Roulette didn't release this album until 1966 -- two years after
Sam & Dave's last Roulette single. (They had become a household name via Stax Records when this hit the market.) It is definitive Roulette, containing both sides of their six singles for the label. Roulette featured
Dave Prater's baritone/tenor more prominently than
Sam Moore's vibrant gospel tenor -- Stax featured
Moore. They recorded "I Got a Thing Going On," "I Need Love," "No Pain," and "Keep Walkin'" at Criterion Studios in Miami for
Henry Stone. And according to
Moore, they first dropped on either Marlin or TK Records (
the Rolling Stones' labels). Their first Roulette release, "I Need Love," written by
Moore and Sam Early (not
Prater as credited) went unnoticed. A nondescript "No More Pain" did no better. Through
Morris Levy (the nefarious owner of Roulette), they kept busy gigging with no hits. According to
Moore, "
Jackie Wilson hung around the studio and sings background (uncredited) on many of these tracks." A third release, "She's Alright," failed miserably. Only the flowing "It's So Nice While It Lasted," where
Prater and
Moore's voices blend soulfully, had any juice; it almost broke in 1963. Roulette released the charmer again in 1966 to ride the wave of their Stax hits. ~ Andrew Hamilton