Written by General Jabbo
Toward the end of the 1960s, Stax vice president Al Bell diversified his talent pool by looking outside of Memphis, Tennessee for his artists. They went to Detroit, home of their competitor, the legendary Motown Records, to bring producer Don Davis down to Memphis. Initially, Davis worked with Carla Thomas and then Johnnie Taylor, but by the end of 1969, Davis had produced the first Stax single by another Detroit import, The Dramatics on the label's Volt imprint.
When that single failed to chart, Davis released the group from their contract and they went back to Detroit to work with songwriter Tony Hester. Hester came up with some great songs for the group and Davis resigned them, but let Hester handle the production chores. His first single with the group, "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get," became not only the title of the group's first Stax album, but also hit number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 3 on the R&B charts. After nearly a decade, the group finally hit big.
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