Isaac Hayes

For the American arctic explorer, see Isaac Israel Hayes

Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes performs at the International Amphitheater in Chicago as part of the annual PUSH `Black Expo`, October 1973
Background information
Birth name	Isaac Lee Hayes
Born	August 20 1942 (1942-08-20) (age 65) Covington, Tennessee, U.S.
Origin	Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Genre(s)	R&B, funk, soul, disco
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer, and actor
Instrument(s)	Piano, keyboards, vocals, saxophone
Years active	1962-present
Label(s)	Enterprise/Stax, ABC, Columbia Records, Pointblank
Associated acts	David Porter, Booker T. & the MGs, The Bar-Kays
Website	http://www.isaachayes.com

Isaac Lee Hayes (born August 20, 1942) is an American Grammy Award- and Academy Award-winning soul and funk singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger, and actor. Hayes was one of the main creative forces behind Southern soul music label Stax Records, for which he served as both an in-house songwriter/producer and later as its premier recording artist. In addition to his work in popular music, Hayes has also written scores for several motion pictures. His best known film score, for the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft, earned Hayes an Academy Award for Best Original Song (the first Academy Award received by an African-American in a non-acting category) and two Grammy Awards. Hayes received a third Grammy for his 1971 album Black Moses. In 1992, Hayes was crowned an honorary king of Ghana's Ada district thanks to his humanitarian deeds. From 1997 to 2006, he provided the voice for "Chef", a singing ladies' man and elementary school cook, on the animated sitcom South Park.

Biography

Early years

Hayes was born in Covington, Tennessee, the second-born child of Isaac Sr. and Eula Hayes,^[1] but after their deaths was raised by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade, Sr. The child of a poor family, he grew up picking cotton in Covington, Tennessee. He dropped out of high school, only to be encouraged later by his former high school teachers at Manassas High to get his diploma. He earned his diploma at the age of 21. He began singing at the age of five at his local church. Soon after, he taught himself how to play the piano, electronic organ, flute, and saxophone.

Stax Records and Shaft

Hayes began his recording career in the early 1960s, as a session player for various acts of the Memphis-based Stax Records and later writing a string of hit songs with songwriting partner David Porter, including "You Don't Know Like I Know", "Soul Man", "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby", and "Hold On I'm Comin" for Sam and Dave. Hayes, Porter and Stax studio band Booker T. & the MGs served as the main production team for much of the label's output during the early and mid-1960s. In 1967, Hayes released his debut album, Presenting Isaac Hayes, a bluesy, largely improvised effort that did not chart highly. The next album was Hot Buttered Soul, was released in 1969 after Stax had gone through a major upheaval. The label had lost its largest star, Otis Redding, in a December 1967 plane crash; and had lost all of its back catalog to Atlantic Records in May 1968. As a result, Stax executive vice president Al Bell called for twenty-seven new albums to be completed in mid-1969; Hot Buttered Soul, was the most successful of these releases. This album is noted for his image (shaven skulled, gold jewelry, sun glasses, etc) and his distinct sound (extended orchestral songs, heavy on organs, horns, and guitars, deep bass vocals, etc). Only four songs long, Hayes re-interprets "Walk On By" into a twelve-minute exploration, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" starts with an eight-minute long monologue before breaking into song, and the lone original number, the funky "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquidalimystic" (sampled in Public Enemy's epic "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos"), runs nearly ten minutes, a significant break from the standard three minute soul/pop song format and singles-based albums. "Walk On By" would be the first of many times Hayes would take a Bacharach standard, generally made famous as three minute pop songs by Dionne Warwick or Dusty Springfield, and transform it into an unrecognizable, lengthy and almost psychedelic number. In 1970 Hayes released two albums, The Isaac Hayes Movement and To Be Continued. The former stuck to the four song template of his previous album. Jerry Butler's "I Stand Accused" begins with a trademark spoken word monologue, and Bacharach's "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" is re-worked. Both were hit singles. The latter spawned the classic "The Look Of Love", another Bacharach song transformed into an eleven-minute epic of lush orchestral rhythm (mid-way it breaks into a rhythm guitar jam for a couple of minutes before suddenly resuming the slow love song). An edited three-minute version was a hit single. The album also featured the instrumental "Ike's Mood" which segued into his own version of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling". Hayes released a Christmas single "The Mistletoe and Me" (with "Winter Snow" as a B-side). In early 1971 Hayes composed music for the soundtrack of the blaxploitation film Shaft (he also enjoyed a cameo as the bar tender of No Name Bar in the film). The title theme with its wah-wah guitar and multi-layered symphonic arrangement would become a worldwide hit single and spent two weeks at number one in the Billboard Hot 100 in November of that year. The remainder of the album was mostly instrumentals covering big beat jazz, bluesy funk, and hard Stax-styled soul. The other two vocal songs, the social commentary "Soulville" and the nineteen-minute jam "Do Your Thing" would be edited down to hit singles. Hayes won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for a Motion Picture for the "Theme from Shaft" and was nominated for Best Original Dramatic Score for Shaft. Later in the year Hayes released a double album Black Moses that expanded on his earlier sounds and featured the hit single "Never Can Say Goodbye". The other single "I Can't Help It" was not featured on the album. In 1972 Hayes would record the theme tune for the TV series The Men and enjoy a hit single (with "Type Thang" as a B-side), and release several other singles such as "Feel Like Making Love", "If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right)", and "Rolling Down A Mountainside". Although these songs never made it to an album, Fantasy Records would later collect them after buying out Stax and release these and other songs as a "new" album Hotbed in 1978. Stax themselves would re-release Hayes' debut album this year with the new title In The Beginning. Hayes was back in 1973 with an acclaimed live double album Live At Sahara Tahoe, and followed it up with the album Joy, his eighth album that featured the almost eerie beat of the fifteen-minute title track and a new direction moving away from covers. An edited "Joy" would be a hit single. In 1974, Hayes featured in the Blaxploitation films Three Tough Guys and Truck Turner, and recorded acclaimed (but comparatively low-selling) soundtracks for both, Tough Guys being almost devoid of vocals and Truck Turner yielded a single with the title theme. Although low-selling, the soundtrack score was used by filmmaker Quentin Tarantino in the Kill Bill film series.

