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Skrew You Kapitalist Kollaborator!: “Mr. Big Stuff” by Jean Knight

By Marcello Carlin



A once again timely rejection of money as thing in itself – or himself – “Mr. Big Stuff”’s assured punch was recorded at Malaco Studios in Jackson, Mississippi, in early 1971 and no record label wanted to know about it; however, when King Floyd’s “Groove Me,” recorded at the same session by the same musicians, became a Pop top ten and R&B number one hit, a producer at Stax remembered what else had been recorded that afternoon and put Knight’s record out. Its characteristically elusive Southern rhythm matrix – drummer James Stroud is very careful not to beat on the beat, so to speak – was later widely sampled by artists including TLC (“Switch”) and The Beastie Boys (“Johnny Ryall”), and Knight’s New Orleans sassiness makes short shrift of the moneyed would-be love-grabber. Interestingly, the female hard rock band Precious Metal covered the song in 1990 and got a prominent businessman to appear in the video; however, when that businessman decided that he wanted $25,000 instead of the agreed $10,000 appearance fee, he was replaced in the final cut. That businessman’s name? Donald Trump. See what I mean about timely?

Date Record Made Number Two: 14 August 1971
Number Of Weeks At Number Two: 2
Record At Number One: “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?” by The Bee Gees
UK Chart Position: None

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