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Meet obscure R&B legend Ironing Board Sam
09.21.2015
06:14 pm
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Ironing Board Sam
Photo by Walter Lenk

Ironing Board Sam is one of those artists who, when suddenly appearing on your radar screen, leaves you wondering, ‘How have I not heard of this person before?’
 
Ironing Board Sam, 1969
1969

Ironing Board Sam was born Sammie Moore in 1939 in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He moved to Memphis in 1959, and formed his first band. He started strapping his instrument, a keyboard, to an ironing board to make it portable, allowing him to carry it around and prop it up wherever he desired on stage. Someone called him “Ironing Board Sam,” and the nickname stuck. His career progressed, and in 1965 he began performing on the television show Night Train, appearing several times. In 1967, he pressed up just 100 copies of his debut LP, The Ninth Wonder of the World of Music (thankfully it’s been reissued). In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, he released a handful of 45s on a few different labels, including a couple on record industry behemoth, Atlantic. Though he’d always been a colorful showman, to compete with disco in the late ‘70s, Sam took it up a few notches, coming up with a variety of stunts, such as performing at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival from inside a 1,500 gallon tank—filled with water!
 
Ironing Board Sam inside the tank
Photo by Walter Lenk

Ironing Board Sam has experienced a revival the last few years, releasing a number of albums and appearing at high-profile festivals. There’s even a short documentary on the man, which you can watch for free here. At age 75, after more than 55 years in show business, Sam is finally getting his due.

Continues after the jump…

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Posted by Bart Bealmear
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09.21.2015
06:14 pm
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