Review: Sam Moss 'Blues Approved'

Sam Moss

By Mike O’Cull

The late Sam Moss, a bona fide roots music legend in the Winston-Salem area and mentor to folks like Let’s Active, The dB’s, and Southern Culture on the Skids, finally gets his day in the sun with the posthumous release of his album Blues Approved. Set to come out January 28th via Schoolkids Records, the long-lost record was discovered in 2020 by producer Chris Stamey on the end of an old reel, never having been put out in Moss’ lifetime.

The record was assembled from tracks recorded by Moss between 1967 and 1993 and carry a Stax/Muscle Shoals vibe into the room and show Moss to be an outstanding singer and songwriter as well as a happening guitarist. Some of the selections were originally produced by jangle pop mastermind Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Suzanne Vega, Ben Folds Five, Marshall Crenshaw) in 1977, others were done on the cusp of the 90s, and one is a rehearsal tape that dates all the way back to 1967. Taken as a set, Blues Approved does a great job capturing the essence and talent of an influential American musician whose work was never properly appreciated.

So why did the larger-than-life Moss, an amazing live performer who regularly blew minds on the club circuit, never make a record of his own? The Kickstarter page that made this new release possible suggests that he may just have been too in-the-moment for that to happen. Plus, Moss had his heyday before there was really any kind of concept of indie rock or a scene to support him in the way we take for granted today.

Moss eventually got into the vintage guitar business and spent decades supplying rock stars and other celebrities with the finest instruments in the world. After he passed in 2007, a lot of people had nothing to listen to that would keep his memory alive. That situation changed for the better when project producer Stamey found the master tapes.

From the first percolating bars of the opening song “Rooster Blood,” Moss deals out guitar chops and cool vocals with the presence of a star and it’s easy to imagine the spellbinder he must have been onstage. He sings right to the listeners, making us feel like he’s still in the room, and plays guitar the same way. The track is a horn-enhanced boneshaker that overflows with life and soul. Right away, you know this platter is going to be hot.

“King Of My Hill” is an exquisite slow blues/soul song that puts down a strong message of empowerment in the guise of a breakup story. Moss turned a phrase as well as he sang and he made this one into the kind of tune that gets inside your mind when you’re hitting the bottom and makes you realize that you’re not done yet. He also plays some sweet R&B guitar that’s smooth and spiritually alive. If the world was fair, this song would be a standard.

“Ain’t That Peculiar” is a brilliant blast of blue-eyed soul music that could fill any dancefloor in any era. The interplay between Moss and the backup singers is especially tasty, as is the rhythm section of bassist Henry Heidtmann and drummer Jay Johnson. The candid rehearsal recording of Moss as a teen in 1967 doing Buck Owens’ “Act Naturally” is crisp, fun, and shows how good Sam was even at that young age. Moss’ studio cover of The Monkees’ 60s pop masterpiece “Another Pleasant Valley Sunday” is perfectly executed and soars into the sky.

Moss was clearly a musician of considerable range and depth and, though it was unfortunate that the tracks on Blues Approved languished for so long, at least we have them now. The record shines a light on a criminally-overlooked American performer who deserved a lot more fame than he found. This is an undiscovered jewel.

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