Sam Moore Ready for Bruce Springsteen Duet at Rock Hall Anniversary

Posted on Oct 22nd 2009 2:00PM by Steve Baltin
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As part of next week's massive Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary shows at New York City's Madison Square Garden, there are going to be a lot of special pairings -- Metallica with Ozzy Osbourne, Stevie Wonder and B.B. King, and Aretha Franklin joined by Lenny Kravitz and Annie Lennox. When Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band hit the stage next Thursday, Oct. 29, they'll be joined by an old friend, 'Soul Man' Sam Moore. "From what I've been told, he had been offered to invite many people, but ol' brother man and me gonna be getting together this time again," Moore, one half of iconic soul duo Sam and Dave, tells Spinner about pairing with Springsteen.

It's well known that Bruce can be spontaneous in concert, treating set lists like rough outlines, and at big shows like this, even money says there will be some surprises in store. Of course, that's fine with Moore. "It came to my mind he'll probably wait until I get on stage and say, 'Okay, let's do so and so,'" Moore says. "It's alright with me. As long as I've known him -- and this is going back to the '70s -- doing anything with him he is so spontaneous when it comes to he and I. We don't stand on ceremony. It's just go with the flow, man."

The pair has developed that kind of rapport from working together over the years. Moore has guested at Springsteen's live shows, while Springsteen returned the favor, singing 'Better to Have and Not Need' on Moore's 2006 duets album, 'Overnight Sensational.' And while the songs may be a surprise, the quality is never going to be. "When we were doing the Christmas show, which he does every year, at the time his guy called and said, 'Bruce would like to see you in the dressing room,'" Moore recalls. "So I went down to the dressing room and we started talking and he said, 'Hey, Sam, will you do 'The Rising' with me?' Don't worry, it'll be on the monitors and all that stuff.' And that's the way it was done. I went on the stage and I gotta tell you, I enjoyed doing that song with him."