The great Isaac Hayes died this afternoon in Memphis, TN at the age of 65.
If all Isaac had done in the music business was co-write "Hold On, I'm Coming" and "Soul Man" with David Porter he'd have done quite nicely, thank you. But he did a lot more. Hot Buttered Soul, Black Moses, The Theme from Shaft... show-stopping TV performances... an Academy Award... multiple Grammys... movies... TV. It all started when he got himself hired as a piano player/ saxophonist at the legendary Stax Records in Memphis. Working on Otis Redding sides... cutting tracks with Cropper and Dunn... imagine that.
Isaac was born in a shack outside Memphis. His mother died and his dad scrammed before he was two and he was taken in by his mother's parents. All he did from that humble start was make himself known everywhere in the world where people could feel the spirit of his 100% American music.
Isaac Hayes, a sweet soul, gone too young.
(Picture taken 1995, San Francisco, CA)
