The famed R&B duo Sam & Dave made it a hit. Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi adopted it as The Blues Brothers’ theme song. But it was David Porter who co-wrote the iconic “Soul Man,” and countless other tunes, with long-time writing partner Issac Hayes. In a new memoir aptly titled The Soul Man, Porter looks back on his storied career, the history of Stax Records, and the memorable road he’s been on.
Maggie Murphy: Writing a book at 84 is so impressive. Other than Father Time, what was your motivation in sharing your story now?
David Porter: Primarily because I knew I had great recall of the journey and that maybe it would serve a positive purpose in someone’s life.
Needless to say, you are no stranger to recording studios. What was different about narrating your audiobook?
Keeping oneself in the period and not letting yourself grab a tidbit that may want to come in. Coming on different days and having to pick back up at the period you left the day before, and keep the same intensity from that day before.
What can you share about Sam & Dave and recording “Soul Man”?
Isaac [Hayes] and I always had the concern, because they came in with short timelines to record, whether I could get them into the character of the idea. We found out recording "Soul Man" that it was clear that they understood what the expectations were, and they delivered from then on. “Hold on, I’m Comin’” made that happen. That success gave them and us the feeling of what could be. They trusted my teaching them the songs and the importance of the idea delivering the texture that made the audience feel the song’s spirit.
You’ve said that the song was inspired by the Civil Rights Movement. In what way?
Isaac had gone to Detroit and saw on buildings the word "SOUL." Those buildings were respected and not disturbed. He gave me the title, and I created the concept around pride, dignity, and respect. Came up with the melody and we wrote it. We knew, based on the times, it would give people that feeling, and it did.
Given how your music also reflected the era’s social and political moods, I’m curious about “Hold on, I’m Comin.'”
To understand that the song was written in 1966 and we were not sure of any audience other than people who looked like us; we created songs with that in mind. A motivation for our audience was grounded in support for each other and was paramount. The lyric lines were written with that in mind. We also had intent of it being adaptable to love, teams, family, and self.
When you think about your famed partner Issac Hayes today, what comes to mind? Is there a song you wrote together that captures your relationship?
I really feel that the only ones who could ever know the power of our bond was he and I. That respect, trust, and pride for what we did can’t be altered by anyone else’s fairy tale. He was one of the most brilliant minds that ever wrote a song, thought of a horn, guitar, bass, string, reed, and keyboard part. When we collaborated with each other, we gave to each other and thrived in the trust that we could.
When it came to recording the book, were there parts that were unexpectedly emotional to read out loud?
Too many parts to elaborate on. My mother, Isaac, Maurice White, my brothers, sisters. You take your pick, they all were.
Stax Records is beloved and celebrated today. What made Stax so special?
The spirit of Stax was steeped in the created processes of authentic soulfulness of the Black experiences throughout the music. The fascinating thing was we had the participating contributions of three white players that immersed their being into living and believing in the spirit of that music. Stax brought the church into the spirit of the music with no shame, no camouflage, no real competition to it.
You worked hard to add music to this. What songs did you select and why?
"Soul Man," "Hold on, I’m Comin,'" "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby," "Fire and Water," "The Real Thing Don’t Change." The first three doesn’t take much to understand why, they’re classics. The other two songs were written after Stax was closed, which makes the creation around 1988, ’89.
These songs to me epitomize my passion to create material that has emotional connectivity and deal with the eternal natural feeling that any generation will have. I recorded these from that catalog of unreleased songs that I thought people may not have heard, that I independently released through MIME Records, a company I started in 2015. It's not too late. I still think they can be hit songs.
What's your favorite deep cut of your own?
My favorite two songs are by the same artist, Rance Allen. They are “Just Found Me” and "Ain’t No Need Of Crying." They touched my heart deeply. The simplicity yet power of the lyric and the emotional leading melody does all I’d want a good song to do.
When you say “deep cut,” I have to say, for a writer, we know that people don’t care about how the song feels to you, they care, correctly so, about how it makes them feel. So, when a song makes me forget that, and I get lost in my feeling, well, that’s deep.
Your songs were sampled by talents like Will Smith, Mariah Carey, and WuTang. What did you enjoy about those experiences?
My greatest joy was seeing where it took those creatives, from what I created. For them to have those visions from my work and make it have energized, new life was shocking in each of those cases. When you get past feeling honored, to then look at what they did, you can’t help but be impressed with what you created and what they did with it. I’m a huge fan of each of those artists. The only one I’ve not had the pleasure of telling face to face is Will.
On that note, do you have an opinion on producers now using AI to re-create the feel or sound of classic music in lieu of traditional sampling?
Not a good one in some instances. I know the ability to drive a creative to have to think inside their own head gives one a sense of earned pride that is an emotional lift inside your spirit that you shouldn’t want to ever lose. If that goes away, I feel that the drive to live will, eventually. Humans will always need to feel a purpose in life is being fulfilled.
What do you listen to these days in terms of both music and audiobooks?
All music, but mostly soul, and any audio that gives life lessons.
