RIP Isaac Hayes

This weekend has brought news of two entertainment deaths of significance. Yesterday's news brought forth the story of comedian/actor Bernie Mac's untimely death, and today I learn that Isaac Hayes has passed away at the age of 65. Although to many people in the mainstream, especially those younger than the age of 30, Hayes is known primarily as the voice of "Chef" on the animated series South Park and for the infamous song "Chocolate Salty Balls" from the show. For soul fans, however, Hayes was "Black Moses," whose songwriting with David Porter provided hits for Stax Records (most notably with Sam & Dave) and whose solo LPs for Enterprise ushered in lush, highly-orchestrated sounds that went beyond the length of the standard soul 45 (Hot Buttered Soul, his 1969 breakthrough album, had only four tracks). Hayes' baritone crooning and sensual raps laid the groundwork for artists like Barry White, and his soundtrack to Shaft kick-started the blaxploitation boom. Over at Funky 16 Corners and at In Dangerous Rhythm, Larry and Colin each pay tribute to Hayes (go to the links section to access their posts), and I'm sure more will follow. I wanted to contribute, so I picked four tunes that are personal favorites of mine (a fifth, "Rolling Down a Mountainside," appeared on the blog nearly two years ago).




Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic

The impact of Hot Buttered Soul goes beyond the track lengths, as discussed above: Hayes' bald head made for striking cover art; the album got play on R&B radio as if it were a single; the album topped several Billboard charts and was it was so hot a property that, according to Rob Bowman, record stores reported being burglarized but only having Hot Buttered Soul stolen! My favorite track from the LP is the long funk jam "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic." Hayes delivers some oddball blues lyrics while the band and the backing singers slink along. After nearly five minutes, Hayes settles into a funky piano solo and you can get lost in the funk as it pushes along for another four minutes or so.




Soulsville


Shaft's Cab Ride

Hayes picked up an Oscar for his soundtrack to the 1971 film Shaft, and the title track became part of pop culture history. The entire soundtrack, released as a 2-LP set, featured lots of great material, but two things I always enjoy hearing are the deep soul song "Soulsville" and a piece of "action" music called "Shaft's Cab Ride." The former is a powerful, gospel-slanted song in which Hayes points out lots of ghetto ills, and the latter is a short thing that starts off orchestrally and then settles into a nice Memphis-flavored instrumental stomp.


Wonderful

My last pick is a 1974 Enterprise single from Hayes. "Wonderful" is a bit more conventional that some of Hayes' other tunes, but I think that anyone who's ever been in love can understand the lyrics of the song.

Of course, there's so much more to Hayes' story than I can tell in a simple blog post, and I'm sure my fellow bloggers will cover a lot of ground over the next few days. RIP, Black Moses. Your sound and unique style will live on forever.

A postscript - Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes' passing so close together is uncanny, as Bernie Mac, Samuel L. Jackson and Isaac Hayes just recently filmed a movie, Soul Men, in which Mac and Jackson starred as an estranged pair of soul singers and in which Stax tunes were included. Here's to hoping that the movie gets released and that it does well in the box office!

(EDITOR'S NOTE - Vinyl Record Day is Tuesday, August 12. Last year, your ever-lovin' Stepfather of Soul participated in a blogswarm connected to the event hosted by J.A. Bartlett from The Hits Just Keep On Comin'. Well, another blogswarm is happening, and I will be participating again. I was going to write a piece to post today, but in light of the news of Isaac Hayes' passing, I will postpone it to tomorrow. Make sure to check it out!)

Get on Down With Clarence & Calvin!

Clarence & Calvin - Rooster Knees and Rice

Clarence Carter's long career started in the early '60s with his Alabama State University classmate Calvin Scott. The duo recorded for Fairlane, Duke and Atco billed as "Clarence & Calvin" or the "C&C Boys," with no particular success. After Calvin was seriously injured in an auto accident, Clarence soldiered on as a solo act with Rick Hall, who had produced the duo's Atco single, signing to FAME and then achieving major success on Atlantic. Calvin would return to recording a few years later, but despite pretty good product - including the Stax LP I'm Not Blind ... I Just Can't See - his recording career never took off and he got out of show business in the mid-'70s. (Check out Calvin's official website for his biography and other information about his career.)

