Jean Knight (née Caliste) was born in New Orleans in 1943. After leaving school, she started singing in a local bar, Laura’s Place, which was owned by her cousin. She later signed a contract with Huey P. Meaux’ Tribe Records in Houston, Texas, where she cut three singles that were issued between 1964 and 1966. They didn’t ripple the water much; the best of the Tribe tracks is the Allen Toussaint song “T’Ain’t It The Truth”.
In 1965, Knight switched to the Jetstream label in Conroe, Texas, which was also owned by Meaux, in partnership with Foy Lee. The move brought an immediate step up in the quality of the two singles that were issued in 1965 and 1967. The ballads “Doggin Around” and “The Man That Left Me” gave Knight a chance to show the power in her voice, but she also recorded a Northern Soul dance track (“I Just Don’t Want You No More”) and a good Pop song (“I Have None”).
In early 1970, she met Wardell Quezergue, who suggested that they should record a track at Malaco Records in Jackson, Mississippi, which duly happened in May. The recording of “Mr Big Stuff” was then offered to a number of national labels, with no success.
Wardell Quezergue had also recorded another New Orleans singer King Floyd during the sessions at Malaco, whose song “Groove Me” was released on Malaco’s subsidiary Chimneyville Records. When it started to sell in large numbers, Atlantic Records stepped in and sealed the distribution rights. Stax Records then decided to pick up Jean Knight’s song, which was released in 1971.
Amazingly, “Mr Big Stuff” did better than Floyd’s hit. It raced up the R&B chart, hitting number one. It went to number two on the Pop chart, going double-platinum (over two million copies sold) and attracting a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female. (Aretha Franklin won the award that year for her version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water”). Jean Knight gained more national exposure via an appearance on Soul Train. Her follow-up single “You Think You’re Hot Stuff” reached number nineteen on the R&B chart in 1971. That was as good as it got.
Knight left Stax, following some disagreements, and had no more significant hits. Her cover of “My Toot Toot”, released by Mirage in 1985, reached number fifty on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.
