Isaac Hayes and David Porter were one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 1960’s. After playing on several sessions for Otis Redding, in 1964 Hayes signed on as a session man at Stax records. His first session was for The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads (released on Volt Records, a Stax subsidiary).
Dvid Porter was the first staff songwriter at Stax Records and developed his skills in A&R and songwriting. In Porter’s A&R capacity, he signed acts including The Emotions, Homer Banks, The Soul Children and was a catalyst for bringing in Isaac Hayes as a writing partner.
As house composers for Stax Records, Porter and Hayes penned most of Sam & Dave’s hits, including “Soul Man”, “I Thank You”, “When Something Is Wrong with My Baby” and “Hold On, I’m Comin.'” They also wrote material for Carla Thomas (“B-A-B-Y”), Johnnie Taylor (“I Got to Love Somebody’s Baby” and “I Had a Dream”), and The Soul Children. The Hayes-Porter duo composed 200 songs during their collaboration.
As a keyboardist and producer, Hayes was an important element in the Stax/Volt sound. All the while, he was itching to sing and hearing a different sound in his head. “I wanted to sing pop music, easy listening, but Memphis was stone R&B,” he told Rolling Stone in 1970.
Starting in the late 1960s, Hayes became increasingly focused on his own recording career, eventually leading to the end of the songwriting partnership. in 1971, Hayes scored his biggest commercial success when he wrote and recorded the soundtrack to the film Shaft. The double album reached Number One and went platinum, while “Theme from Shaft” topped the charts for two weeks. Hayes won an Academy Award for the soundtrack, becoming the first African-American to win that award, and a Grammy.
Porter began recording his own albums for Stax. He did a single for Stax in 1965, “Can’t See You When I Want To”, a remake of which became a Top 30 R&B hit for Porter. Porter began working with songwriting partner Ronnie Williams, and later went on to engineer the brief relaunch of the Stax label in 1978, after the bankrupt label’s assets were acquired by Fantasy Records.
In 2012, Porter founded The Consortium MMT, a 501(c) non-profit with the goal of developing a viable music industry in Memphis through structured teaching, experience and mentorship. Porter was awarded the 2013 Governor’s Arts Award for his achievements including the founding and success of The Consortium MMT venture.
Hayes and Porter received Pioneer Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1999. On June 9, 2005, Hayes and Porter were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame alongside Bill Withers, Steve Cropper, Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman and John Fogerty.
The work of David Porter and Isaac Hayes is celebrated as part of the musical heritage memorialized at Soulsville, the Museum of American Soul Music. Opened in 2003 on the original site of Stax Records in Memphis, the facility honors and documents the activities and achievements at the famous record labels.