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Tavis: I'm honored to welcome soul music legend Sam Moore to this program. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer became a music sensation more than 40 years ago as one half of the duo Sam and Dave, with hits like “Brown Sugar,” and of course “Soul Man.” Sam and Dave helped define the Memphis soul sound, which this year, believe it or not, celebrates its fiftieth anniversary.

His most recent CD, though, is called “Overnight Sensational,” which featured a Grammy-nominated song with Eric Clapton and the late Billy Preston. Sam Moore, an honor to have you here. Don't take that jacket off.

Sam Moore: Good evening.

Tavis: Don't take that jacket off.

Moore: Bill Cosby said if I take it off, it’s his.

Tavis: Well...

Moore: You telling me the same thing?

Tavis: I can take Cosby.

Moore: You can take him?

Tavis: I can take him (laugh).

Moore: I think I can, too (laugh).

Tavis: (Laugh) So if you take it off, Cosby and you are in trouble.

Moore: In a whole lot of trouble (laugh). How you doing, buddy?

Tavis: I'm doing good, man, you doing all right?

Moore: I'm fine, thank you.

Tavis: Yeah. Let me just say, the audience obviously can't hear this or even see this, but the minute our theme music came on, your hands were beating, you were making your own sounds on the chair, your feet were making sounds on the floor. You’ve always been that way? The minute you hear music, you just start, your body just starts – Stevie Wonder’s the same way.

Moore: According to what music it is. I don't do it to every. But that sounded good. I don't know, who was it? Who was that? Wrote that music?

Tavis: Something I commissioned from a brother in Chicago.

Moore: But it was good. Oh, that was good (laugh). Did you do it?

Tavis: Yeah.

Moore: What instrument did you play?

Tavis: No, I didn’t do it, I didn’t play. I commissioned that.

Moore: You commissioned it.

Tavis: Yeah, I just commissioned it. I own it, but I just commissioned it, yeah.

Moore: I understand, but can I get a piece of that action?

Tavis: If I can have some of Sam and Dave.

Moore: You could have any part of Sam and Dave (laugh).

Tavis: (Laugh) Take me back to Sam and Dave 40 years ago. How did this happen?

Moore: Oh my God. Ooh. (Laugh) It’s not like it is today. But it was more a focused love, an attention getter. When we first started out, the first thing we started doing, Sam and Dave, we started trying to compete with Motown. And we were called on the carpet. They said “Look, first of all, you're not big as that company with Barry. He has a vision.”

“Number two, what we have here, you focus on what we have here, and once they got that through our heads that don't try to compete, just do what you got, do the best you have here, I think it was okay.” But you must understand it was a pinnacle part, Tavis, of segregation. At that time, it was not called soul, or rhythm and blues, it was called root. It was called root music, and from there, the longer we stayed. And I hate titles. If it’s good music, it’s good music. Why should you do that?

Tavis: That was an interesting time, though, because Berry Gordy up in Detroit had this Motown thing jumping. And here comes this little spot called Memphis, trying to compete with...

Moore: Yeah. Hey, man, every time Tammy and Marvin do something, Sam and Dave, they trying to do something (unintelligible). Sam and Dave. I said, “Cut that out, come on.” Plus they were too big, Tavis. Their roster was, my God. And we only had about, let me see, I think they had, oh, they had Rufus Thomas, Otis Redding.

They had Carla Thomas, which was his daughter, and that was basically it, until we got there. They were recording, Aretha was recording (unintelligible) shows, so was Wilson Pickett. So, actually, Memphis didn’t have that (laugh) many people anyway.

Tavis: But Memphis, though, over the years, though, has – Detroit’s put out some great singers, make no mistake about it.

Moore: Oh my God.

Tavis: Memphis ain't lagging behind, though. It’s a lot of great talent that’s come out of that city.

Moore: It has, it has. From the Staples Singers, and things of that nature. But you know, the difference is it was raw. It was just raw stuff, where in the vision that Barry had, he wanted the enunciation. He wanted the, how to walk, how to carry yourself, how to do interviews.

Tavis: Artist and repertoire. A&R.

Moore: Yes, yes. And well, it’s just that. And we’re just trying to do good music.

Tavis: Yeah, Barry made you go to classes to learn how to do all that.

Moore: Yeah. And they really did. I found out that they really, really did that.

Tavis: What is it about – when you walked in, everybody on the stage was already singing “Soul Man.” It’s like, you hear that song, and it gets in your head. I know we’re gonna be singing it for the next couple of days. What is it about that song? The lyrics, the horns? What made that song work?

Moore: I don't know, but it came to my attention, I was talking to somebody not long ago, and it’s a song – I didn’t know at the time that it was not just a soul song. It was a message song. Actually, it was a message, like Dylan would write “Blowing in the Wind?” That was a, it was a message song.

Tavis: And the message was, or is?

Moore: The message was that you're going to school, you are coming from school, you’re mixing with the White kids, the Black kids. Put your differences to the side, get to know one another. All that kind of stuff. I didn’t know that. I just got the horns blowing, you're singing, you're whistling, you're humming, and when you walk out, you're jumping around. Did not know that it was a message song at the time.

