Singer, songwriter Isaac Hayes dies at age 65

[ashley]

.. I've just heard the news .. how sad ..

Sandra got it right .. Isaac's original early disco favourite "I can't turn around" from his 1975 "Chocolate Chip" album was copied by Farley Jackmaster in the 80s .. but it's the original that sounds far superior ..

.. and don't let's forget some of Isaac's other superb 70s dance tunes:

Moonlight lovin'
Disco Connection (The Isaac Hayes Movement)
Groove-a-thon
Juicy fruit disco freak

.. tunes that will make us dance forever ..

.. Heaven just got a little funkier ..

[canadiantire]

Mr. Hayes has left us with his souvenir.

May he rest in peace.

[Afroboy]

He is gone .... but will never be forgotten .
I will most definately travel half way around the world one day soon to pay my last respects .

[Videoskooter]

IMO a fine example of how he could rework somebody else's song. I always liked this one:

[NickNack]

This really hurts. I remember when I first bought and played the HOT BUTTERED SOUL lp. I was so stunned that when the first cut, "Walk On By", ended I picked up the record arm and started it over. Couldn't believe what he'd done with 'Dionne'. When I played "By the Time... Phoenix" for my friends there was total silence for all 18 minutes. Ike the storyteller had them mesmerized. "Pursuit of the Pimpmobile" is probably my favorite instrumental. (Theme from "The Men" is a close second.) BLACK MOSES has to be my fave lp. "Don't Let Go" has to be the kick-ass cut. I remember it re-igniting The Anvil dancefloor at 10 AM one Sunday Morning. (Yes. We had loooong Saturday Nights. :icon_biggrin: )

Nothing but JOY for you, Brother Hayes.

[remicks]

*****


I am pleased that the mainstream media obituaries find merit in including *without judgment* mention of Isaac's disco influence ... ....

Singer, songwriter Isaac Hayes dies at age 65

• , Sunday August 10 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)

- Isaac Hayes, the pioneering singer, songwriter and musician whose relentless ``Theme From Shaft'' won Academy and Grammy awards, died Sunday, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said. He was 65.
A family member found Hayes unresponsive near a treadmill and he was pronounced dead about an hour later at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis, according to the sheriff's office. The cause of death was not immediately known.
In the early 1970s, Hayes laid the groundwork for disco, for what became known as urban-contemporary music and for romantic crooners like Barry White.And he was rapping before there was rap.
His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the animated TV show ``South Park.''
The album ``Hot Buttered Soul'' made Hayes a star in 1969. His shaven head, gold chains and sunglasses gave him a compelling visual image.
``Hot Buttered Soul'' was groundbreaking in several ways: He sang in a ``cool'' style unlike the usual histrionics of big-time soul singers. He prefaced the song with ``raps,'' and the numbers ran longer than three minutes with lush arrangements.
``Jocks would play it at night,'' Hayes recalled in a 1999 Associated Press interview. ``They could go to the bathroom, they could get a sandwich, or whatever.''
Next came ``Theme From Shaft,'' a No. 1 hit in 1971 from the film ``Shaft'' starring Richard Roundtree.
``That was like the shot heard round the world,'' Hayes said in the 1999 interview.
At the Oscar ceremony in 1972, Hayes performed the song wearing an eye-popping amount of gold and received a standing ovation. TV Guide later chose it as No. 18 in its list of television's 25 most memorable moments. He won an Academy Award for the song and was nominated for another one for the score. The song and score also won him two Grammys.
``The rappers have gone in and created a lot of hit music based upon my influence,'' he said. ``And they'll tell you if you ask.''
Hayes was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
``I knew nothing about the business, or trends and things like that,'' he said. ``I think it was a matter of timing. I didn't know what was unfolding.''
A self-taught musician, he was hired in 1964 by Stax Records of Memphis as a backup pianist, working as a session musician for Otis Redding and others. He also played saxophone.
He began writing songs, establishing a songwriting partnership with David Porter, and in the 1960s they wrote such hits for Sam and Dave as ``Hold On, I'm Coming'' and ``Soul Man.''
All this led to his recording contract.
In 1972, he won another Grammy for his album ``Black Moses'' and earned a nickname he reluctantly embraced. Hayes composed film scores for ``Tough Guys'' and ``Truck Turner'' besides ``Shaft.'' He also did the song ``Two Cool Guys'' on the ``Beavis and Butt-Head Do America'' movie soundtrack in 1996.
Additionally, he was the voice of Nickelodeon's ``Nick at Nite'' and had radio shows in New York City (1996 to 2002) and then in Memphis.
He was in several movies, including ``It Could Happen to You'' with Nicolas Cage, ``Ninth Street'' with Martin Sheen, ``Reindeer Games'' starring Ben Affleck and the blaxploitation parody ``I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka.''
In the 1999 interview, Hayes described the South Park cook as ``a person that speaks his mind; he's sensitive enough to care for children; he's wise enough to not be put into the 'whack' category like everybody else in town - and he l-o-o-o-o-ves the ladies.''
But Hayes angrily quit the show in 2006 after an episode mocked his Scientology religion. ``There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins,'' he said.
Co-creator creators Matt Stone responded that Hayes ``has no problem - and he's cashed plenty of checks - with our show making fun of Christians.'' A subsequent episode of the show seemingly killed off the Chef character.
Hayes was born in 1942 in a tin shack in Covington, Tenn., about 40 miles north of Memphis. He was raised by his maternal grandparents after his mother died and his father took off when he was 1. The family moved to Memphis when he was 6.
Hayes wanted to be a doctor, but got redirected when he won a talent contest in ninth grade by singing Nat King Cole's ``Looking Back.''
He held down various low-paying jobs, including shining shoes on the legendary Beale Street in Memphis. He also played gigs in rural Southern juke joints where at times he had to hit the floor because someone began shooting.

A self taught musician whose musical ingenuity led him to explore complex compositions centered around sensual yet aggressive applications of lush orchestration ... a sound of his own that would take years for others to catch up with and develop into a genre to be called disco.

So much is owed Isaac Hayes.

:icon_cry::icon_cry:

RIP


******

[RobbaDobba]

Is the disco-fied "Shaft II" available on CD anywhere? Or the extra-long version of "Don't Let Go"?

Anyone? Bueller?