(Shut your mouth)
But I’m talkin’ ’bout Shaft
(Then we can dig it)

Isaac Hayes was too mature for my tender years but Shaft was the cool song composed by him and earned an academy award for its originality. If you knew nothing else, you could sing those few lyrics. It was the movie and theme that came at the height of Blaxploitation film in the 70s.

You can say Isaac was a Renaissance Man for the time, as he was a singer-songwriter, composer for motion pictures, actor and started his own label, Stax Records. Otis Redding was signed to the label and its biggest star, so Isaac came out the gate with a business plan, rather than signing himself over.

Put him right there with Barry White, with the deep voice and all. Unlike Barry, however, Isaac took his shirt off for the ladies and wore heavy jewelry around his neck and sometimes around his entire torso. I don’t think he was into shirts all that much anyhow but he had a definite style that African American men imitated at the time.

If Isaac ever sang a song by another artist, he made it his from start to finish. He often would rearrange the lyrics and being that he wrote for a great number of artists, this came easy for a man of so many talents.

From the Musical Sketchbook pays tribute to Mr Isaac Hayes’ lasting legacy. Rest in Love.