Tavis: What you did know, and you started this conversation off by saying this, and I wanna go all the way back to the beginning and pick this up, I don't wanna leave this on the table. You said in your very first response, that the music had love in it. That’s what you said. I don't know when the last time was I had somebody on this program, when asked about their music, and they said to me that the music worked because it was infused with love.

Moore: Love.

Tavis: That’s a powerful thing, man.

Moore: Love.

Tavis: That’s a powerful thing.

Moore: You see, you can’t – Tavis, you cannot do anything as far as music’s concerned unless you put the love in it, the attention, and the focus. And if you have a good producer or whatever, you have to have faith, and listen. And learn as you're going along, understand? And that in itself, and you got to love the people that you're putting your career into. It has to be that way. If you don't do that, then, like I said, it’s gonna wind up like it is today.

Tavis: When you hear a lot of stuff today, you hear a lack of love in a lot of the music today?

Moore: Yeah. See, when we were performing, we walked out on stage and you sang. You made them part of your, whatever you were doing.

Tavis: The audience was part of the show.

Moore: Yeah.

Tavis: Yeah.

Moore: You had to tell the story. Tell the story first. And I was always taught that. Tell the story first, along with the song. Once you tell the story, then everything else is a bonus, you can do whatever you wanna do. But tell the story first, and that’s how we did it, and I did it in records. Today, if you're gonna say “Baby, I love you,” you gotta be standing on that mark. If you're gonna say, “Hey, baby, I –“and why do you have to bring a bed up on the stage to make a point?

Tavis: Yeah (laugh). We ain't calling no names.

Moore: And let’s not talk about that.

Tavis: But I know who you're talking about. We ain't gonna call out no names, though. (Laugh) I hear you, I hear you.

Moore: Why do you have to do that? Why do you have to do that?

Tavis: Right.

Moore: I did something once, Dave and I did something one time at the Apollo, and we were singing, and oh, man. We fell on the floor. Oh, and we fell, and oh, boy. And every time we’d fall on the floor, the women would scream, right? So when we were (laugh) finished doing the show, Moms Mabley was standing in the back. And (unintelligible).

Tavis: Yeah, yeah.

Moore: (unintelligible) She said – and I ain’t gonna curse – “You guys, (unintelligible), what that was?” I said, “What? (unintelligible)” (Laugh)

Tavis: What that was.

Moore: What was that? We said, “We’re doing our show.” “What show?” She said, “First of all, ya’ll ain’t cute.” (Laugh) (unintelligible)

Tavis: Ain't nothing cute about you.

Moore: “There’s nothing cute about ya’ll anyway. And (laugh) you there, with them naps around your head, boy, what are you doing? Sing. Why you down on the floor, all down on the floor?”

Tavis: That’s Moms Mabley.

Moore: That was Moms.

Tavis: That’s some good advice, right there.

Moore: Yeah, and Moms said, “If you got to get on the floor to make a, (laugh)...”

Tavis: You ain’t singing.

Moore: No, find yourself another job (laugh). (unintelligible) She said, “With them high-water pants ya’ll were wearing.” I’ll tell you.

Tavis: She was too much.

Moore: And we never did it again (laugh).

Tavis: So you stayed on your feet from that day on.

Moore: Taller than James Brown (laugh). Longer than James Brown (laugh).

Tavis: How does it feel, after all these years, to still be putting out music, “Overnight Sensational,” that gets Grammy nominated?

Moore: Yeah, how about that?

Tavis: Feels good, huh?

Moore: Well, I'm a little disappointed. Because I was there last night, and a lot of things I didn’t understand. When I did the song, I didn’t do it with Billy because I wanted to make it the Grammy.

Tavis: Billy Preston, yeah.

Moore: I wanted to do it as a tribute to him. 'Cause I love Billy from a day I saw him on Nat King Cole’s TV show. But how is it that you put jazz with traditional rhythm and blues, and jazz men over rhythm and blues? Categories didn’t make sense to me. And I didn’t understand. But you know what? It’s okay. Yeah, it’s okay. You just feel disappointed, and pull yourself (unintelligible) go on.

Tavis: But as you well know, those kind of awards are nice, if and when you get them. But the real thing is what you said earlier, the love of the people.

Moore: The love of the people.

Tavis: And can’t nobody faze you on that.

Moore: No, you can’t do that. And the thing about it you gotta understand, one record company screamed louder than the other record company. Those things happen, I guess.

Tavis: That’s the way it works. Well, they can scream all they want to. They can't faze Sam Moore. The new CD, “Overnight Sensational,” by the legendary Sam Moore. What an honor to have you on this program.

Moore: Buddy, Tav.

Tavis: You better run, before I snatch that jacket off of you.

Moore: Hey, you like my shoes?

Tavis: I can’t, what size, I can’t wear your shoes. I like the shoes. What size are you shoes?

Moore: What? I'm not gonna tell you (laugh).

Tavis: All right. While I argue with Sam Moore, up next, legendary music producer Phil Ramone. He’ll be with you in just a second. Stay with us.