David Porter: Gritty, Groovy and Gettin’ It…
Sunday, June 3rd, 2007While he is best known as the songwriting and producing partner of Isaac Hayes, illustrious Memphian David Porter was also a recording artist in his own right, following in the footsteps as Hayes without achieving a comparable measure of sales success.
David and Isaac had known each other for a number of years prior to writing together: both had een involved with rival Memphis singing groups in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. In a late ’70 interview with John Abbey, editor and founder of Britain’s “Blues & Soul” magazine, he revealed, “My first impression of Ike was actually his deep bass singing with The Teentones on “Old MacDonald Had A Farm”!”
As “Little David,” Porter recorded a smattering of singles (also under the pseudonym Kenny Cain) before he hooked up with Ike in 1962 to become what would be one of the foundational creative mainstays of the entire Stax musical empire, writing and producing hits for almost all of the artists on the roster including Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Johnnie Taylor and The Emotions.
After Ike’s monumental breakthrough with “Hot Buttered Soul” in ‘69, David felt it was time to resurrect his own recording career – hence “Gritty, Groovin’ & Gettin’ It,” a 1970 release comprised of eight songs. The album is being made available by Stax/Concord for the first time since then as a digital-only release initially at i-Tunes.
Along with cover versions of Stevie Wonder’s “I Don’t Know Why I Love You” and The Temptations’ “The Way You Do The Things You Do,” the LP included Porter’s take on the Platters’ standard “I Only Have Eyes For You,” Jesse Belvin’s “Guess Who?” and Gene Chandler’s “Just Be True” (penned by Curtis Mayfield). Of particular interest to British soul fans: “One Part – Two Parts” which was a minor hit for Porter in the UK. Also on the set was “Can’t See You When I Want To” which David had recorded as a single for Stax in 1965, re-cutting it for his 1970 Enterprise album debut. It would be one of his two charted singles, reaching No. 29 on the R&B charts in the spring of 1970; a duet with Hayes on the song “Ain’t That Lovin’ You*(For More Reasons Than One),” previously a hit for Johnnie Taylor, made some chart noise in ’72.
In his 1970 “Blues & Soul” interview, Porter shed some light on the “Gritty” project, noting, “Looking back, we all know that we recorded the album in too short a time. Not that we didn’t put enough care into it, but rather we became contented with what we had and didn’t make enough experiments…. But it did sell very well…”
Porter had produced the album with partner Hayes: however, he stated, “because of pressure of work, Ike wasn’t able to work with me” on his second set, “Into A Real Thing” which actually contained one song left over from the “Gritty” sessions, a version of the Chuck Jackson classic, “I Don’t Want To Cry.”
As it turned out, the “Gritty” project would be David Porter’s best-selling album of the total of four he cut for Stax, reaching No. 4 on Billboard’s R&B charts; the follow up, “Into A Real Thing” (still awaiting CD reissue or digital release at some stage) also made the Top 10 but the concept-driven “Victim Of The Joke?” (which is on CD) and 1973’s “Sweat And Love” failed to keep any momentum David had established with “Gritty, Groovy & Gettin’ It.” Not that he minded: those Hayes-Porter copyrights kept rollin’ along, ensuring David a permanent place as one of the most prolific songwriters in contemporary popular music.
David Nathan
Aka the British Ambassador Of Soul
Owner, www.soulmusic.com
