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David Porter’s songwriting partnership with Isaac Hayes at Stax Records was responsible for some of the label’s biggest hits including Sam and Dave’s “Soul Man” and “Thank You.” They ceased working together at the end of the ’60’s when Hayes started recording as a solo artist. Porter also went solo and emerged with his Victim Of The Joke?: An Opera album in 1971. Porter took an unusual stance for a soul singer and dressed-up in a clown suit on the cover as part of his melodramatic love affair concept. “I’m Afraid The Masquerade Is Over” was one of the pop songs Porter covered to help tell the story of a man who has a relationship with an attached woman. Porter’s music was not as immediately impactful as his Stax songwriting and “The Masquerade Is Over” found a bigger audience in the hip-hop generation. Rza, Puffy and De La Soul were just a few of the rappers to sample Porter’s version. Porter recorded 4 solo albums an was inducted with Isaac Hayes into the Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame in 2005.
