Definitely a sad day when we lost the "Shaft" man this past August 10th at age 65.
Chicago Tribune Critic Greg Kot did an article on him August 13th.
"Draped in gold chains with a shaved head and barrel chest, Isaac Hayes was an intimidating presence...and his voice was as bottomless as the Grand Canyon." Now that was a great summation of the R&B superstar.
He attained superstar status in the early 70s with his masterpiece "Theme from Shaft" and became the first black composer to win an Oscar.
His career started as a pianist for the seminal Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, in the early 60s and started writing songs with lyricist David Porter and had great success with the duo Sam and Dave, one of my all-time favorite groups.
The two of them co-wrote over 200 songs including Sam and Dave's "Soul Man," "Hold on I'm Comin',"You Don't Know Like I Know" and others for artists such as Carla Thomas and Johnny Taylor.
Recording on his own, Hayes had great covers of diverse songs such as Dionne Warwick's "Walk on By" and Jimmy Webb's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix."
His "Hot Buttered Soul" album was something else.
Mighty Great One We'll Miss.
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