Sam Dees

His name has never broken through for casual music listeners, but in the soul music world, Sam Dees is royalty, both as a performer and as a hitmaking songwriter.

Born on December 17, 1945, the Birmingham, Alabama native was performing as a child, and formed his own vocal group, the Bossanovians, as a teen.

Dees began recording professionally in his early 20s, but his early 70s releases failed to attract much attention. It was his turn as a songwriter that began his ascent to iconic status. By the early 80s, Dees compositions were regularly topping the charts, with such now-classic songs as “One In A Million You” (Larry Graham), “Save The Overtime (for Me)” (Gladys Knight), “Am I Dreaming” (Atlantic Starr), “Where Did We Go Wrong” (LTD), and the trio of killer ballads (“Love Calls,” “Let Me Heal The Bruises” and “Games, Games”) from Tavares’ 1979 smash album Madam Butterfly.

Dees continued to record through the end of the 1990s, issuing nine albums of varying commercial success but uniform quality.

Dees was part of the discographies of so many great artists, his influence on the soul music of the 1970s and 80s is tough to overstate. And he continues to write and produce artists independently now well into the 21st century.

By Chris Rizik