”

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Program Cover 1992
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1992 Inductees Sam and Dave
a staple of soul music radio.
Billy Joel

Photography: Kevin Mazur, WireImage