I started writing this thinking that this was basically Big's "One More Chance," before Big's "One More Chance."
Jody leaves ashes in your ash-tray,But isn't it much more? I love "One More Chance" but always found it to be, believe it or not, to explicit. The wordplay is incredible, the track is great, but I love hint of impropriety in this song, and its borderline feminism (this song could be performed by a woman without changing a single lyric). Big's song really is about manipulation of women. ("my game just rewind...") Johnnie Taylor is doing a similar thing, but a little more.
Footprints on your carpet, while you work all day.
Even got the nerve to sleep in your bed,
Sit down at your table, and eat your bread.
I always thought Taylor, here, (and especially in "Who's Making Love...") was great about making men uncomfortable (in a good way) by breaking away from the Madonna/Whore thing. I play this stuff for my son all the time. I get the humorous praise of the antihero cuckold, and, I'd argue, commentary on black men (niggers vs black people?) and mores. Of course it's more complicated and ambivalent than that. Words fail. Maybe I should just stop theorizing and let the music rock. I need to think more.
On a side-note, fools really need to see Wattstax. It's an incredible doc.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Our language is not well equipped to talk about sex and love. Thankfully we have music and movies.
wattstax is on vh1 soul like every other month. good stuff.
So back in Basic Training when all the DI's were telling us that Jody had got our girls, they were channelling their inner Johnnie Taylor? Always did wonder who that damn Jody was.
You know, there were rappers before Biggie. The song this most reminds me of isn't "One More Chance," it's LL Cool J's "I'm That Type Of Guy."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFhO321qdmk
Right. I was thinking of songs that weren't whack.
Keep playing Johnnie Taylor for Samori.
My dad gave me a "Soul 60s" cassette tape when I was about 7, and while I enjoyed the Sam & Dave as much as the next guy, "Who's Making Love" blew my mind immediately, though I didn't know wtf making love was. An incredible track and the 3rd verse turnaround is a fabulous little subversion of your expectations.
Damn you beat me to it! I was introduced to Jody by my Drill Sgt's as well. Nothing like being 18, away from home for the first time and hearing about Jody, and what he was doing to your old lady. Come to find out, they were right, however Jody did me a favor. That chick was rather trifling.
Loved Johnnie Taylor when I was a young woman. He was definitely trying to school the brothas on how to treat a woman to keep a woman! In my old age I've given up on thinking "teaching them how to treat you" will work. The ones I've encountered ain't interested in learning. Thanks for the memories T.
I'm not hip to Big's "One More Chance". Heck, I wasn't up on Big until the I saw the movie recently. (I am assuming you're referring to The Notorious B.I.G.) Heading over to You Tube now to see if I can find a rendition.
Wordorigins.org:
The military use of jody was introduced to the U.S. Army by African-American soldiers. Jody is a clipping of the name of Joe the Grinder, a slightly older character in jazz and blues mythology.
Joe the Grinder is the name of mythical ladies man in blues tunes who seduces the wives and sweethearts of prisoners and soldiers. He’s also known as Joe De Grinder and Joe D. Grinder. The term dates to at least 1939. Grinder is from an old slang verb, to grind, meaning to copulate.