Exploring Music History: Buzz Knight and David Porter Discuss the Soulful Sounds That Shaped American Music

Summary

Podcast Summary: Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight

Episode: Exploring Music History: Buzz Knight and David Porter Discuss the Soulful Sounds That Shaped American Music
Date: June 2, 2026
Host: Buzz Knight
Guest: David Porter

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Overview

In this memorable episode, Buzz Knight sits down with legendary songwriter and producer David Porter—architect of the Memphis soul sound, co-writer of such classics as "Soul Man" and "Hold On, I’m Coming," and Songwriters Hall of Famer. Together, they explore the roots of American soul, Porter's memoir The Soul Life of a Songwriter, behind-the-scenes stories from the Stax Records days, the feeling of having his music sampled by hip-hop icons, and Porter's passion for mentoring the next generation. Touching, insightful, and rich with music history, the conversation provides a rare window into both the man and his extraordinary musical journey.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Growing Up in Memphis and the Power of Music

[03:23]

• Porter recalls growing up in segregated Memphis and discovering music in the church, which offered him his first taste of acceptance and connection.
  • "It made me feel that there were possibilities for people to feel passionate about you in an emotional connectable way and that gave me a sense of safety... music was the beginning and intro to that for me." - David Porter ([03:38])
  • As a child singing in church, young David believed that the congregation's adoration was about him—later realizing it was about the collective worship, a lesson that both humbled and inspired him.

Early Days on Beale Street and the Memphis Talent Pool

[05:31]

• Buzz highlights the proximity of immense talent in Memphis—including Maurice White, Booker T. Jones, and others; Porter recounts his friendship with Maurice White and how their musical interests emerged in childhood.

  • "Maurice and I... just grew up together. He lived right across the street four doors up from me... I learned that he liked to beat on cans with sticks which ultimately led him to being a drummer." - David Porter ([07:54])

• Porter describes observing a young Elvis Presley on Beale Street, initially unaware of his identity, witnessing the future star absorbing the sounds and spirit of Black Memphis music culture.

Becoming Stax’s First Staff Songwriter and Assembling a Legendary Group

[08:42]

• Porter's pivotal moment came while working at a grocery store across from what would become Stax Records (then Satellite Records). Though rebuffed at his first audition (singing "Old Gray Mare" with rewritten lyrics), his initiative brought together classmates like Andrew Love (Memphis Horns), William Bell, and Booker T. Jones, seeding what would become a historic creative community.

Working with Isaac Hayes and Songwriting Magic

[12:35]

• Porter recounts meeting Hayes at high school talent nights and eventually convincing Stax to hire both of them, launching a legendary partnership.
  • "I was the first person that they hired to do R and B music for them and it was at that point I was able to convince them to let me bring Isaac Hayes aboard as a partner with me." - David Porter ([12:53])
• The process of writing hits like "Hold On, I'm Coming" was shaped by their improvisational, emotionally connected compositional style.

Otis Redding, "Dock of the Bay," and a Songwriting Memory

[14:21]

• Porter vividly recalls Otis Redding bringing him "Dock of the Bay" just days before Redding's untimely death, asking for feedback:
  • "He sang 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay'... I said well, I think you ought to take the last verse and make that the first verse and take the first verse and make that the last verse... and that's what he did." - David Porter ([14:39])

Legacy, Hip-hop Sampling, and Influence

[21:25]

• Porter discusses hearing his songs sampled by artists like Mariah Carey, Will Smith, and Wu-Tang Clan:
  • "It was just like mind blowing... it's roughly five hundred samples of songs of mine and it was mind blowing to say the least about the technique but it's also fascinating to see how they were able to reimagine the creative steps..." - David Porter ([21:48])
• Sampling brought new life and audiences to his music, often through deep cuts that had not found mainstream success in their original form.

Universal Themes and Crossing Over

[24:27]

• Porter on songwriting with double meanings and emotional universality:
  • "We wanted the song to have a double meaning... we made sure that the universality of the thoughts that we were creating were there for anyone to gravitate to... when it actually started manifesting itself... then we became quite satisfied that we were doing something special." - David Porter ([24:38])

Writing Memoir “The Soul Life of a Songwriter”

[26:18]

• Buzz asks why Porter chose now to write his memoir; Porter reflects on sharing his story to inspire future generations.
  • "We start out in an humble beginning both of us with a passion for wanting to do what we love to do... I wanted to get this message out there before I'm off this planet..." - David Porter ([26:42])

Mentorship: The Consortium MMT

[28:26]

• Porter details founding The Consortium MMT (Memphis Music Town) to give back to the community and educate young musicians.
  • "I created an organization called Every Word is Important... young talents are now able to go through my program The Consortium MMT free to them... a structured way of talking about processes that were used by some of the biggest names in the business..." - David Porter ([28:48])

Secrets to Longevity and Self-Love

[32:03]

• Porter credits his vitality to life lessons from his mother about self-love:
  • "The first value that I learned from a mother who brought me into this world... she taught me the greatest gift anyone could get for themselves is to fall in love with the right person first and that right person is yourself." - David Porter ([32:09])
  • "If you do that in a meaningful way you're going to do constructive things to protect the integrity of the value that you see in self..."

Dream Walk

[33:45]

• Porter's dream walking companions: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Jackson, and his late mother.
  • He would ask Dr. King about his perseverance and drive, Michael Jackson about his head-arrangement techniques and creative individuality, and his mother to show her the impact of her love and teachings.
  • "I would want her to know that the beauty that she gave to me has manifested itself in meaningful ways to so many people around the world and the message that I along with Isaac Hayes has tried to communicate in song and I owe that to her..." - David Porter ([36:01])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "There ain't no soul music without David Porter." — Keith Richards, as quoted by Buzz Knight ([00:00])
• "To have seen [Otis Redding] write songs writing meaning out of the top of his head... that was amazing in itself and it's also a memory that I kept to my heart for all of these years." — David Porter ([14:39])
• On sampling: "It's roughly five hundred samples of songs of mine and it's just... mind blowing to say the least..." ([21:48])
• On Stax: "We were creating material that could resonate in an emotional connectable way to a Black audience... but we also made sure that the universality... was there for anyone to gravitate to." ([24:38])
• On self-love: "The greatest gift anyone could get for themselves is to fall in love with the right person first and that right person is yourself." ([32:09])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Childhood musical roots / church: [03:23] - [05:31]
• Elvis on Beale Street & Memphis Scene: [05:31] - [07:54]
• Stax Records origin story: [08:42] - [12:35]
• Isaac Hayes partnership: [12:35] - [14:21]
• Otis Redding and 'Dock of the Bay': [14:21] - [17:07]
• Sampling & hip-hop influence: [21:25] - [24:27]
• Songwriting philosophy & universality: [24:27] - [26:18]
• Memoir & legacy: [26:18] - [28:26]
• Mentoring new generations (Consortium MMT): [28:26] - [32:03]
• Secret to longevity: [32:03] - [33:45]
• Dream walk question: [33:45] - [36:01]

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Conclusion

This episode offers an intimate, inspiring journey through David Porter's life, illuminating not just the spirit of soul music but the values of resilience, creativity, and self-love. For music fans and aspiring musicians, Porter's wisdom spans far beyond his records—offering lessons in passion, humility, and giving back.

Book Highlight: The Soul Life of a Songwriter by David Porter—essential reading for anyone interested in the roots and future of American and global music.

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Summary prepared for music lovers, culture enthusiasts, and future generations eager to walk in the footsteps of legends.

Transcript

[Buzz Knight]

taking a walk i'm buzz knight and this is the taking a walk podcast soul man hold on i'm coming when something is wrong with my baby you know these songs you felt these songs but do you know the man who wrote them today on taking a walk we're going to be with a living legend and for the first time he's going to be telling his own story my guest today has over seventeen hundred songwriting and production credits he co wrote the classics that defined the memphis soul sound at stax records alongside isaac hayes he's been called the architect of the memphis sound by questlove keith richards says and i love this there ain't no soul music without david porter he's in the songwriters hall of fame rolling stone named him one of the one hundred greatest songwriters of all time and this spring for the very first time telling his own story in his debut memoir the soul life of a songwriter coming up next we are proud to welcome david porter to takin a walk this

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[David Porter]

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[Buzz Knight]

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[Buzz Knight]

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[David Porter]

america

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[Buzz Knight]

taking a walk david porter a true honor having you on the taking a walk podcast glad to be

[David Porter]

with you buzz so you grew up

[Buzz Knight]

in segregated memphis and you've said that the church is where you first felt the power of music what does that moment feel like in your memory well

[David Porter]

to me it feels like that there was a personal connection for a young innocent kid who didn't know what the world was going to confront him with but it made me feel that there were possibilities for people to feel passionate about you in an emotional connectable way and that gave me a sense of safety and i learned shortly after that outside of the church environment the world was quite different in that so you had to in essence hope that there were more people that would be touched by the church but it gave me a sense of comfort a sense of acceptance a sense of appreciation that was very very invigorating for for a young kid and music was the beginning and intro to that for me and you

[Buzz Knight]

knew then you were hooked with music

[David Porter]

didn't you i felt that these people couldn't be just any more excited than anything by hearing me sing and i just felt like wow you know eight seven eight years old singing and then i learned later that it was they were worshiping david not not and not worshiping you so but but i thought it was about me in my singing and and it really we were in church david and people were worshiping and you were part of the worship environment for them but it just drew me in because of that false sense of acceptance thinking it was my talent that had me and eventually learning that they were worshiping david big lesson right a

[Buzz Knight]

big lesson you were contemporaries on beale street with a teenage elvis presley what was that world like and did you sense that something historic was happening then

[David Porter]

with him well let me just say this now i wasn't elvis was older than me and i didn't know it was elvis presley until years later and so i was a kid who would walk i live very close to beale street matter of fact maurice white and i who were best friends maurice white that irf went in fry maurice white we would walk up to beale street as youngsters and just look at it because it was exciting to us and it was not a very long walk and there was just one white kid that would be on that street walking at different places that looked like clubs and we didn't know who he was but there was a certain kind of amy aura about him he was not average president the star at that time so we didn't know who he was we later found out that it was elvis presley so when i realized that then i realized that what he was doing was putting in his emotional bank something that would ultimately carry him around the world which in essence it did just seeing the spirit of a person brave enough to be in a it wasn't that the environment on beale street was bad it was just that he was a rarity because generally it was black people on that street except for the ownership who were many of those were white and he was not an owner of any business there but that was fascinating to me and to see him the few times that maurice and i did see him was interesting and then to later find out that he was going up also to lansky brothers men's store which was up the street and he became elvis presley in a short order was really really something so

[Buzz Knight]

you mentioned maurice white booker t jones they were close friends coming up when you look back at how remarkable it is that so much talent was just concentrated in one place at one time david i have chills thinking about all that talent how did it make you

[David Porter]

feel well at the time for a kid maurice and i maurice was born december nineteenth david porter was born november twenty first the same year and so we actually in essence just grew up together he lived right across the street four doors up from me and so we became friends because we were playing together it was as the friendship grew that he learned that i like to sing and i learned that he liked to beat on cans with sticks which ultimately led him to being a drummer and so just getting the friendship started and going to this church was something that was very very special well we

[Buzz Knight]

want to talk about the stax days and time with isaac hayes you became stax's first staff songwriter what did it mean especially as a young black man in the south to walk through that

[David Porter]

door and own that title well before i was able to walk through the door it's fascinating to understand how that door became a potential door for me i was a kid getting ready to graduate from high school working across the street at a grocery store sacking grocery and i saw this building which was an old movie theater building which was now being converted into something i didn't know what that was because when i would get a break i would walk across the street just to see what was going on it was at that point i found that it was a studio in the process of being developed there and it was something that was going to be special because their artist roster they were called satellite records and their artist roster was two country guys nick charles and charles hines that i found out and also in exploring further i asked the owner gu would he give me an audition and he said no we do country music here and so he was not open to that but there was a record store being developed that was also a part of that facility for the movie theater that was also being run by his sister so that was my introduction to the environment of satellite records of what that was and it led to an audition for me which led to me bringing some of the most talented individuals from the neighborhoods that that you mentioned a moment ago to that studio to participate on the demo with me because i told the man that you know i wrote songs which i i come up with ideas i didn't know that was writing songs and he he said did i have a band well every once in a while i i i would be around somebody played the piano some but i didn't and then he asked me well did i have original songs to sing and i said i did but i didn't so he gave me an audition and i got these amazing guys who were classmates andrew love who played saxophone who later became the anchor for the memphis horns i went to him and asked him if he'd play horn on it william bell who had a group called the del rios i asked him if he would sing background on it booker t jones who was one year behind me in high school i asked him if he would play baritone horn on it and so that was the backup and bob talley who was an older gentleman who played piano i got to perform to play on it and that was a band and assembled and quickly came up with an idea to record a song well because this was a country label i came up with a song that was actually written in nineteen forty four nineteen thirty whatever that year was old gray mare i changed the words to old gray mare thinking that i had to sing something that would impress this guy that was in the country i flunked on the audition but i made an introduction to some of the most astute talents that he could ever imagine including myself and he gave me that audition and and after that came an opportunity for rufus thomas who approached him to record and i got some of those same people to perform on the rufus thomas cause i love youe record and that was the beginning of stax records so all of that happened before i was given the opportunity to become staff writer

[Buzz Knight]

incredible what a what a story the partnership with isaac hayes produced some of the most enduring songs ever written how did the two of you actually work together and where do you pull out of your hat a song like hold on i'm coming how does that begin

[David Porter]

well the interesting thing about isaac and i isaac went to arrival high school menassas high school i went to a high school called booker t washington high school and so both of us would perform on wednesday nights at a talent show on beale street that was open to young kids in high school a high school age to try to compete to win two or three dollars first place in a talent show performance and so that's why i would see isaac back and forth on those wednesday nights and he would see me so we knew each other knew of each other and i know he was into music it was after high school that i found out that he was what we call gigging around town and he found out that i was trying to do the same thing i found out that that that he could play a little piano and i just knew that he was an interesting interesting guy so finally before any association of that happened i convinced jim stewart to give me that audition which he gave me and then i further convinced his sister to convince him to give me a chance to be a writer for that company and i was the first person that they hired to do r and b music for them and it was at that point i was able to convince them to let me bring isaac hayes aboard as a partner with me and so that led us into your last part of your question which was hold on

[Buzz Knight]

i'm coming incredible now i love this story if i have it right you helped otis redding refine dock of the bay just days before his death can you take us back to that room

[David Porter]

otis redding was to me one of the most amazing talents ever and and i mean that in a real way to have seen him write songs writing meaning out of the top of his head he would get on the microphone and he would write the song as he's singing it to see him do head arrangements was was where he'd go around the room tell each musician what he wanted them to play hum it out what the parts were and they would then put it together for him and then he would go to the microphone and sing the song i just knew he was an amazing talent so on this particular day and i had the pleasure also of singing on the record fa fa fa fa fa fa with otis that's me singing harmony with it so otis had a lot of respect for isaac and i and so one day i was in my office my office was there was a street entrance to my office otis had just gotten into town walked into my office he had an acoustic guitar and he said hey david i want you to hear something i said you know rarely when he come to me wanted me to hear something that he'd actually written out words to so i said yeah what you got he said man i think this could be something special and so i sit down he sit across the head of my office desk he just sit on it with acoustic guitar and he sang sitting on the dock of the bay all of the words to it and listening to it i felt that he asked me what do you think i said well you want my honest opinion he says yeah you know i always do i said well i think you ought to take the last verse and make that the first verse and take the first verse and make that the last verse because you start you have a softer texture with with with that last verse than you have with the with with that verse that you got on the front of the song so if you put that on the end and you do the setup with that i think it's it really will be stronger he said you really think so i said i really think so and that's what he did so for me to have that kind of input with otis on a song that he thought was going to be special which was totally different than anything he had ever done was amazing in itself and it's also a memory that i kept to my heart for all

[Buzz Knight]

of these years oh thank you for sharing that so much what a great story we'll be right back with more

[David Porter]

of the taking a walk podcast

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hey it's us the jonas brothers and guess what we have some big news what's the news huge news we created our own podcast called hey jonas we invented a podcast well we didn't invent it we we just contributed to it first people to do podcasts pretty yeah pretty wide range of podcasts starting but this one's extra special so how did we how do we actually come up with the name hey jonas guys i honestly don't remember i think it was on a call about what we should call it and well we were thinking i'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before jonas brothers was this is how you guys remember it going down yes i have a very different memory of this we were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say hey jonas and then i wrote down on my little notepad hey jonas and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast but thanks for remembering that guys listen to hey jonas on the iheartradio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts just listen we don't care where you hear

[Buzz Knight]

it

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keith giamanca seemed like a mild mannered suburban dad but secretly he became someone else a master of disguise who went on a crime spree at the time did it seem like a crazy idea it seemed very crazy but i felt so desperate that i felt it was the quickest easiest way out did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that

[David Porter]

might look like no i didn't want

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to manifest that i was trying to manifest success every family has its secrets but what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double

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[Reality with the King Host]

if you're watching the latest season of the real housewives of atlanta you already know there's a lot

[David Porter]

to portia accusing kelly of sleeping with a married man they holding k michelle back from fighting drew pinky has financial issues i like the bougie style of housewives show i think it looks like

[Reality with the King Host]

it's gonna be interesting on the podcast reality with the king i carlos king recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows including the real housewives franchise the drama the alliances and the tea everybody's talking about as an executive producer in reality television i'm not just watching it i understand the game as somebody who creates shows i'll even say this at the end of the day when people are at home they want entertainment to hear this and more listen to reality with the king on the iheartradio app apple podcast or wherever you get

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your podcast this is saigon the story of my family and of the country

[David Porter]

that shaped us the united states will

[Buzz Knight]

not stand by and allow any power however great take over another country from

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iheart podcasts saigon please allow me to

[David Porter]

introduce joseph sherman you don't think i'm serious about a free vietnam i should stop talking so much i like hearing

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you talk one city a divided country and the war that tore america apart

[David Porter]

this is for vietnam i've taken a hit from japanese ground fire do you

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read me they're pouring petrol all over him he's holding matches i'm on a

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[David Porter]

world should hear about this there's a

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saigon on the iheartradio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts

[Buzz Knight]

welcome back to the taking a walk podcast jay z biggie wu tang mariah carey the list can go on and on your dna is all over hip hop and r and b when you first heard that your work was being sampled what went through your mind well the

[David Porter]

first thing that went through my mind was how did he do that well it was fascinating to me because all of the songs that i've been associated with and then to hear that many of the songs that i was associated with they were looking for the songs that were one hundred percent done by me well i had four albums singing as well and so that was interesting to me that they were seeking out songs that were totally associated with me and so they also were eventually were sampling songs that isaac and i had written but for some reason there was a fascination with me which i didn't understand and i hadn't heard anything they were getting legal rights to do this with the material so i didn't know initially what they were going to do and then i would hear what they had done with the song for instance the song on blind a song called blind alley that i wrote one hundred percent and produced on the emotions was a song that took off like gangbusters for me well when you hear dream love on mariah carey that's the rhythm that you're hearing at the introduction of that song and it's part of the entire texture of the record well i ended up being a third writer on dream lover by mariah carey and that was like whoa then there was rump shaker by by by rex in effect i ended up the same song and there were so many songs that were sample from that song that was amazing then here comes a will smith with getting jiggy with it well that was a record that i did on the bar case called sing and dance and we didn't have the opportunity to blow that record up in a very successful way because stax was caught in a loss and lawsuits and forced into involuntary bankruptcy before that song really had an opportunity to get traction but that was found which is common for a lot of these folk were going out and finding these records that really didn't get very much traction but they loved rhythmically what they were doing or lyrically what they were saying and sampling it and it was just like mind blowing and to this date it's roughly five hundred samples of songs of mine and it's just it was mind blowing to say the least about the technique but it's also fascinating to see how they were able to reimagine the creative steps that they used to magnify the songs a great great humbling experience for me jimmy

[Buzz Knight]

jam writes in your book's introduction that your work is i quote foundational to all popular music does that sit comfortably

[David Porter]

on you well buzz when you consider when i consider the fact that when isaac and i were creating the songs we assume that our music would only be played on black radio so we were creating material that could resonate in an emotional connectable way to a black audience but we understood that we don't know how someone would take what we were saying so we wanted the song to have a double meaning so in the subliminal seduction kind of way we made sure that the emotional connectivity part for the audience that we assume would get the songs more than others was there but we also made sure that the universality of the thoughts that we were creating were there for anyone to gravitate to what the texture was the funny thing about it buzz is we didn't know that would happen there was no way for us to know that and so when it actually started manifesting itself till the song start crossing over then we became quite satisfied that we were doing something special and that started happening with hold on i'm coming and certainly with soul man as well and many of the records after that so then we stayed true to that process because it gave us certainly a prideful feeling to know that the universality of the song was connected and the emotional part of an inspirational kind of thing was also connected and it gave us an identity in our creative approach that made us extremely proud of what we

[Buzz Knight]

had done the book is fantastic it's a great ride through music history through your life what's important to you you've had six decades to tell this story why now and was there anything that surprised you when you finally sat down to embark and write it well i

[David Porter]

mentioned earlier that there was a closeness growing up together with maurice white and i wanted to expound further on what that was in the book i know that many people know about the association with with isaac and i but to know how we started together and what that journey was like i wanted people to know that yes we had made we've had major success in all of that but we start out in an humble beginning both of us with a passion for wanting to do what we love to do not even realizing in a real capitalistic way what it was going to yield for us in financial benefits or popularity any of those kinds of things so we was doing something we both love for the passion of it and wanted to become exceptional in it because we had examples that were motivational for us and so to be able to think in terms of do i want to get this message out there before i'm off this planet it was that kind of feeling that made me feel that i should do it and by the way maurice white who was in the middle of completing his book said david you ought to write a book i'm finishing mine up and you should write a book i'm talking about us in my book the earth wind and fire book and you should write a book and i said i'm going to write one reese but and it took me years to do it and three years to write it but it was the fact that it gave me an opportunity to get my story out there with truths i know to be also with the opportunity hopefully that will motivate young kids who have aspirations to do music and realize that they can start from humble beginning or they can start from good circumstance and follow a passion true to your heart that something meaningful potentially can happen for them and so that was the core part

[Buzz Knight]

for me which leads me to other things that are important to you in your life that you talk about in the book and i want you to talk about your commitment to that next generation of artists and how you as a legend and an entrepreneur and a mentor approach this talk about some of

[David Porter]

your initiatives well you know the interesting thing about what i wanted to do i'm in my eighties now so the interesting thing about what i wanted to do i wanted to be sure that because i've been so fortunate and because so many people had helped me i wanted to be sure that i give something back and i've been giving back my whole life but i've been quietly doing it as the case with most entertainers if you go out advertising that you're about the business of giving back everybody would want possibly to be sure they can get in your audience so we give back in a very very laid back kind of way so many artists do that but this was an opportunity for me to give back in an obvious connectable way with young people and so what i did was i created an organization called every word is important in the name the consortium mmt the tag is important the consortium mmt and the mmt stands for memphis music town because so much incredible creative music came out of memphis elvis aretha was born here maurice isaac david so much came out of out of this community but i also approached so many great great talents and asked them if they would give on video their creative steps for how they went about attaining their success be it in songwriting or music production or recording artists and i've gotten some of the greatest names in the business even in television paul schaeffer wanted to talks about how to bring the kind of material at that particular time to have an appeal to get a music director motivation to put your music on television i've got valerie simpson talking about songwriting jimmy zam talking about music production bobby womack talking about singing philip bailey and eric bernat talking about vocal exercises let us see talking about the commitment of what you do as an artist that can give you a comfortable lifestyle based on your abilities and desires and work continuously with it so i put all of this in video and young talents are now able to go through my program the consortium mmt free to them and see this experience in a structured way of talking about processes that were used by some of the biggest names in the business from back in the day but there are no new emotions so you have to find a fresh way to talk about common emotion so you can use some of these techniques to find the individuality inside of you if you're born in twenty twenty six or if you're born in nineteen ninety understanding those kind of things i think to live a lasting kind of contribution that way will be something meaningful for me to do and so it's something that people can go to the community foundation of memphis and donate to but it's fourteen years old the consortium mmt was the passion that i found to really give me a piece that i was in truly giving something back and so much gratitude for stevie wonderful and so many other artists who are giving of themselves to the videos that i'm using to give young folks information about these processes can you give

[Buzz Knight]

us the secret to your vitality well

[David Porter]

if you think that i'm not going to try to change your mind but i will say this that the first value that i learned from a mother who brought me into this world and gave me a value because i was born into a climate of people not liking people because of the color of their skin all kinds of things that you would imagine would be a downer and she taught me the greatest gift anyone could get for themselves is to fall in love with the right person first and that right person is yourself and if you do that in a meaningful way you're going to do constructive things to protect the integrity of the value that you see in self and if you do that when you get to be older you would appreciate that journey of the things that you stayed away from because you imagined that if you were here you wanted to be able to love the person that you should love in a true way and that's loving yourself and so that's the thing that has kept me grounded also understanding that i can give myself to other people because i'm giving the purity of myself because of what's inside of me and so that's also kept me invigorated in positive ways to feel good about myself which also helps me to look if i look halfway decent to look the way i look feel the way i feel think the way i think and that's the love that i have for self so i would encourage people who really want to get there to treat yourself like you love yourself

[Buzz Knight]

amazing david porter in closing since we call this podcast taking a walk i want to ask you if you could take a walk with somebody what's your dream walk who would the dream walk be with and where would you go could be more than one person that's fine could be three or four if

[David Porter]

you want yeah it would be more than one person so let me just say one would be doctor martin luther king because i saw doctor king many times i marched in marches when he would come and so i knew he was an amazing amazing amazing man and i knew that he had a heart of giving and a dedication to help people coming together but i wanted to i would walk with him to find out as much as i could about what kept him driving even to the extent that he knew that the possibility of something catastrophic could happen to him what grounded him in a comfort that made him have the strength and fortitude to go forward with that with the same passion day in and day out he would be one michael jackson would be another because the individuality of michael with head arrangements things coming out of his head that was the foundation of stax records that's what we did at stax head arrangement we went through emotional connectivity through the creative process of songs so i would ask michael how did he discover those instincts to help him use those things to make the identity part of him even more magical than they ultimately became and certainly to some extent maybe some surprise for him and then i would want to have that walk with my mother to let her know that all that she gave to me wasn't wasted she passed when i was in my twenties and she was six to eight years old she never saw the magnitude of what has happened with my life and i would want her to know that the beauty that she gave to me has manifested itself in meaningful ways to so many people around the world and the message that i along with isaac hayes has tried to communicate in song and i owe that to her and i'd want her

[Buzz Knight]

to know that absolutely amazing and the book is amazing the soul man life of a songwriter david porter an honor to have you on taking a walk thank you for all that you continue to give us and thank you for a great interview sir gus i'm quite

[David Porter]

familiar with your work and i consider it an honor for you to have asked for me to be on your show and thank you so much for those kind words

[Buzz Knight]

i'm buzz knight and thanks for listening to the taking a walk podcast now please check out our companion podcasts produced by buzz night media productions with your host lynn hoffman music save me showcasing the healing power of music and comedy save me shining a light on how laughter is the best medicine all shows are available on apple podcasts spotify and are part of the i heart podcast network