Editing Sam & Dave (section)

==Later years (1972–1981)==
Despite inability to attract a major label after Atlantic, there was still demand for public performances, especially in Europe.<ref>''Blues and Soul'' August 6–19, 1971 p.6</ref> They toured Turkey in Spring, 1972 and England in Spring, 1973. Sam & Dave also continued to be visible in the U.S., performing on TV shows including ''[[The Midnight Special (TV series)|The Midnight Special]]'' and ''[[The Mike Douglas Show]]''. According to Sam, most U.S. shows in the 1970s were small clubs, oldies shows, and whatever they could get. He attributed their poor bookings during this period to rumors of drug use and bad blood between the duo.

Sam & Dave returned to the studio in 1974 and 1975, recording an album of new songs titled ''Back at Cha'' for United Artists. The album – their first album of new material in 7 years – was produced by [[Steve Cropper]], and featured the MGs and The Memphis Horns and had a minor R&B single, "[[A Little Bit of Good (Cures a Whole Lot of Bad)|A Little Bit of Good]]" (R&B No. 89). Songwriters included Cropper, Allen Toussaint, and Jimmy Cliff.<ref>''All Music Guide To Soul'' ed Boganov/Bush/Woodstra/Erlewine 2003 Backbeat Books p.58</ref> Although the LP received positive reviews, it failed to chart. In a side project, they provided vocals on "Come On, Come Over" for [[Jaco Pastorius]] for his debut album on Epic in 1976.

In 1976–77, Sam & Dave recorded songs in the UK with producer John Abbey. Two singles were released on Abbey's Contempo label in the UK and Germany, with limited success. Ironically, given the duo's disputes, one of the last singles by Sam & Dave was a cover of [[The Beatles]] "[[We Can Work It Out]]". Sam & Dave also briefly retired in 1977, with Dave working at a Pontiac dealership in New Jersey and Sam working at an Austin, Texas, law firm as a process server.

In 1978, Sam & Dave re-recorded old hits for the LP ''Sweet & Funky Gold'' (Gusto), and re-recorded songs and other soul hits during this period in Nashville for an album for [[K-Tel Records]], ''The Original Soul Man''.<ref>''Sam & Dave – An Oral History'' p.130</ref> In Summer, 1978, they toured Germany for two weeks.

In 1979, Sam & Dave enjoyed a significant resurgence of interest as a result of [[Dan Aykroyd]]'s and [[John Belushi]]'s sketch characters [[The Blues Brothers]]'', ''and the comic actors' 1979 top-40 cover of "Soul Man". Moore stated they were offered an opportunity to perform onstage with Belushi and Aykroyd on ''SNL'' but turned it down when Belushi said Sam & Dave had to perform the intro, then the Blues Brothers would take over. According to an April 1988 interview with Aykroyd in the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]],'' Aykroyd saw Sam & Dave as a teenager at the Montreal Expo in 1967 and said they were one of his biggest influences for creating The Blues Brothers. Aykroyd convinced director [[John Landis]] to include the Jake and Elwood Blues characters listening to "Hold On, I'm Comin{{'"}} and "Soothe Me" while riding in the Bluesmobile in the 1980 film ''[[The Blues Brothers (film)|The Blues Brothers]]'' as a tribute to Sam & Dave.

Also in 1979, Sam & Dave opened shows for [[The Clash]] on their U.S. tour, including at the [[Palladium (music venue)|Palladium]] in New York City. In 1980, the duo performed in [[Paul Simon]]'s film ''[[One-Trick Pony (film)|One Trick Pony]]'' and, finally, on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''. In 1980, they also were featured in a U.S. tour opening for the 1950s revival band [[Sha Na Na]].

In 1981, they re-recorded many hits along with [[Sam Cooke]] and [[Otis Redding]] covers for LPs titled ''Soul Study Vol. 1'' and ''Soul Study Vol. 2'' (Odyssey). The pair last performed on New Year's Eve, 1981, at the [[Old Waldorf]] in San Francisco. According to Moore, when they walked off stage it was the last time they spoke to each other.<ref>''Sam & Dave – An Oral History'' p.118</ref>