David Porter

During the 1960s, David Porter gained recognition primarily through his collaboration with Isaac Hayes as a songwriter. Serving as Stax's resident composers, the pair crafted numerous successes for Sam & Dave, notably the enduring tracks "Soul Man" and "Hold On! I'm Coming," while also supplying songs to roster artists like Carla Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, and the Soul Children. Hayes's growing focus on his personal recording endeavors from the late 1960s onward ultimately dissolved their joint efforts.

Few enthusiasts of soul music realize that Porter pursued his own recording projects at Stax. Earlier in the decade, he issued singles on Savoy and Hi labels using the aliases Little David and Kenny Cain, followed by a 1965 Stax release titled "Can't See You When I Want To." This track's later version achieved a Top 30 position on the R&B charts, prompting several album releases on Stax during the early 1970s. Among these was the conceptual effort Victim of the Joke?, which interwove standard pop and soul compositions with spoken segments. Partnering instead with Ronnie Williams for songwriting duties at this stage, Porter's solo work garnered limited attention overall. Their joint legacy received acknowledgment in 2005 via induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.