Sam Moore is a superstar. Why he never became 'bigger than sliced-bread,' is beyond me, but thankfully he took the Ray Charles approach with this timeless album. It truly is a "Sensational" album full of seminal classics like "It's Only Make Believe" and "You Are So Beautiful." If you love good music you should do yourself a favor and pick up this fine release.
The Overlooked 'Soul Man'
For the better-part of a decade, Sam Moore was part of the famous Soul/R&B group Sam and Dave (with Dave Prater). The duo had seminal hits that included "Soul Man," a song which became more popular in the John Belushi film The Blues Brothers. After recording an unreleased solo album in 1972, Sam Moore virtually vanished from the mainstream musical scene. For more than a decade he was relegated to the dreaded 'oldies' circuit. By the early 2000s, Sam had started to garner some interest with some influential fans who though that a 'duets' album with many of the best from modern pop music would find a group of fans not unlike what Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company did.Sam, his manager/wife Joyce and a couple financiers found a willing producer in American Idol's resident judge/producer Randy Jackson. Jackson and company then assembled a star-studded list of guests and the resulting album (released on Rhino Records) is Overnight Sensational.
A Fine Album
Fans of pop music history will probably be familiar with the infamous late 1980s song "Blame It On The Rain." A Grammy-winning song for duo Milli Vanilli (who then lost the Grammy when they revealed that they were simply dancers and lip-syncers), Sam Moore and American Idol season three winner Fantasia take Diane Warren's song and give it the justice it so deserves. Jon Bon Jovi helps out on "Lookin' For Love" while Steve Winwood helps out on "Ain't No Love."
While Overnight Sensational can hardly be classified as a country album, it is by no means something that country music fans cannot enjoy. Every song on this album is tastefully produced and features superstars who simply wanted the chance to sing with a legend like Sam Moore. While many people may not even know that Sam (& Dave) originally sang classics like "Soul Man," they can now hear a timeless voice singing some of the best songs popular music has ever created.
