The late Isaac Hayes is permanently embedded in the memory of the latest generation as the voice of Chef on South Park, a Scientologist, and sometime actor. Funny how career trajectories can extend to just about any branch of show biz, or life in general. (Hayes was crowned a king in one of Ghana’s districts in 1992, owned a basketball team and restaurants, and survived a bankruptcy). But Hayes was, first and foremost, an iconic musician who helped bring two conflicting sounds-hot, funky soul and sensuous Quiet Storm slow jams-into the mainstream. Hayes introduced extended sensuous, spoken-word raps over instrumental music years before Barry White hit the charts.
Hayes began his career as a studio musician and songwriter for Stax Records in Memphis, and earned an Oscar and three Grammys. Obviously, the soundtrack to Shaft was his most enduring achievement (sorry, South Park fans), but the 1971 album Black Moses ranked a close second. While 1969’s Hot Buttered Soul introduced long-form interpretations of MOR pop songs, Black Moses perfected it. Hayes, by this time had recorded the theme to Shaft (shut yer mouth!) but this 2 CD set bears little resemblance to that raucous Grammy winning classic. Of the songs on the reissue, only two of them ("Good Love" & "Ike’s Rap") are original. The rest are covers of MOR and lite soul hits, including “Never Can Say Good-bye”, “Never Gonna Give You Up”, and “For the Good Times”. This seems disconcerting to someone unfamiliar with the album, maybe even joke-worthy, but Hayes’ groundbreaking interpretations turned the original compositions into uber-suave, deftly arranged jam sessions that took on a life of their own.
The lush orchestral arrangements, underscored by funky percussion, can soothe frayed nerves and make you break out the champagne and call your sweetie (“Close to You”, “Ike’s Rap/Brand New Me”) or make you contemplate love gone wrong ("Going in Circles", "I’ll Never Fall in Love Again"). Hayes recorded Black Moses while his marriage was disintegrating, and the songs explore all the ups and downs of a relationship, from the thrill of discovering a new love to the crushing realization that they’re gone. "Close to You" is the antithesis of the Carpenters version with female singers chanting and cooing over horns and conga drums until finally that unforgettable bass voice comes in and almost startles you!
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