Soul Man

by

Sam & Dave

Album: Soul Man      Released: 1967

US Chart: 2     UK Chart: 24

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This was released on Stax Records, a legendary Soul label where Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Isaac Hayes recorded. This was written and produced by Hayes and David Porter. The Stax house band of Booker T. & the MG's played the instruments, except for Booker himself who was away at college, which is why Hayes was brought in to Stax.

Isaac Hayes talked about this song in an interview with National Public Radio: "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 galvanizing 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 realized that in addition to being an African American experience, it was a human experience, and therefore it crossed over and became very commercial."

Hayes wanted the record to have rhythmic elements similar to Bo Diddley's song "Bo Diddley," and Porter asked singer Sam Moore to give him "the Bobby Bland squall."

Sam & Dave were Sam Moore and Dave Prater. Moore was in The Melionaires Gospel group, and Prater who was solo artist before they met in 1961. They were signed by Roulette in 1962 and switched to Atlantic in 1965 before recording for Stax. In 1988 Prater was killed in a car crash. They were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

This won the 1967 Grammy for Best Rhythm And Blues Group Performance.

Sam Moore re-recorded this with Lou Reed as the theme to the 1986 film of the same name. The movie is about a white guy who pretends to be black so he can get a scholarship to Harvard. (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for all above)

The Blues Brothers released this as their first single in 1979. It hit #14 in the US, and helped establish the duo as a legitimate musical act. The Blues Brothers were Saturday Night Live comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, and they turned their skit on the show into a movie and tour. Their backing musicians included Paul Shaffer from Late Night With David Letterman as well as Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn, who were members of Booker T. And The MG's. Belushi and Aykroyd studied Sam & Dave to get their stage moves.

When Bob Dole ran for president of the United States in 1996, he used this song, repurposed as "Dole Man," as his campaign song until he was sued by the copyright holders of the song.

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Comments:

Yes, thanks Edward. One of life's great mysteries has been solved.
- David, Youngstown, OH

Thank you, David and Edward! I have wondered that half my life.
- TJ, Champaign, IL

David, to answer your question the 'Woodstock' Hayes & Porter refer to is not the soon to be famous upstate New York town but Woodstock School just outside of Memphis. Their record label Stax was of course based in Memphis.
- Edward Pearce, Ashford, Kent, England

This is probably a moot question because this song has only two comments as of this writing besides mine. However, I wonder what Chef and David Porter were thinking when they wrote "I was educated at Woodstock." This song was released and charted in 1967, two years before the legendary concert. Before 1969, Woodstock was known - by very, very few - as an upstate New York artist town, something it remains to this day. The Band's Music From Big Pink, recorded in Saugerties, where the Woodstock concert was actually held, was released in 1968, a year after this song so throw that theory out the window. I can find no logical explanation for the reference and was hoping someone could give me one.
- David, Youngstown, OH

Paul Schaeffer was originally supposed to play keyboards in the Blues Brothers band and in the film, but he had a spat with Belushi and got kicked out. The Blues Brothers had to play this in a different key than the original recording to fit John Belushi's voice.
- yduR, Knoxville, TN

Steve Cropper played lead guitar on this version, and on the "Blues Brothers" 1979 cover. He was even "shouted-out" by the same line on both - "Play it, Steve!"
- Ken, Louisville, KY

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