Walk on By

The first time that I remember seeing Isaac Hayes it actually had nothing to do with music. Even though my parents didn't have any money they always insisted on having cable (thanks guys!) and my mom use to tape movies off of Cinemax all the time. I guess they were having a late 80's make fun of blaxploitation day or something (although now that I think about it, we were awfully close to the late 80's in 1991), so they showed Hollywood Shuffle and I'm Gonna Get You Sucka back to back.
My mother, while not your cool mom in the traditional sense, was of the belief that you should not hide different kinds of movies and books from your children in some vain effort to protect them. I was too young to get either of those movies, particularly Hollywood Shuffle- it didn't matter; I liked I'm Gonna Get U Sucka better anyway because of Slammer (Jim Brown) getting shot in his bunion. Anyway, for the first few years of my (semi) cognizant life I knew Isaac Hayes as Hammer, the man who owned the rib shack where Chris Rock ordered "one rib" (I sho am hungry). The man who loaded himself up with enough guns and grenades to take on the Russian army and who promptly slipped on some well-placed bullets before the fight even started. I still love watching that movie, and now that I have some knowledge of blaxploitation it is even more hilarious.
It wasn't until later that I got to know who Isaac Hayes really was, a musical genius who got his due, but never really did. Of course, he is most remembered for composing the theme (and the rest of the soundtrack) for Shaft- the key to his everlasting fame, although its not my favorite song from him by a long shot. For me, my favorite song is "Walk on By," written originally by Burt Bacharach (the guy who wrote for Dionne Warwick) and appearing on my favorite album of his, Hot Buttered Soul. I remember my mom had that cd, I remember listening to it, and I remember wrecking it (I did that with a lot of my mothers music).
But I also remember the orchestral strings and haunting voices, sounding like they were lost in the desert, the buzzing guitar constantly circling overheard, swooping like a hawk at just the right opportunity. I can feel the anguish that Hayes puts into the song, and how the background voices seem to be both tender and teasing. But mostly I remember the absolute perfection of "Walk on By." Then there is the absolutely lovely, epically ended and incomparably long "By the Time I Get to Phoenix;" the man knew how to do a cover justice. "Hyperbolicsyllabicsequedalymistic" (and you better believe I had to look up the spelling)- is an absolute stomper with the lovely background, although truth be told I don't like it as much as most people. "One Woman" is the least memorable and perhaps the most syrupy but it still stands up as a beautiful ballad. The three long form songs really showcase the Bar-Kays ridiculous talent- my second favorite group in Stax absolutely incredible stable of sessionist (someone should make a movie about all of them- the Mar-Keys, Bar-Kays, and Booker T. and the MG's). It would be a while before I could truly appreciate the long form music that he was making and I always wondered why the hell he only had four songs on there; but his shiny bald head on the album- with the thick gold rope hanging down from his neck and his trademark aviators were the epitome of sparse yet over-the-top coolness.
The thing is, his first album bombed, I mean absolutely bombed. He had been a producer and musician at Stax before he dropped his first album- Presenting Isaac Hayes and it did absolutely terrible. He wasn't up for making a second album but the head man at Stax wanted him to and so Hayes did- with the caveat that he would have MORE creative control, (the man had some balls) on the second album than he did on the first. He got with the Bar-Kays and made the aformentioned Hot Buttered Soul, and thus became a star. His next two albums- the Isaac Hayes Movement and especially Black Moses are just as great, although I have not listened to them nearly as carefully as with Hot Buttered Soul. Anyway, after that he was tabbed to do Shaft. I don't know anything else about his later discography, although I heard Chocolate Chip once, which is a shame because he was much much greater than our generation knows. Greater than Shaft, greater than Chef- the man played on what I think was absolutely the best black label in music history, greater than Motown, greater than Philadelphia, greater than Chess, even greater than Roc-a-Fella (that's a post for another day). He wrote songs for Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave (all of the hits), Carla Thomas, the Emotions. He produced, along with Sam Porter, and Booker T. nearly every Stax artist during the early years of Stax. I suggest that everybody check out his early work- and at the very least, place some of that good Memphis soul in your box. I'll do the same, and please remember the great Isaac Hayes.