HBS (Hot Buttered Soul Records) and bankruptcy

By 1974, Stax Records was having serious financial problems, stemming from problems with overextension and limited record sales and distribution. Hayes himself was deep in debt to Union Planters Bank, which administered loans for the Stax label and many of tis other key employees. In September of that year, Hayes sued Stax for $5.3 million. As Stax was in deep debt and could not pay, the label made an arrangement with Hayes and Union Planters: Stax released Hayes from his recording and production contracts, and Union Planters would collect all of Hayes' income and apply it towards his debts. Hayes formed his own label, Hot Buttered Soul, which released its product through ABC Records. His new album, 1975's Chocolate Chip saw Hayes embrace the disco sound with the title track and lead single. "I Can't Turn Around" would prove a popular song as time went on. This would be Hayes' last album to chart top 40 for many years. Later in the year, the all instrumental Disco Connection album fully embraced disco. In 1976, the album cover of Juicy Fruit featured Hayes in a pool with naked women, and spawned the title track single and the classic "Storm Is Over". Later the same year the Groove-A-Thon album featured the singles "Rock Me Easy Baby" and the title track. However, while all these albums were regarded as solid efforts, Hayes was no longer selling large numbers. He and his wife were forced into bankruptcy in 1976, as they owed over $6 million. By the end of the bankruptcy proceedings in 1977, Hayes had lost his home, much of his personal property, and the rights to all future royalties earned from the music he'd written, performed, and produced.

Polydor and hiatus, film work

In 1977, Hayes was back with a new deal with Polydor Records, a live album of duets with Dionne Warwick did moderately well, and his comeback studio album New Horizon sold better and enjoyed a hit single "Out The Ghetto", and also featured the popular "It's Heaven To Me". 1978's For The Sake Of Love saw Hayes record a sequel to Shaft ("Shaft II"), but was most famous for the single "Zeke The Freak", a song that would have a shelf life of decades and be a major part of the House movement in the UK.

Universal Pictures screenshot of Isaac Hayes from season three of The Rockford Files, episode "Just Another Polish Wedding".

In 1979, Hayes returned to the Top 40 with Don't Let Go and its disco-styled title track that became a hit single, and also featured the classic "A Few More Kisses To Go". Later in the year he added vocals and worked on Millie Jackson's album Royal Rappin's. Neither 1980s And Once Again or 1981's Lifetime Thing produced notable songs or big sales, and Hayes chose to take a break from music to pursue acting. In the 1970s, Hayes featured in the films Shaft (1971) and Truck Turner (1974); he also had a recurring role in the TV series The Rockford Files as ex-con strongman Gandolph Fitch, including one episode alongside duet-partner Dionne Warwick. In the 1980s and 90s, he appeared in numerous films, notably Escape from New York (1981), I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), Prime Target (1991), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), and Johnny Mnemonic (1995), as well as in episodes of The A-Team and Miami Vice. He also attempted a musical comeback, embracing the style of drum machines and synth for 1986s U-Turn and 1988s Love Attack, though neither proved successful.

