Released: 1966
Formulas. Recipes. Teams. All of these when making music are as important as you want them to be, but when embraced, they usually help. Floridian Sam Moore met Georgian Dave Prater one night in Miami at the King of Hearts club, jumping on stage to help the latter when he’d forgotten the lyrics to Jackie Wilson’s ‘Doggin’ Around’.
Forming a duo they released a string of singles between ’61 and ’65 to some interest, but their breakthrough came when they signed to Atlantic and began working in Memphis with the Stax imprint’s house musicians, a bunch of aces who just happened to be Booker T & The MG’s (Rhythm) and the Mar Keys (Horns).
The final ingredients into this musical super food were Isaac Hayes and David Porter, who co-wrote Hold On (I’m Comin’). It’s arguable that by the end of what would become one of the most famous brass intros of all time, it was already a de facto soul classic, but Moore and Prater’s five star vocal delivery gave it an urgency and roughed up feel that made you dance and care. Perfectly assembled and delicious with every note, it was proof that too many cooks only spoil the broth if the damn cooks weren’t any good.
The Voice Of Unreason 