Mr. Big Stuff

For other uses, see Mr. Big Stuff (disambiguation).
"Mr. Big Stuff"
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
Producer(s) Wardell Quezergue
Certification Double platinum (U.S.)
Jean Knight singles chronology
"Mr. Big Stuff"
(1971)
"You Think You're Hot"
(1971)

"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.[1]

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.[2] Billboard ranked it as the No. 18 song for 1971.[3] The song went double platinum.

Knight performed the song on Soul Train on December 11, 1971, during its first season.[4] "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.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1971) Peak
position
Canada RPM [5] 10
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 2
U.S. Billboard Soul 1
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[6] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (1971) Position
Canada [7] 94
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[8] 18
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[9] 42

Credits

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:

During this time at Malaco, horn lines were typically played by saxophonist Hugh Garraway and trumpeter Perry Lomax.[1]

Cover versions

Sampling

References

External links

Preceded by
"Don't Knock My Love (Pt. 1)" by Wilson Pickett
Billboard Soul Singles number-one single
July 3–31, 1971
Succeeded by
"Hot Pants (Pt. 1) by James Brown
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