Return to school

Hayes in 2007

Hayes launched a high-selling and successful comeback on the Virgin label in 1995. Branded was considered a return to form, and received positive reviews throughout the music press. A companion album Raw and Refined was released around the same time and featured a collection of previously unheard instrumentals, both old and new. Hayes would become even more in the public consciousness with his long-running role as overweight loverman "Chef" in the controversial hit TV series South Park. (See below) Hayes was inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. The same year, a documentary highlighting Isaac's career and his impact on many of the Memphis artists in the 1960s onwards was produced, "Only The Strong Survive". In 2004, Hayes appeared in a recurring minor role as the Jaffa Tolok on the television series Stargate SG-1. The following year, he appeared in the critically acclaimed independent film Hustle & Flow.

Family

Hayes is the father of 12 children, 14 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.^[2] His fourth wife Adjowa^[3] gave birth to a son named Nana Kwadjo Hayes on April 10, 2006.^[4] One son is his namesake, Isaac Hayes III.

Basketball team ownership

On July 17, 1974 Isaac Hayes, along with Mike Storen, Avron Fogelman and Kemmonis Wilson took over ownership of the American Basketball Association team the Memphis Tams.^[5] The prior owner was Charles O. Finley, the owner of the Oakland A's baseball team. Hayes' group renamed the team the Memphis Sounds. Despite a 66% increase in home attendance, hiring well regarded coach Joe Mullaney and, unlike in the prior three seasons, making the 1975 ABA Playoffs (losing to the eventual champion Kentucky Colonels in the Eastern Division semifinals) the team's financial problems continued. The group was given a deadline of June 1, 1975 to sell 4,000 season tickets, obtain new investors and arrange a more favorable lease for the team at the Mid-South Coliseum. The group did not come through and the ABA took over the team, selling it to a group in Maryland that renamed the team the Baltimore Hustlers and then the Baltimore Claws before the club finally folded during preseason play for the 1975-1976 season.^[6]

Scientology activism

Hayes has contributed endorsement blurbs for many Scientology books. The frontispiece page for Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought (1997 paperback edition) quotes Hayes as saying:

"If you really want to know about the mind, the spirit and life itself, read Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought. It will put you on the right path!"

Hayes also appears in the Scientology film Orientation, giving a testimonial on how Scientology has helped him. In 1998 Isaac Hayes and fellow entertainers Anne Archer, Chick Corea and Haywood Nelson attended the 30th anniversary of Freedom Magazine, the Church of Scientology's investigative news journal, at the National Press Club in Washington DC, to honor eleven human rights activists.^[7]

Charitable work

In February 2006, Hayes appeared in a Youth for Human Rights International music video called "United". YHRI is a human rights group founded by a fellow Scientologist but is not part of the church itself, and welcome members of any faith or background. He is also involved in other human rights related groups such as the One Campaign, as well.

South Park’s Chef

Isaac Hayes' character Chef from South Park.

During the late-1990s, Hayes became popular as the voice of Chef on the Comedy Central series South Park. A song from the series performed by Chef, "Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)", received some international radio airplay in 1999. It reached number-one on the UK singles chart and also on the Irish singles chart. The track also appeared on the album Chef Aid: The South Park Album in 1998. One of his famous phrases is: Hello there, children!

Hayes’s departure and criticism

In the South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet", a satire and exposé of Scientology which aired on November 16, 2005, Hayes did not appear in his role as Chef. While appearing on the Opie and Anthony radio show about a month after the episode aired, Hayes was asked, "What did you think about when Matt and Trey did that episode on Scientology?" He replied, "One thing about Matt and Trey, they lampoon everybody, and if you take that serious, I'll sell you the Brooklyn bridge for two dollars. That’s what they do." In an interview for The A.V. Club on January 4, 2006, Hayes was again asked about the episode. Hayes said that he told the creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, "Guys, you have it all wrong. We're not like that. I know that’s your thing, but get your information correct, because somebody might believe that shit, you know?" He then told them to take a couple of Scientology courses to understand what they do. In the interview, Hayes defended South Park's style of controversial humor, noting that he was not pleased with the show’s treatment of Scientology, but conceding that he "understands what Matt and Trey are doing."^[8] On March 13, 2006, a statement was issued in Hayes' name, indicating that he was asking to be released from his contract with Comedy Central, citing recent episodes which satirized religious beliefs as being intolerant. "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," he was quoted in a press statement. The statement, however, did not directly mention Scientology. A response from Stone said that Hayes' complaints stemmed from the show’s criticism of Scientology and that he "has no problem – and he’s cashed plenty of checks – with our show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons or Jews."^[9] Stone adds, "[We] never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin." Stone and Parker agreed to release Hayes from his contract per his request. On March 20, 2006, Roger Friedman of Fox News reported having been told that the statement was made in Hayes’s name, but not by Hayes himself, as he suffered a stroke in January. He wrote: "Isaac Hayes did not quit South Park. My sources say that someone quit it for him. ... Friends in Memphis tell me that Hayes did not issue any statements on his own about South Park. They are mystified."^[10] Hayes spokeswoman Amy Harnell denied that Hayes had had a stroke.^[11] A March 23, 2006 BBC News story quoted Stone as saying, "In 10 years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons or Jews. He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show."^[12] On October 26, 2006 Hayes himself confirmed that he had a stroke.^[13] On 24 January 2007, the New York Post reported that Hayes had told their reporter "They didn’t pay me enough" and "They weren’t that nice".^[14] The South Park season 10 premiere (aired March 22, 2006) featured "The Return of Chef", a thinly veined telling of the affair from Parker and Stone's point of view. Using sound clips from past episodes, it depicts Chef as having been brainwashed and urges viewers (via one of the kids talking to the town) to "remember Chef as the jolly old guy who always broke into song" and not to blame Chef for his defection, but rather "be mad at that fruity little club for scrambling his brains."

