Theme from Shaft

"Theme from Shaft", written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in 1971, is the soul- and funk-style theme song to the film Shaft. The theme, released as a single (shortened and edited from the longer album version) two months after the movie's soundtrack, went to #1 in the United States in November 1971. The following year, "Theme from Shaft" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, with Hayes becoming the first African American to win that honor (or any Academy Award in a non-acting category). Since then, the song has appeared in numerous television shows, commercials, and other movies, including the 2000 remake of Shaft, for which Hayes re-recorded the song without making any changes to it. "Theme from Shaft" is sometimes considered more iconic than the movie for which it was written.^[1][2]

Composition and history

In 2000, Hayes told National Public Radio that he had only agreed to write and perform the song after the movie's producers promised him an audition for the lead role. He never got the chance to audition, but kept his end of the deal anyway.^[3] Director Gordon Parks also had a hand in composing the theme, describing the character of John Shaft (the "black private dick/who's a sex machine/to all the chicks") to Hayes and explaining that the song had to familiarize the audience with him. Hayes recorded the rhythm parts on the theme first, scored the entire rest of the film, then returned to the theme song.^[3] The song begins with a sixteenth-note hi-hat ride pattern, played by Willie Hall, which was drawn from a break on Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness", a Stax record on which Hayes had played.^[3] Also featuring heavily in the intro is Charles Pitts' guitar, which uses a wah-wah effect common in 1970s funk; the riff had originally been written for an unfinished Stax song. The synthesized strings are played by Hayes. Even on the edited single version, the intro lasts for more than two and a half minutes before any vocals are heard. The lyrics describe John Shaft's coolness, courage, and sex appeal, and Hayes' lead vocals are punctuated by a trio of female backup singers. At one famous moment, Hayes calls Shaft "a bad mother—" before the backup singers interrupt the implied profanity with the line "Shut your mouth!", which is said by Telma Hopkins.^[4] Hayes immediately defends himself by replying that he's "talking about Shaft". Other well-known passages include "You're damn right!" also uttered by Hayes, and "He's a complicated man/but no one understands him/but his woman/John Shaft." The line "He's a complicated man/but no one understands him/but his woman/John Shaft." is a pet hate of magician and entertainer, Penn Jillette. During the year long run of the Penn Jillette radio show between 2006-2007, Penn and his co-presenter, Mike Goudeau often discussed Isaac Hayes and his Scientology faith, and as a result, the song line would always come up, with Penn vehemently making a point about a grammatical error. He argues that "He's a complicated man/BUT no one understands him/but his woman." should be "He's a complicated man/AND no one understands him/but his woman." The song was considered very racy for its time; as late as 1990, censors at the FOX Network thought it too risqué to be sung on The Simpsons (until it was demonstrated that the song had indeed been played on television before).^[5] The song was not intended to be a single, but the success of the film and the popularity of the track in nightclubs led to a 45 record of the theme being released on Enterprise Records two months after the soundtrack. Within two months, it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there a second week.^[1] The song had an enormous influence on the disco and soul music of the decade.^[3] In 1972, Hayes performed "Theme from Shaft" as part of the Academy Awards ceremony in his trademark chainmail vest, but accepted the award later that night wearing a tuxedo.^[1] Later that year, he played it live in the Wattstax concert; the footage of this performance is featured in the Mel Stuart documentary film made of the concert. The song has been played or parodied in television shows including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Simpsons, Sesame Street, Scrubs, Father Ted, Histeria!, and The Wire. In particular, Sesame Street's Shaft-inspired "Billy Joe Jive, Super Crime Fighting Ace" animated segments featured theme music reminiscent of the "Theme from Shaft".

Sample

Credits

• Vocals, keyboards, lyrics and arrangement by Isaac Hayes
• Electric piano by Lester Snell
• Bass guitar by James Alexander
• Guitar by Charles Pitts,
• Guitar by Michael Toles,
• Drums by Willie Hall
• Conga drums by Gary Jones
• Backup vocals by Pat Lewis, Rose Williams, and Telma Hopkins
• Lead Trumpet by Richard "Johnny" Davis

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Douglas Wolk (2005). The Greatest Songs Ever! Theme from Shaft. Blender. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.
2. ^ Alex Pappademas (2000). Shafted: The baddest "theme from" ever.. Boston Phoenix. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.
3. ^ ^{a b c d} NPR, "The NPR 100," December 21, 2000. Radio program. Archived at [1]. Retrieved September 9, 2006.)
4. ^ "Theme From Shaft" Songfacts entry. Songfacts. Retrieved on 2006-28-07.
5. ^ Al Jean. (2002). The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season, "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" commentary track [DVD]. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.