Sam McClain

1943 - 2015

NEWMARKET - Mighty Sam McClain, the last of the truly great red clay soul voices in American music, died on Monday, June 15, 2015, at the age of 72, after a fight with cancer.Sam led a remarkable and rich life as a singer / songwriter and rose to the pinnacle of his art, touring the world, creating a legacy of albums that define the character of the human spirit. For the last decades of his life, he lived in Epping and Newmarket with Sandra McClain, his devoted wife and business partner.Samuel McClain was born in Monroe, La., in 1943. He began singing in his mother Emily's Baptist church at age 5. Even then he knew he had a gift that would take him away from the cotton fields. Sam had his first hit, a spiritually informed version of the Patsy Cline tune "Sweet Dreams," in 1966. That single climbed the R&B charts and propelled Sam to the stage of the Apollo Theater. Club dates and tours continued, but hard times followed. In the 1990s he relocated to Boston, began recording a stream of critically acclaimed albums and took control of his career, releasing CDs on the Audioquest, Telarc and Mighty Music labels. He was Grammy nominated and many Blues Music Award nominations followed the release of his recorded music.Sam's importance within the cultural and artistic realms of American music cannot be overstated. He was a living bridge between the deep historic roots of African-American gospel music, the old-school sounds of rhythm and blues, soul and funk, and today's cutting edge, which is reflected in the body of his work. He sang about faith, dignity, race, oppression and social responsibility.Sam declared that, "To me, making music is all about freedom. I believe I have a gift from God and I've worked hard all my life to pursue my own vision of it. This is what I do, and I'm going to keep doing it as long as God gives me breath."

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SERVICES: Private services will be held by the family.To sign an online guest book, please visit www.brewittfuneralhome.com.