"Mr. Big Stuff" | ||||
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Single by Jean Knight | ||||
from the album Mr. Big Stuff | ||||
B-side | "Why I Keep Living These Memories" | |||
Released | May 1971 | |||
Genre | Funk, soul | |||
Length | 2:27 | |||
Label | Stax STX 1014 | |||
Writer(s) | Joseph Broussard Carol Washington Ralph Williams |
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Producer(s) | Wardell Quezergue | |||
Jean Knight singles chronology | ||||
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"Mr. Big Stuff" is a song by singer Jean Knight. The song was recorded in 1970 at Malaco Studio in Jackson, Mississippi, at the same session as "Groove Me" by King Floyd. Knight's single was released by Stax Records because of the persistence of Stax publisher, Tim Whitsett, while "Groove Me" by King Floyd which Whitsett strongly urged Malaco to release, also became a hit. Both songs are defined by two bar, off-beat bass lines and tight arrangements by Wardell Quezergue.
Released on Knight's 1971 debut album of the same title, it became a huge crossover hit. The song spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Soul Singles chart and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, behind "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" by The Bee Gees.Billboard ranked it as the No. 18 song for 1971. The song went double platinum and the No. 1 Soul Single of the year.
Knight performed the song on Soul Train on December 11, 1971, during its first season. "Mr. Big Stuff" would become one of Stax Records' most popular and recognizable hits. It was also featured in the 1977 mini-series The Bronx Is Burning.
No credits are listed for the Malaco studio musicians on the record. According to Rob Bowman's liner notes from the 1999 box set The Last Soul Company: Malaco, A Thirty Year Retrospective, the musicians for this session included: