Mr. Big Stuff

In this song, Jean Knight addresses a ladies' man with means, letting him know that she's not going to fall for his charms and isn't impressed with his fancy clothes or big fine car. He won't break her heart because she'll never give him the chance. The man for her is one with a love that's true, even if he's broke.

This was Knight's first national hit. She recorded it in May of 1970 at Malaco Studios in Jackson, Mississippi. Prior to going there, Knight worked as a baker at Loyola University in New Orleans. She recorded during the same whirlwind session that King Floyd did "Groove Me." Wardell Quezerque, a famed New Orleans producer and Louisiana Music Hall of Fame inductee, was working as a Malaco staffer at the time. He bussed the musicians to the recording studio at a time when Malaco was in dire financial straits. "Groove Me" and "Mr. Big Stuff" brought new attention to the label and helped keep them afloat for a few years, long enough for "Misty Blue" to lift them up another level in 1976.

After Knight recorded this song, it was given to several different national record labels, all of which rejected it. However, when King Floyd's hit "Groove Me" (also recorded at Malaco Studios) became a #1 R&B hit in early 1971, the employees of Stax Records remembered Knight's recording of "Mr. Big Stuff," reconsidered, and released it.