David Prater

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David Prater (born May 9, 1937 in Ocilla, Georgia, USA – died April 9, 1988 in Sycamore, Georgia, USA in a car crash), was one half of the soul music duo Sam and Dave. Along with bandmate, Samuel David Moore, both are inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame.

Prater and Sam Moore are veterans of gospel music groups The Melionaires and The Sensational Hummingbirds. They met in The King of Hearts Club in Miami in 1961, signing to Roulette Records, before being signed by Jerry Wexler to Atlantic Records in 1965, then being 'loaned' out, like so many other soul acts of the time, on to Stax Records.

The duo's 1966 debut, "You Don't Know Like I Know", started a series of Top Ten soul hits. These included "Hold On! I'm Comin'" (1966); "You Got Me Hummin'" (1966); "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" (1967); "Soul Man" (1967); and "I Thank You" (1968).

Most of their hits were penned by Isaac Hayes and Dave Porter. In most recordings they were backed by Hayes on piano with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and the Memphis Horns. The ending of their association with the Stax, and their frequently volatile relationship, contributed to their first break-up in 1970.

Sam & Dave reunited several times during the 1970s, most notably on "Come On, Come Over" which appeared on the debut LP of the late jazz bass extraordinare Jaco Pastorius and at the last occasion due to The Blues Brothers's 1978 recording of "Soul Man". In 1986 Moore re-recorded "Soul Man" with Lou Reed for the film of the same name. As was later revealed, drug problems contributed to the pair's instability; Prater was arrested for selling crack to an undercover policeman.

On April 9, 1988, Prater died in a car crash in Sycamore, Georgia.