Sobby

RIP SOUL MAN

I was shocked and deeply saddened today to discover that soul-legend Isaac Hayes was found dead in his home, aged 65.

To most of this generation, he was the voice of Chef on South Park but to me, and those who remember his best work, he was a true music original and pioneer. In a career made up of constant reinvention, he first emerged as one-half of the songwriting duo Hayes-Porter. Together with David Porter on the Stax Label, he produced some of the best soul hits of the late 1960s including Sam & Daves’, “Hold On I’m Comin’”, “Soul Man” and “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby”. Their contribution earned them an induction into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

As the 1960s came to an end, Hayes ventured from southern soul to psychedelic-funk with extended jams and spoken-word deliveries. He also ditched the southern trappings and became a pimp-incarnate, making it just as much about the style and vibe as about the music. It was here laid the modern template for funk and disco and eventually hip-hop. The Associate Press wrote, “Hayes was a goldmine of influence”, and the UK’s Guardian said he, “defined black urban cool”. His vision was fully realised on 1969’s Hot Buttered Soul, a four-track masterpiece that was stylistically leagues ahead of any black music at the time.

Hayes’ greatest fame came with the “Theme for Shaft” which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Song - the first ever won by an African-American. The composition perhaps best sums up his genius, as it builds from a delicate cymbal intro to piercing string lines to what is ultimately the most bad-ass outro in pop music (“Who’s the black private dick? That’s a sex machine to all the chicks SHAFT! Ya damn right!). He was honoured again in 2002 with a Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame induction.

A true soul man. Isaac Hayes, you will be missed.