Birth name Samuel Moore Role Singer Instruments Keyboards, piano Genres Electric blues | Years active Late 1950s–present Record label Music Maker Name Ironing Sam | |
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Occupation(s) Keyboardist, singer, songwriter Labels Orleans Records, various, Music Maker Albums Double Bang: Hot Bang!, Double Bang: Big Bang!, Super Spirit, Ironing Board Sam and the Sticks Similar People Cicada Rhythm, John Dee Holeman, Beverly Watkins, Dom Flemons, Drink Small | ||
Ironing board sam rock me baby live at grace hall
Samuel Moore (born July 17, 1939), who performs and records as Ironing Board Sam, is an American electric blues keyboardist, singer and songwriter, who has released a small number of singles and albums. His musical career, despite several low points, has spanned over fifty years, and he released a new album in 2012. "I'll tell you one thing, it's the blues," he stated. "That's why I look like a blues man now."
Contents
- Ironing board sam rock me baby live at grace hall
- Ironing board sam man of the street 1970
- Biography
- Discography
- References
One commentator, describing Ironing Board Sam's 1996 album, Human Touch, noted that he "has a surprisingly smooth and effective croon and his piano playing, while subdued, is still remarkable."
Ironing board sam man of the street 1970
Biography
Moore was born in Rock Hill, South Carolina. While concentrating initially on boogie-woogie and gospel music, he learned the electronic organ before graduating to playing the blues in Miami, Florida. After relocating to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1959, he formed a band and got his stage name from his practice of strapping his legless keyboard to an ironing board for performances. He disliked his stage name, but he later turned it to an advantage by giving away ironing boards at some of his concerts. In 1962, he was backed by a band containing the young Jimi Hendrix.
He moved around the United States trying to get a recording contract, eventually issuing a handful of singles for Atlantic, Styletone and Holiday Inn in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He also performed on Night Train in the mid-1960s.
His performing technique was unusual, and he developed an eccentric persona in several directions. He invented a "button keyboard", which had a regular keyboard arrangement underneath which were fitted guitar strings. Rudimentary electronics gave him a three-pronged sound, which he used primarily when billed as the "Eighth Wonder of the World" while performing as a duo with the drummer Kerry Brown. In 1978, his intention to perform in a hot air balloon was cancelled because of adverse weather. At the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival a year later he played in a 1,500-gallon tank filled with water. By 1982, when he had moved back to New Orleans, he had developed the idea of performing as a "human jukebox", playing only when people inserted coins into his jukebox-styled costume. He worked in the Latin Quarter and got some club work after an appearance on the television program Real People. In the late 1980s he was accompanied by a toy monkey, known as Little George, that was rigged to play in synchronization with a drum machine. His more recent live sets have featured a mix of blues and jazz.
In 1990, Ironing Board Sam toured Europe. His debut album, Human Touch, was released in 1996.
He joined the Music Maker Relief Foundation in 2010 and moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He was provided with new musical equipment, recorded a new album and played at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in April 2012.
In late 2012 and 2013, Ironing Board Sam played a series of concerts across North Carolina. He performed at the Steel City Blues Festival in March 2014. He returned to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in April 2014.
In 2015, Ironing Board Sam starred in a series of advertisements for Faultless Starch.
Discography
Apart from some live recordings, Sam's discography includes the following: