The second album by award-winning Stax songwriter, with bonus tracks.
July has pretty much come to be known as Stax Month here at Ace, and this one is no exception. Despite the fact that we have curated this mighty Memphis label for more than 20 years, there’s still plenty of good stuff waiting to see issue or reissue from its vast catalogue of masters.
Take, for example, this great CD by David Porter, Stax Records’ longest-serving employee. “...Into A Real Thing” is Isaac Hayes’ former writing partner’s second album, originally issued on the company’s Enterprise subsidiary in 1970. It made the Soul Top 10 and was his most successful album on the pop charts, missing the Hot 100 by just for places. Like David’s first long-player, “Gritty, Groovy And Gettin’ It” (also available via Ace), it was a big deal in its time, offering a feast of symphonic soul that more than matched the work of his erstwhile songwriting partner, yet it has somehow managed to remain out of print pretty much since the original Stax company shut up shop in 1975.
Consider that situation remedied forthwith via this expanded edition, remastered from the original production master and featuring three additional songs that were recorded around the same time but not originally issued. If you are an Isaac Hayes fan but less familiar with David Porter’s work, there is plenty for you to enjoy here, whether it be the elongated revivals of ‘Hang On Sloopy’ and Chuck Jackson’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Cry’ or great originals such as ‘Thirty Days’ and ‘Ooo-Wee Girl’. Recorded mostly in Muscle Shoals with the city’s great Swampers rhythm section, it’s symphonic southern soul at its finest.
Tony Rounce
