Any soul music fan knows about David Porter. Though the records released under his name were never smash hits for Stax Records, his songwriting partnership with Isaac Hayes became one of the most celebrated behind-the-scenes collaborations of the era. So casual readers won’t be too shocked to learn that when “Soul Man” became the No. 1 pop song in the nation, Porter made $20,000. The song ultimately earned him a lot more than that, but what’s fascinating is the way he first cashed in on the record — and it wasn’t through royalties. That particular payday took place because Porter, at heart, was a risk-taker, and more than a little cocky.
He lays out the situation in his compelling new self-published autobiography, The Soul Man: Life of Songwriter David Porter, as told by Porter to his collaborator, Redwriter. “Soul Man” was a turning point, and Porter knew it, betting Stax co-owner Jim Stewart $20,000 that the freshly-mixed track, once released, would be a hit. “Everything about ‘Soul Man’ told me that we were doing things the right way,” recalls Porter, “so I told Jim that we would have a number one hit song with pop radio in the nation.” When that proved true, “I made sure not to let it go. After all, he had agreed on that.”
The story is one of many about songwriting’s grip on Porter’s imagination from his youngest years, and his bold risk-taking along the way. Indeed, having started singing at Rose Hill Baptist Church by the age of seven, he began with an elevated sense of his own talent. “I would belt out every song and my voice was one of the loudest,” he writes. “The other church members would clap and holler with every verse. Little did I know that they were praising God and not clapping for my performances. Regardless, I had caught the bug for stage fame.”
Following those earliest years, growing up in extreme poverty with a loving mother and siblings, Porter kept pursuing music by any means necessary, aided and abetted by his childhood friend, Maurice White, who went on to found Earth, Wind & Fire. And with every vocal group or school program he sang for, Porter was determined to learn. After flopping at a ninth-grade talent show, he resolved to only focus on material that moved his soul. “I started a phrase in my writing and in my thoughts that I must ‘deep it.’ That is to make sure it is emotionally connected to someone in a fresh way.”
The importance of “deeping it” resurfaces again and again thereafter. Years later, he would inspire Hayes with the same concept, saying, “Listen man, we have to deep it. We’ve got to come up with more meat in what we are saying. We have to bring about a feel to our music that has the same energy as the church.” That gospel fire was a unique quality in the material the two supplied to Sam & Dave and others.
And that fire did run deep, as Porter’s many testimonials to his faith attest. Parallel to that was his empathy for others, rooted in his family. His first love song, written in grade school, was “inspired by the women I had in my life at that time, my mother and sisters.” His sensitivity to the interior lives of men and women alike subsequently came through in the lyrics and melodies he brought to his career-defining hits. Most of all, as he writes, “I wanted to feel what I was doing.”
This book is loaded with those feelings, being more akin to chatting with an old friend than your typical writerly tome. Porter’s folksy voice is nonetheless full of insights and philosophical reflections on what makes a great song, the importance of artists owning their unique identities, and the cultural impact of WDIA, the nation’s first radio station programmed entirely for the Black community.
All of it leads inexorably to Porter’s importance as a pioneer of American soul music and as a Memphis institution, overseeing both The Consortium MMT nonprofit for young talent and Made In Memphis Entertainment (MIME), a record and publishing company that keeps the focus on the vast potential of local music. The songs, the institutions, and the book itself are testaments to Porter’s passion for keeping it real.