VMP Magazine

VMP’s Truth Is Where It’s At: The Best of Gospel Truth marks the first reissues of six LPs from Stax Records’ gospel imprint meant to “bridge the gap between the street corner and the church pew.” Read below for an excerpt from the box set’s liner notes, written by Memphis journalist Jared “Jay B.” Boyd, and click here to learn more about Truth Is Where It’s At.

Frederick Knight maintains that he isn’t the type of musician to brag. But he does want to make one claim very clear: He knows the anatomy of a song.

“It all starts with a song. If you know how to write a song — I mean a real song, not just rhyming words — then your chances are far greater of making it in the music industry than somebody who does not,” Knight said, when I interviewed him in November 2019 for The Daily Memphian. “From where I am, if I want to write a hit song, I can write a hit song. I know the components. I know what should be in a hit song. I know what it takes. I know what makes up a hit song.”