It’s funny how we sometimes get introduced to Great things in very pedestrian ways. When I was about 14, somebody played me the first Blues Brothers album. That was the first time I ever heard any music written by Isaac Hayes — in this case, “Soul Man” — and, even in that watered-down form, it blew my mind. My best friend eventually discovered that the original was performed by Sam & Dave, and we went on a furious, pre-Internet scavenger hunt for something, anything, by that duo. (This was especially hard to do because, a.) we were 14 and didn’t know shit about anything; and b.) I was living in Central America at the time.) At last, a trip to the Panama Canal Zone post exchange yielded what I was looking for: a copy of Sam & Dave’s greatest hits, and I was smitten.
As I got older and nerdier about these things, I learned that — as talented as Sam & Dave and the Stax house band were — the real magic in those grooves was the result of an amazing compositional team: Isaac Hayes and David Porter. As I explored their work in the context of everything else that came out of the Stax factory, I realized that — as outrageous as this sounds — those guys didn’t write *one* bad song. Not one. It was all gold. Honest to God, those guys had a batting average better than anybody’s. Better than the Beatles, people!
So Isaac Hayes, at just 65 years of age, is now gone. In trying to write a fitting epitaph for a man I believe to be one of the greatest composers in the history of American popular music, I feel tempted to chronicle his rise from the mean streets of Memphis to global mega-stardom (because his story is a truly compelling one) — but really, that stuff doesn’t mean shit to me, now that he’s dead. What matters to me, obviously, is the man’s music. Like James Brown, or Stevie Wonder, or Duke Ellington, he was a driving force behind a deep transformation in Black popular music, introducing sophisticated, moving (but still funky) chords, riffs and arrangements into a form — in his case, southern Black music targeted at southern Black audiences — that had become paralyzed by the success of soul numbers featuring three chords and time-worn, threadbare melodies.
And speaking of being paralyzed: I have spent the last hour trying in vain to pick the right group of songs to showcase this man’s particular genius. Like so many other great pop composers, you’ve already heard some of his best work: “Soul Man,” “Hold On, I’m Coming,” “I Thank You,” “B-A-B-Y,” and literally dozens more that made it to the pop charts. But even the outstanding obscurities are too numerous to feature here. I mean, where do I start? The guy wrote more than 100 songs during his stint with David Porter at Stax, and they’re all good! And what should I encourage you to listen for? The arrangements and production touches? The sophisticated melodies and counter-melodies? The deep, righteous groove that permeates everything he wrote in the 60s? I’m truly at a loss here. A great loss. We all are. Isaac Hayes, I thank you. We all thank you. You were amazing.
HVB
Tell you what — let’s do this New Orleans-style. First, the sad, mournful farewell:
“If I Ever Needed Love”, Ruby Johnson
Then, the joyous affirmation that one of these days we’ll all be together in the great beyond:
You can say what you like about my remembrance of Mr. Hayes, but — come ON — that Sam and Dave live clip is one of the greatest filmed live performances in the history of pop music. The first time I saw it I just about shat my pants; it’s still a high point of the last musical century, as far as I’m concerned.
And that Ruby Johnson tune is a corker as well!
HVB
His Thetan is now in a permanent State of Clear.
Hey, snuh —
There are innumerable gifted artists who live in a fucking dream world as far as their spiritual pursuits are concerned. One of them just died way too early, and will never make music again. I hope the folks who care about you won’t make cracks about the stupid things you believe when you kick the bucket.
HVB
Hayes is one of those guys who ended up critically overlooked thanks to the focus on his outsized persona in pop culture, but his body of work is pretty impressive and I hope people have a chance to rediscover it now. How many people have written songs as immediate and exciting as Soul Man and Hold On, even without seeing Sam & Dave in action?
Ex-ACT-ly, alexmagic!
Hey, bakshi. I hear you on defending the man’s spiritual impulses. Who knows the truth of what anybody believes about that shit? A State of Clear seems as good as any to me. Check it: turns out a lot of people, the world over, think some guy died for their sins about two thousand years while wearing a crown of thorns. Talk about weird.
But back to the music. I’d like to hear you say more about what constitutes the break that Hayes’ compositions made from earlier types of soul. Get all musicological on me and really break it down. To me it’s the most fascinating part of what you’re saying.
I hope that when I kick the bucket no one tries to proclaim an indefinite period of absolute solemnity during which only my decades-old musical achievements can be mentioned.
Hey, BigSteve — no worries, my man!
Great write-up, HVB. I was thinking about reports of Hayes’ death, which were featured on the front of both the USA Today left outside my hotel door and the New York Times. I dreaded reading the obits, because I feared they would focus on those “legendary” solo albums and bypass his work with as a writer for Stax. Plus I knew there’d be a lot of that South Part stuff, which has never appealed to me.
To my surprise USA Today had the fuller, more musically appreciative obit! As much as I like those Stax records and would agree that Hayes had his hand in writing a number of great songs, I don’t see how he’s that great an innovator. If his batting average is higher than that of the Beatles, as you proclaim, Hrrundi, he must have legged out a lot of infield singles. I think he and Porter (and other writers) gave the Stax artists extremely solid material to work with, but the focus and power of Stax, as I hear it, is on the artistis. As Mwall asked, can you, HVB, or anyone point out what was so innovative about Hayes’ work beyond?
Don’t get me wrong and think I’m criticizing a dead man, by the way: I love a number of his songs and enjoy a few of his solo albums, unintentional giggles and all. I’m curious to see what musical discussion there is to be had over the man. I’d much prefer to remember him by his music than by the other, exploitative nonsense that he all-too-willingly took part in.
Thanks.
Not sure I’ve got the time to really delve into this right now, but here are a few clarifying points: Isaac Hayes and David Porter — as a matter of record — openly rebelled against the owners of Stax, who were so set on repeating the prevailing southern soul hit record formula that they tried to prohibit their songwriters from using *minor chords*!
So Isaac Hayes’ innovations had less to do with revolutionary musical inventions — he wasn’t some kind of Black Harry Partch, for crying out loud — and more to do with his application of pre-existing, complex harmonic/arrangement methods to a form that was previously scared of them. Black folks, I guess, were perceived as not “needing” that kind of cleverness in their pop music.
But, really, if you want to hear a good example of what I’m talking about, just use your mind’s ear to compare “Soul Man” with “Mustang Sally.” Both are good songs, but Isaac’s piece is just so much richer in almost every musical sense.
Now let me turn the tables on *you*, sir. I defy you to name me *one* Hayes-Porter clunker. I can give you at least five Lennon-McCartney turds.
I fear some sort of musical OPS argument is coming, along with how “clutch” the Beatles were under pressure.
HVB wrote:
Knowing how intelligent, articulate, and passionate you are, my not worrying about this lame comeback is not even a matter of “giving you the benefit of the doubt.” You noted up front that you didn’t have time for a full explanation.
To tell the truth, I often don’t know who writes what Stax/Volt song. The success of so many of them, to my ears, depend on the performances of the singers and backing musicians. Hayes and Porter write a lot of those Sam and Dave songs, right? You can’t tell me every Sam and Dave song is a gem. More importantly, with limited knowledge of who, exactly, wrote what Stax song, I stand by belief that the entire label’s admirable ,300 lifetime batting average and 3000 hits was founded on a ton of infield singles and bloop hits. I’ve got that box set of the entire 86,000,000,000 songs that Stax released. All the good songs ever released on that label, whether Hayes had a significant role in them or not, do not hold a candle to almost any ONE Beatles album. And don’t get me wrong – I love Stax.
Just so we’re clear: I mean no disrespect to HVB or the deceased. I also mean no disrespect to high-average singles/doubles hitters or to one of my favorite members of the old Lumber Company-era Pittsburgh Pirates, Al Oliver, whose career, in baseball terms, Hayes’ most closely resembles. Hayes “set the table,” advanced runners, could be counted on for 70 RBI in the days when that almost meant something. HIs solo career, with the exception of the always fascinating “Theme from Shaft” single, was a bloated cap on his career, like Willie McCovey or Orlando Cepeda finishing up great NL careers in gaudy mid-70s uniforms as a DH.
Hey, Mod — pull out that enormo-box set. Make sure it’s the black one. Then scan down the list of composers next to each of the tracks. I can pretty much guarantee you that all the songs you like, with the exception of maybe the Otis stuff, the Booker T. stuff and one or two other tracks, were written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. I also challenge you to find any stinkers in the Hayes-Porter bunch. During the 1960s, those guys were invincible. No “Old Brown Shoe.” No “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party,” no “Her Majesty,” no “Flying.” Okay, so the Beatles were probably better home run kings, and got into the Hall of Fame on the first vote. But when it comes to a 1964-69 batting average, Hayes and Porter come out on top. Just barely, and it’s a statistician’s dream, I’ll grant you, but there you go. Bottom line: take the box set composers’ challenge. Tell me what you see.
HVB
p.s.: also note that there was a shitload of H-P songs that weren’t released as singles, and *that* stuff is consistently good or better, too. Until you cop to that reality, you can’t argue stats on this topic.
I was watching my copy of the Stax/Volt Revue Live in Oslo 1967 this past weekend & the Sam & Dave footage always amazes me to no end. I wonder what would have happened if they went to Monterey w/Otis.
I also have the first Stax/Volt singles box set & there’s a lot of Hayes/Porter tunes on it. Another amazing fact about that box sex is that @ least 85% of the songs involved Booker T. & The M.G.’s in one form or another.
Finally, I remember reading in Peter Guaralnik’s Sweet Soul Music that Rufus Thomas was somewhat dismissive of Hayes/Porter, saying something to the effect that they never wrote a hit for him, although they did try w/songs like “Willy Nilly”.
Well, if Rufus said that, he’s kind of lying. Hayes/Porter wrote “Sophisticated Sissy,” for one.
Is that Oslo concert DVD a DVD of the *whole* show? Or is it, like three or four songs by Otis, Sam & Dave and Booker T? If the latter, I think I have it under a different name. Please inform!
Another amazing fact about that box sex is that @ least 85% of the songs involved Booker T. & The M.G.’s in one form or another.
Can I nominate “box sex” as a new RTH glossary term?
I prefer a box to be involved, yes, although I find that a crude term, it’s much better than the last one thrown around on this site.
Are you saying you’d be embarrassed to ask at the counter for the “poon set of Beatles Capitol albums”? I for one prefer the gentler “lotus flower set” term.
Erm, perhaps, but not “poonanny” – that sounds more like some nurse-type in charge of checking the contents of my depends when I reach my dotage.
hunnrundi,the DVD that I have is called the Stax/Volt Revue Live in Oslo 1967 which came out earlier this year. It has the acts that you mentioned, as well as Arthur Conley & Eddie Floyd. It’s as complete as they could find the footage. It was bootlegged in the past (I have a copy), but this version has more performances & looks great. You can find it almost anywhere or @ Amazon.
Thanks, Diskojoe. The little bit I’ve seen of those performances is OUTSTANDING. I just added an Amazon order box to this post to make it convenient for Townspeople to order this necessary goodie!
Yes, I saw this a while back, and it’s amazing and highly recommended. I didn’t buy a copy, because Eddie Floyd’s niece works in the office in Montgomery where my buddy Frank works, and she got ‘Uncle Eddie’ to give Frank a copy when Floyd got inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Birmingham last year. Frank got backstage and got his program signed by Steve Cropper and some of the other principles who were there. I wasn’t jealous at all.
And, yes, they called the group that performed that night, with many of the original Stax/Volt guys, the ‘Blues Brothers Revue.’
Booker T. & The M.G.’s actually played here in the Witch City about 10 yrs. ago in a Blues festival & I had my box set booklet autographed by Booker, Steve & Duck.
Also, I want to say that I have all of Sam & Dave’s Stax albums (on CD) & they are all pretty solid. I have “Sleep Good Tonight” running through my brain pan right now. You also had songs like “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down” which was only a B-side.
Finally, did you notice the audience in that Stax/Volt Oslo ’67 DVD? It seems that they must have been the hippest people in Oslo.
When I was watching it, I kept think about the audience. Even if you were one of the hippest people in Oslo, can you imagine how mind-blowing seeing that performance would have been? Those Norwegians had probably not even seen very many black people in person before that night.
The booklet in the DVD describes how the whole European tour was put together on a shoestring, and how the musicians could not believe the reverential treatment they got once they were over there. Supposedly some of the horn players had to think twice before giving up steady work playing in some lounge in Memphis to go on this tour, because the owner declined to hold their jobs for them while they were gone.
Thank god someone had the foresight to film one of the shows.
That story about the horn players afraid to leave their regular gig to tour Europe is true. I read about it in Sweet Soul Music, which along w/Soulsville USA, I recommend reading. The musicians were so used to working @ the studio or doing gigs in the local area that they didn’t realize how popular they were in Europe.
Also, I did notice that there were black people in the Oslo audience. I don’t know if they were part of the revue or exchange students or tourists.
Diskojoe, I agree with you that Sweet Soul Music and Soulsville USA are required reading.
What wasn’t been noted in this thread is that in addition to the staff songwriter, Isaac Hayes also was an arranger at Stax as well. I know he arranged “Try A Little Tenderness” and other Otis Redding tunes as well. I guess the overall point is that he had his hand in more Stax/Volt hits than he’s usually given credit for.