Awards

• Academy Awards:
  • 1972: Best Original Song, "Theme from Shaft (winner)
  • 1972: Best Original Score, Shaft (nomination)
• Grammy Awards:
• 1972: Best Instrumental Arrangement, "Theme from Shaft" (arranged with Johnny Allen)
• 1972: Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special, "Theme From Shaft"
• 1973: Best Pop Instrumental Performance By An Arranger, Composer, Orchestra and/or Choral Leader, Black Moses

Discography

• Presenting Isaac Hayes (1967)
• Hot Buttered Soul (1969)
• Enterprise (1970)
• ...to Be Continued (1970)
• The Isaac Hayes Movement (1970)
• Black Moses (1971)
• Shaft (1971)
• In the Beginning (1972)
• Joy (1973)
• Live at the Sahara Tahoe (1973)
• Tough Guys (1974)
• Truck Turner (1974)
• Chocolate Chip (1975)
• Disco Connection (1976)
• Groove-A-Thon (1976)
• Juicy Fruit (1976)
• A Man and Woman (1977)
• New Horizon (1977)
• For the Sake of Love (1978)
• Hotbed (1978)
• Don't Let Go (1979)
• And Once Again (1980)
• Royal Rappin's (1980)
• Lifetime Thing (1981)
• U-Turn (1986)
• Love Attack (1988)
• Wonderful (1994)
• Branded (1995)
• Raw and Refined (1995)
• Chef Aid: The South Park Album (1998)
• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut - Music from and inspired by the Motion Picture (1999)
• Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics (1999)
• Instrumentals (2003)
• At Wattstax (2003) (recorded live at Wattstax Aug. 20, 1972)
• Hot Buttered Soul (2003) reissued on SACD by audiophile label Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

Filmography

Wikinews has related news:

Isaac Hayes quits South Park over Scientology episode

• Soul in Cinema: Filming Shaft on Location (1971) (short subject)
• Save the Children (1973) (documentary)
• The Black Moses of Soul (1973) (documentary)
• Wattstax (1973) (documentary)
• Truck Turner (1974)
• Three Tough Guys (1974)
• It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975)
• Escape from New York (1981)
• Counterforce (1987)
• Dead Aim (1987)
• I'm Gonna Get You Sucka (1988)
• Fire, Ice & Dynamite (1990)
• Guilty as Charged (1991)
• Prime Target (1991)
• Final Judgement (1992)
• Deadly Exposure (1993)
• CB4 (1993)
• Posse (1993)
• Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
• Oblivion (1994)
• It Could Happen to You (1994)
• Magic Island (1995) (voice only)
• Oblivion 2: Backlash (1996)
• Orientation: A Scientology Information Film (1996) (short subject)
• Flipper (1996)
• Illtown (1996)
• Uncle Sam (1997)
• Six Ways To Sunday (1997)
• Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
• Ninth Street (1999)
• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) (voice)
• Dead Dog (2000)
• Reindeer Games (2000)
• Shaft (2000) (Cameo)
• Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) (voice)
• Chelsea Walls (2001) (Cameo)
• Only the Strong Survive (2002) (documentary)
• Soulsville (2003) (documentary)
• Dodge City: A Spaghetto Western (2004)
• Dream Warrior (2004)
• Hustle & Flow (2005)
• United (2005) (short subject)
• Return to Sleepaway Camp (2006)

References

External links

Scientology Portal

• IsaacHayes.com
• Allmusic Entry
• Isaac Hayes at the Internet Movie Database
• MP3 audio interview with Stax Records expert Rob Bowman on the radio program The Sound of Young America, including information on Hayes' performance at Wattstax
• InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse: Isaac Hayes (TV interview)