David Porter (musician)
Encyclopedia
David Porter is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

ian. Porter is best known as the songwriting and production partner of Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...

 at Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...

 during the 1960s. He later became a Stax recording artist himself.

Biography

As house composers for Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...

, Hayes and Porter penned most of Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave were an American soul and rhythm and blues duo who performed together from 1961 through 1981. The tenor voice was Samuel David Moore , and the baritone/tenor voice was Dave Prater .Sam & Dave are members of...

's hits, including "Soul Man
Soul Man (song)
"Soul Man" is a 1967 song written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, first successful as a #2 hit single by Atlantic Records soul duo Sam & Dave.-Song history and background:...

", “I Thank You
I Thank You (song)
"I Thank You" is a song written by David Porter and Isaac Hayes originally recorded by Sam & Dave, released in early 1968. The single was Sam & Dave's final release on Stax Records, reaching #9 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and #4 on the R&B chart...

,” “When Something Is Wrong with My Baby
When Something Is Wrong with My Baby
"When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" is a popular hit song, a soul ballad, written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, sung by Sam & Dave, and first released in 1967 by Stax Records....

” and "Hold On, I'm Comin'
Hold On, I'm Comin'
Hold On, I'm Comin' is the 1966 debut album by Atlantic Records soul duo Sam and Dave, issued on the Atlantic-distributed Stax label in 1966....

". They also wrote material for Carla Thomas
Carla Thomas
Carla Thomas is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas.-Childhood:...

 (“B-A-B-Y”), Johnnie Taylor
Johnnie Taylor
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was an American vocalist in a wide variety of genres, from rhythm and blues, soul, blues and gospel to pop, doo-wop and disco.-Early years:...

 (“I Got to Love Somebody’s Baby” and “I Had a Dream”), and The Soul Children
The Soul Children
The Soul Children was an American vocal group who recorded soul music for Stax Records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They had three top ten hits on the Billboard R&B chart – "The Sweeter He Is" , "Hearsay" , and "I'll Be The Other Woman" – all of which crossed over to the Hot...

. Starting in the late '60s, Hayes became increasingly involved in his own recording career, eventually leading to the end of the partnership. The Hayes-Porter duo composed 200 songs during their collaboration.

Porter then began recording his own albums for Stax. He also released on other labels under the pseudonyms Little David and Kenny Cain, and had done a single for Stax itself in 1965, "Can't See You When I Want To", a remake of which became a Top 30 RB hit for Porter, and he cut several albums for Stax in the early '70s, including a concept LP, Victim of the Joke? which includes an upbeat cover of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

' Help!
Help! (song)
"Help!" is a song by The Beatles that served as the title song for both the 1965 film and its soundtrack album. It was also released as a single, and was number one for three weeks in both the United States and the United Kingdom....

.

Porter began working with songwriting partner Ronnie Williams, and later went on to engineer the brief relaunch of the Stax label in 1978, after the bankrupt label's assets were acquired by Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...

.

He and Hayes received Pioneer Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation
Rhythm and Blues Foundation
The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is an independent American nonprofit organization dedicated to the historical and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music....

 in 1999.
On June 9, 2005, Porter was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...

 alongside Bill Withers
Bill Withers
William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands"...

, Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...

, Robert B. Sherman
Robert B. Sherman
Robert Bernard Sherman is an American songwriter who specializes in musical films with his brother Richard Morton Sherman...

, Richard M. Sherman
Richard M. Sherman
Richard Morton Sherman is an American songwriter who specializes in musical film with his brother Robert Bernard Sherman....

, John Fogerty
John Fogerty
John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...

 and his longtime writing partner Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...

.

Porter currently resides in Memphis, Tennessee.

Albums

All albums issued on Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...

' Enterprise label.
  • 1970: Gritty, Groovy, and Gettin' It
  • 1971: Into a Real Thing
  • 1971: Victim of the Joke? An Opera
  • 1973: Sweat and Love

Singles

All singles issued on Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...

' Enterprise label unless otherwise noted.
  • 1970: "Can't See You When I Want To" b/w "Win You Over" (Stax)
  • 1970: "One Part Love, Two Parts Pain" b/w "Can't See You When I Want To"
  • 1971: "If I Give It Up, I Want It Back" Pt. I b/w "If I Give It Up, I Want It Back" Pt. II
  • 1972: "Ain't That Loving You" b/w "Baby I'ma Want You" (with Isaac Hayes
    Isaac Hayes
    Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...

    )
  • 1972: "I'm Afraid the Masquerade is Over" b/w "Hang On Sloopy
    Hang on Sloopy
    "Hang on Sloopy" is a song by the pop group The McCoys which was #1 in America in October 1965 and is the official rock song of the state of Ohio and The Ohio State University...

    "
  • 1972: "When The Chips Are Down" b/w "I Wanna Be Your Somebody"
  • 1973: "Long As You're the One Somebody in the World" b/w "When You Have to Sneak, You Have to Sneak"
  • 1974: "I Got You and I'm Glad" b/w "Falling Out, Falling In"

Songwriting and production with Isaac Hayes

  • 1965: "Candy" by The Astors
  • 1965: "You Don't Know Like I Know" by Sam & Dave
    Sam & Dave
    Sam & Dave were an American soul and rhythm and blues duo who performed together from 1961 through 1981. The tenor voice was Samuel David Moore , and the baritone/tenor voice was Dave Prater .Sam & Dave are members of...

  • 1966: "Let Me Be Good to You" by Carla Thomas
    Carla Thomas
    Carla Thomas is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas.-Childhood:...

  • 1966: "B-A-B-Y" by Carla Thomas
  • 1966: "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)" by Mabel John
  • 1966: "Hold On, I'm Comin'
    Hold On, I'm Comin'
    Hold On, I'm Comin' is the 1966 debut album by Atlantic Records soul duo Sam and Dave, issued on the Atlantic-distributed Stax label in 1966....

    " by Sam & Dave
  • 1967: "When Something is Wrong with My Baby
    When Something Is Wrong with My Baby
    "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" is a popular hit song, a soul ballad, written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, sung by Sam & Dave, and first released in 1967 by Stax Records....

    " by Sam & Dave
  • 1967: "Soul Man
    Soul Man (song)
    "Soul Man" is a 1967 song written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, first successful as a #2 hit single by Atlantic Records soul duo Sam & Dave.-Song history and background:...

    " by Sam & Dave
  • 1968: "I Thank You
    I Thank You (song)
    "I Thank You" is a song written by David Porter and Isaac Hayes originally recorded by Sam & Dave, released in early 1968. The single was Sam & Dave's final release on Stax Records, reaching #9 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and #4 on the R&B chart...

    " by Sam & Dave
  • 1969: "So I Can Love You" by The Emotions
    The Emotions
    The Emotions are an American all female soul and R&B singing group. The group was formed in its current hometown of Chicago, Illinois originally consisting of the three Hutchinson sisters, all the children of Joseph and Lillian Hutchinson....

     (production only)
  • 1969: "The Sweeter He Is" by The Soul Children
    The Soul Children
    The Soul Children was an American vocal group who recorded soul music for Stax Records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They had three top ten hits on the Billboard R&B chart – "The Sweeter He Is" , "Hearsay" , and "I'll Be The Other Woman" – all of which crossed over to the Hot...

  • 1969: "Soul Sister Brown Sugar" by Sam & Dave

External links

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