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David Porter

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

David Porter is an American songwriter from Memphis. He was born in 1941, the ninth of twelve children, and began singing in church, often with his classmate Maurice White, who later founded Earth, Wind and Fire. Through Chips Moman he ended up at the label Satellite, which soon became Stax Records, Memphis's well-known soul label.

Music and breakthrough

At Stax, Porter was the first staff songwriter. He brought artists such as The Emotions and The Soul Children to the label and brought in Isaac Hayes as a writing partner. Together Porter and Hayes wrote most of Sam & Dave's hits, including Soul Man and Hold On, I'm Comin'. Porter also made records of his own. In 1965 his single Can't See You When I Want To appeared, and in the early 1970s albums followed such as Gritty, Groovy, & Gettin' It and Victim of the Joke?, on which he recorded Help! by The Beatles. In 1978 he accompanied the brief return of the Stax label.

Influence

In 2005 Porter was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He wrote more than 1,700 songs for artists from Aretha Franklin to Wu-Tang Clan, and his songs were often sampled. In 2012 he founded the organization The Consortium MMT in Memphis, to train young musicians.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Soul Man by Sam & Dave. Notice how vocals, horns and rhythm keep answering one another, as Porter and Hayes wrote it for Stax.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists