RIP Isaac Hayes

By now I’m sure all of you know that a few days ago, the legendary R&B artist/producer/actor Isaac Hayes passed away. It was just announced that it was due to a stroke. I was certainly surprised to hear of this news, as he was a bad mother… well, you know the rest.

He at least led quite the life; while you wish he didn't become a Scientologist, otherwise I can't think of too many criticisms that you can lobby against him.

I will link to two songs of his. I'll be using files that were uploaded by others; hey, it's easier that way!

The first song is by far his best-known song. Yes, it's Theme from Shaft, the main song from the film (and soundtrack) of the same name. The reason why I'd post it is that when you hear it on the radio, more often than not it's the single version rather than the album version, which is a full minute longer. Hell, one time I was listening to a radio station in the middle of nowhere, Florida, and they actually edited out the "he's a bad mother…" part! I couldn't believe it. You don't have to worry about that with this file I found.

Isaac Hayes-Theme from Shaft (4.2 MB, 128Kbits/second)

http://tonymitchelli.free.fr/mp3/Isaac_Hayes_Shaft.mp3

The second song is an example of what was a familiar theme on his albums, which was a lengthy song that featured much orchestration. It's from his Hot Buttered Soul album and it's known as Walk On By; it's a cover of a song from the prolific Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

You can look at this blog for a high-quality version of the 12 minute song, and also some words from someone who knew Isaac personally and realized that he apparently was in bad health for awhile now.

I'll be back a week from tonight with a new song. On my mashups blog, I will post a tune that uses Theme From Shaft.