Readers of a certain age – those who followed pop music in the 1960s – will remember R&B singing sensations, Sam & Dave. They enjoyed chart success with a number of hit songs like Soul Man, I Thank You, Hold On, I’m Comin’, and When Something Is Wrong With My Baby. They also had a significant influence on pop and soul artists that followed.
The duo sold more than ten million records in their day, and served as the inspiration for Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi’s iconic characters, The Blues Brothers.
Sam Moore and Dave Prater stopped singing together in 1981, though Moore has remained active in the business.
And now he is making his entrée into the world of bluegrass on the upcoming album from Nu-Blu, All The Way. Moore joins Nu-Blu vocalist Carolyn Routh on the song, Jesus and Jones (written by Cheri Hefner and Rick Tiger), a tribute to George Jones, a man Sam admired.
“I’ve been a fan of George’s music for a long long time and was fortunate enough that we called each other friends. This song honors him and says what we all have felt about him.”
Routh says getting to record with Moore was an exciting opportunity.
“We absolutely love this song and its message. We played the demo for George’s widow, Nancy Jones, and she loved it. With her encouragement we recorded it and just knew we wanted to add a guest vocalist to the recording. Then we thought back to the November [George Jones] tribute show and remembered it was Sam Moore who had just brought the house down. You could see the love he had for George.
We connected with Sam and now the recording is done. This is not only Sam’s first time ever to record on a bluegrass song, it apparently is the first time anyone from his genre has participated on a bluegrass recording as a featured guest. How cool is that! To have a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member sing on a bluegrass song. Wow, we are just so thrilled and hope that music lovers enjoy it as much as we did making it.”
Jesus and Jones will be released as a single on July 22, with the full album coming later in the year.
Routh says that including a superstar like Sam Moore isn’t the only unexpected twist on All The Way.
“With this new project we are going all the way by stepping outside of genre boundaries and letting our fusion of musical tastes and interpretations guide us like never before. Get ready, we have a few surprises in store and we’ve never been more excited.”
