Sam and Bill

An R&B vocal duo formed in Newark, New Jersey, USA, comprising Bill Johnson (b. 16 October 1932, Augusta, Georgia, USA) and Sam Gary (b. Columbus, South Carolina, USA). Sam And Bill were fine representatives of an interesting early 60s phenomenon in the soul revolution - that is, the emergence of highly gospelized vocal duos such as Sam And Dave, the Righteous Brothers and Knight Brothers. Johnson first recorded for Sun Records in a group called the Steps Of Rhythm. Gary was originally the guitarist for a group called the Soul Brothers. The two teamed up in 1962 and had hits with deep soul reworkings of two pop ballads, ‘For Your Love’ (number 14 R&B, 1965), which was a remake of Ed Townsend’s 1958 hit, and ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ (number 38 R&B, 1966). Their record company JoDa then folded and the duo broke up. Johnson recruited Sam Davis Jnr. (b. 10 December 1940, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA) to be the new Sam. This duo in 1967 recorded for Brunswick Records without success.