8
Louisiana on October 30, 1939,
he’d waxed solo 45s for Christy,
local rival Hi and its M.O.C.
subsidiary, and Smash. Porter
heard Anita Louis (born November
24, 1949 in Memphis) over WDIA
radio while she sang with The Teen
Town Singers. Shelbra Bennett had
dropped by Stax headquarters for
an audition. Thus The Soul Children
- none of them actual children,
though Anita was only 17 - were
born.
With Hayes and Porter at the writing
and production helm, The Soul
Children posted four R&B hits in
1969,
The Sweeter He Is, Part 1
ascending to #7. But Hayes’ bout
with superstardom left him
unavailable to mastermind the
quartet’s Stax output after that
with Porter. Eventually Stax
founder Jim Stewart teamed with
Booker T. & The MG’s drummer Al
Jackson, Jr. to produce The Soul
Children, that combination helming
the group’s biggest seller of all.
Hearsay
rode a surging groove,
the combined handiwork of
Jackson and his MG’s partner
Duck Dunn on bass, guitarists
Raymond Jackson and Bobby
Manuel, and keyboardists John
Keister and Marvell Thomas
(Rufus’ son). The loss of Hayes
and Porter meant the group was
free to write their own stuff, so
lead singer Blackfoot and West
wrote
Hearsay
, a #5 R&B/#44
pop hit in the spring of ‘72.
