it is hard to imagine that Isaac Hayes, the soul singer and songwriter who made his name with the theme song to the movie Shaft, died this past weekend. He was the embodiment of a cool, sometimes flamboyant artist who was one of the first Black musicians to compose the score for soundtracks of Black films and to use spoken monologues in songs in the early 1970's. Hayes' work is considered to be the precursor to rap music. With his mellifluous voice and attractive appearance, he exuded the charisma and confidence inherent in the characters portrayed in the popular films of that time period.
As a young boy, he sang in a church choir in Covington, Tennessee and later played the saxophone in a high school band in Memphis; he played in local clubs like Curry's Tropicana, the Tiki club and Plantation Inn at the beginning of the 1960's and eventually played organ and piano as a studio musician for Stax-Volt Records. He arranged pop songs for Otis Redding, Sam and Dave and the Mar-Keys and had a fruitful writing partnership with David Porter. He achieved national attention with his solo albums Presenting Isaac Hayes, Hot Buttered Soul and Black Moses. As his music career dissipated, he pursued acting and was seen in Truck Turner, Three Tough Guys, Escape from New York, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, etc. His diverse television appearances included The Rockford Files, The A-Team, Miami Vice, South Park, etc. His honors included Grammys, an Oscar and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.