Mr Big Stuff topped the US R&B chart and crossed over into the main pop chart, reaching No 2 (kept off No 1 by How Can You Mend a Broken Heart by the Bee Gees). It was only after the success of Groove Me, a hit for King Floyd recorded the same day in the same studio as Mr Big Stuff, that Stax Records remembered Knight.

With Knight audibly unimpressed by a flashy lothario’s car and clothes, upbraiding him for his casual cruelty against other women, Mr Big Stuff remains a gloriously spiky gem of the early 70s soul and funk scene – although it was initially refused by a number of labels.