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Isaac Hayes

Isaac Lee Hayes (born August 20, 1942, in Covington, Tennessee) is an actor, soul singer, Academy Award- winning songwriter, musician, and arranger. He voiced the character "Chef", a singing ladies' man and elementary school cook, on the animated sitcom South Park. In 1972, Hayes won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the film Shaft. Hayes became the first African American to win an Academy Award in a non-acting category. After Hattie McDaniel, James Baskett and Sidney Poitier, he became only the fourth performer of African descent to ever receive an Academy Award. He was also nominated in the Best Original Score category (for Shaft) as well. Hayes won Grammy awards for: Best Instrumental Arrangement, "Theme From Shaft" (arranged with Johnny Allen) in 1971 Best Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special,"Theme From Shaft" in 1971 Best Pop Instrumental Performance By An Arranger, Composer, Orchestra and/or Choral Leader, "Black Moses" in 1972 In 1992, Hayes was crowned an honorary king of Ghana's Ada district thanks to his humanitarian deeds. On June 9, 2005, Hayes was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame alongside Bill Withers, Steve Cropper, Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman, John Fogerty and his longtime writing partner David Porter.


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6
The Vinyl Post

The Holy Trinity of Soul: Three Craft Reissues

Read "The Holy Trinity of Soul: Three Craft Reissues" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan


Last fall, Craft Recordings issued a four CD compilation focusing on Isaac Hayes and his recordings for Stax, Volt, and Enterprise. Spanning the years 1962 to 1976, the set cut a wide swathe of Southern soul and managed to put into perspective the importance of Hayes' impressive oeuvre. Now, Craft turns its attention to upscale vinyl reissues of Hayes' most important recordings, namely Hot Buttered Soul, Shaft , and Black Moses. With new remastering undertaken by Dave Cooley at Elysian ...

1,111
Reassessing

Isaac Hayes: Shaft

Read "Isaac Hayes: Shaft" reviewed by Trevor MacLaren


Isaac HayesShaftStax Records1971 “Who's that black private dick who's a sex machine with all the chicks? Shaft! Damn right!... The opening lines to Isaac Hayes' score for the seminal 1971 movie, Shaft, sound like a camp put-on today--but in the early '70s they were about as camp as the Black Panthers. Black sexuality and black pride were explosive issues in an America where the hardcore, fundamentalist ...

210
Album Review

Isaac Hayes: Can You Dig It?

Read "Can You Dig It?" reviewed by Jim Santella


We've all been exposed to the music of Isaac Hayes. His film soundtracks and jazz-tinged funk have had their effect. Today he's also known for his role as a school cafeteria worker in the animated television series South Park. A leading romantic icon in the popular music world, he's given Stax Records a pile of great albums that blend jazz with blues and rock. Included in this two-CD set are tracks from several albums: Black Moses, Shaft, Presenting Isaac Hayes, ...

130
Album Review

Isaac Hayes: Isaac Hayes at Wattstax

Read "Isaac Hayes at Wattstax" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


A Hot August Night in the Valley.

Once upon a dream, in a galaxy far, far away, Isaac Hayes stood not as the vocal track for a silly cable TV cartoon sporting human stool as a character, but as the finest singer/songwriter/musician American music had to offer. Before establishing himself as a top solo draw, Hayes was instrumental in the composition of such soul and R&B classics as "Soul Man," "Hold On, I’m Comin’," and "When Something is ...

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99

Event

Isaac Hayes Highway Renaming Ceremony

Isaac Hayes Highway Renaming Ceremony

Source: Stax Museum of American Soul Music


176

Recording

Ray Charles, Isaac Hayes 'For Lovers' CDs out on Dec. 22

Ray Charles, Isaac Hayes 'For Lovers' CDs out on Dec. 22

Source: conqueroo

Two discs feature the artists' greatest love songs, just in time for Christmas,New Year's Eve, and Valentine's Day!

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Concord Music Group's For Lovers series will continue on December 22, 2009 with CDs from both Ray Charles and Isaac Hayes, featuring each artist's greatest love songs. Previously, Concord has issued For Lovers albums by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Tony Bennett, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Bill Evans, Sarah Vaughan, Dave Brubeck, Rosemary Clooney, Wes Montgomery and Mel Torm ...

143

Recording

Isaac Hayes' "Shaft" Soundtrack Gets Deluxe Reissue from Stax

Isaac Hayes' "Shaft" Soundtrack Gets Deluxe Reissue from Stax

Source: conqueroo

Pivotal 1971 soundtrack was one of soul music’s best sellers of all time and earned Isaac Hayes a Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In 1971, the song was everywhere. “Who is the man who would risk his neck for his brother man?” Shaft? Damn right. Isaac Hayes’ Shaft soundtrack album became a #1 album on both the pop and R&B charts — and remained on the charts for a jaw-dropping 60 weeks. The first soul soundtrack ...

294

Recording

Isaac Hayes' 'Hot Buttered Soul' Album Reissued on Stax with Bonus Tracks, Digital Remastering

Isaac Hayes' 'Hot Buttered Soul' Album Reissued on Stax with Bonus Tracks, Digital Remastering

Source: conqueroo

Four-song long-player ushered in the era of album-oriented soul with hits “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Walk On By.” Reissue contains notes by Jim James of My Morning Jacket.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Until Isaac Hayes released Hot Buttered Soul in 1969, soul music had been a singles-oriented genre. Best known as the partner of David Porter in writing such Stax hits as “Hold On! I’m Coming,” “Soul Man” and “B-A-B-Y” among others, Hayes, along with Marvin ...

255

Recording

Isaac Hayes' "Black Moses" and "Juicy Fruit" Albums Reissued on CD

Isaac Hayes' "Black Moses" and "Juicy Fruit" Albums Reissued on CD

Source: conqueroo

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Isaac Hayes’ epic 1971 album Black Moses, which captured the artist at the peak of his popularity, will be reissued on Stax Records on February 24, 2009. The release is a complete replication of the original Black Moses package, folding out into a cross-shaped image of the artist. The album was re-mastered from the original tapes. New liner notes are by Rob Bowman, the Grammy Award-winning Stax scholar and author of Soulsville U.S.A: The Story of ...

88

Obituary

Sam Moore Reflects on Isaac Hayes, Jerry Wexler and a Life in Soul

Sam Moore Reflects on Isaac Hayes, Jerry Wexler and a Life in Soul

Source: Michael Ricci

Last week was a terrible blow to anybody invested in the soul and R&B music of the late '60s. Between the deaths of Isaac Hayes and Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler, it seemed as if one of the greatest eras in American pop music began to fade.

Sam Moore (above, left, with Hayes), one half of the R&B duo Sam and Dave, is performing an Isaac Hayes tribute at Sunset Junction this weekend, and he knew the players of the ...

177

Obituary

Concord Music Group's Statement on Isaac Hayes

Concord Music Group's Statement on Isaac Hayes

Source: conqueroo

The Stax Records and Concord Music Group family lost a great friend on Sunday when soul music giant Isaac Hayes died suddenly at the age of 65.

To the world he was Black Moses, Ike The Ripper and, later, Chef from TV's South Park. To the rest of us who had the extraordinary opportunity to work with him in recent years, he was just Isaac. He was humble, unpretentious and refreshingly down-to-earth. Not bad for a man who delivered a ...

84

Obituary

Isaac Hayes Innovative Singer, Composer Changed Pop Music

Isaac Hayes Innovative Singer, Composer Changed Pop Music

Source: Michael Ricci

Los Angeles Times Indepth Obituary Isaac Hayes, the musician, composer and producer whose innovative sound changed the shape of pop music and whose shaved head, bejeweled outfits and regal demeanor embodied African American masculinity in the 1970s, has died. He was 65.

Family members found Hayes unresponsive Sunday afternoon next to a treadmill in a downstairs bedroom in his home just east of Memphis, Tenn., said Steve Shular, a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office. Hayes' wife, ...

72

Obituary

Isaac Hayes, Deep-Voiced Soul Icon, is Dead at 65

Isaac Hayes, Deep-Voiced Soul Icon, is Dead at 65

Source: Michael Ricci

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)--Isaac Hayes, the pioneering singer, songwriter and musician whose relentless “Theme From Shaft" won Academy and Grammy awards, died Sunday afternoon, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said. He was 65. A family member found him unresponsive near a treadmill and he was pronounced dead 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 ...

76

Obituary

Singer Isaac Hayes Dead at 65

Singer Isaac Hayes Dead at 65

Source: All About Jazz

Soul singer and arranger Isaac Hayes, who won Grammy awards and an Oscar for the theme from the 1971 action film Shaft has died, sheriff's officials in Memphis, Tennessee, reported Sunday. Singer Issac Hayes seen performing in the U.K. last year. Hayes was found dead Sunday at age 65.

Relatives found Hayes, 65, unconscious in his home next to a still-running treadmill, said Steve Shular, a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department.

Paramedics attempted to revive him and took ...

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