Born in
Antigua, in the
West Indies, in 1947, Samuel relocated to London, U.K. as a child. Self-taught on bass, through the 1960s he toured and recorded with a series of groups which included other West Indian musicians. In 1965 he played in
Blue-Ace-Unit with
Junior Marvin. In 1966 he joined
Joe E. Young & The Toniks (with drummer
Conrad Isidore and vocalist
Colin Young), but left before their 1968 album
Soul Buster! produced by
Tommy Scott (producer of
Them). In 1968, Samuel, Isidore and guitarist/singer Wendell Richardson formed the
psychedelic rock/soul trio
The Sundae Times, and recorded an album of original songs,
Us Coloured Kids, produced by their friend
Eddy Grant of
The Equals. One single "Aba-Aba” was a hit in Israel. Some sources claim that Samuel plays, uncredited, on recordings by The Equals. In late 1969 or early 1970, Samuel met American singer-songwriter Stephen Stills in London. At
Island Studios in January 1970 they began recording for
Stills' first solo album, which includes the hit single "
Love the One You're With", and contributions by
Jimi Hendrix and Samuel's friend Isidore. Relocating to the US, Samuel became the bassist for
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and immediately took part in the studio recording of their protest song "
Ohio", recorded in May 1970. After touring with CSNY, he became a founding member of Stills' super-group,
Manassas, a band which brought together rock, folk, blues, country and Latin rhythms. He appears on CSNY's live album
4 Way Street (1971) and other solo recordings by Stills, Nash, and Crosby. From the 1970s, through to the 1990s, Samuel worked with musicians in the UK and US including
Rita Coolidge,
Dr. John,
Marianne Faithfull,
America,
Alvin Lee,
Steve Winwood,
Mick Taylor,
Kevin Ayers, and
Taj Mahal. His long friendship with Taj resulted in his bass playing on the Grammy-nominated album
Mule Bone (1991). In the early 1990s, Samuel was a member of
Bobby Keys' band, Tumbling Dice, along with other
Rolling Stones associates
Mick Taylor,
Nicky Hopkins, and
Ivan Neville. Samuel has recorded under his own name from the 1990s onwards, singing and playing bass, bouzouki, and guitar. He has released albums including
This Train Still Runs, ''Love Don't Taste Like Chicken'' (1999), ==Personal life==