"Rooster Knees and Rice" was the flip side of the duo's Atco 45 (the A-side was a secular version of the Boyer Brothers' gospel classic "Step By Step"). The tune is an instrumental that is essentially a hybrid of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" and James Brown's "Mashed Potatoes," but it's a fun slice of greasy R&B that is good for some dancefloor action.

Soul on the Air #9: Fat Daddy, 1966

Play Music - Share Audio - Paul "Fat Daddy" J...

It's high time that another installment of "Soul on the Air" make its way on the blog, and this 20-minute slab of sockin' soul power comes from Baltimore's WWIN, with the ebullient Paul "Fat Daddy" Johnson doing his thing. I'll defer to this great profile of Fat Daddy for info about the DJ, which includes some additional aircheck clips and MP3s of two 45s featuring Johnson's jive ("Downtown With the Fat Man" has to be heard to be believed). I've heard quite a few motormouth DJs over the years, but Fat Daddy's rapid-fire rhyming and scatting are amazing.

This aircheck is from the morning of July 1966. The announcer's spiel sets the stage right away: "if you missed any of the action on the last part of the Fat Daddy Soul Morning Show, brother, you missed a lot!" Fat Daddy then proceeds to spin Solomon Burke, Nancy Wilson, the Five Stairsteps and others while pushing his high-octane patter and giving a big "soul kiss" to the Baltimore listening audience. The commercials are cool, too, and they include a soulful plug for Salem menthol cigarettes and the "Golden Oldie Album," a joint venture between WWIN and Roulette Records (many radio stations used their record industry connections to create compilation LPs plugging the station and its jocks - I have a WVON Christmas premium in my record collection like the one advertised here). It's a great aircheck, but it's unfortunately too short!

Get on Down With Buddy Ace!

Buddy Ace - Fingerprints

It's funny how quickly time flies by; I knew I had featured soul-blues singer Buddy Ace on this blog before, but I'm surprised to find out that it was a year ago! I'll defer to this Blues Critic profile of Ace for biographical info so I can jump right into today's selection.

After a lengthy tenure at Duke, where he scored a couple of minor hits but generally remained in the shadow of labelmate Bobby Bland, whose vocal style Buddy emulated (and in whose band he played in back in the '50s), Ace moved on to Stan Lewis' Jewel/Paula/Ronn concern. "Fingerprints" was a 1971 Paula single, and over a buoyant groove Buddy works the song's great lyrics with aplomb. (Interestingly enough, Bobby Bland would turn the tables on his soundalike ex-labelmate/sideman and record a less-funky but very good version of "Fingerprints" for his ABC-Dunhill LP Get on Down With Bobby Bland a few years later.)

Tuesday Is (After-Hours) Blues Day

B.B. King - Messy But Good

It's no accident that B.B. King is considered to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time. King knows how to make "Lucille" sing oh-so-soulfully, and even on throwaway tracks like today's selection, it's always nice to hear him work those six silver strings with his trademark passion. "Messy But Good" was included on the Electric B.B. King LP for ABC. It was clearly there just for filler, but one man's filler is a King's feast, so B.B. and the band lay down some serious after-hours instrumental blues that leads one's mind to a smoky bar at 2 A.M. with the jukebox playing something like this. The tune truly lives up to its title!

Part 6 of the Lattimore Brown Story Is Now Online!

Over at The B-Side, Red Kelly tells Part Six of the Lattimore Brown story. Check it out!

All I Need Is June Conquest!

June Conquest - All I Need

June Conquest's "What's This I See" was featured on this blog way back in 2005. Since then, I've heard a few other sides by Ms. Conquest that are outside of the Curtis Mayfield umbrella like her FAME 45 "Almost Persuaded" and the pleasant "The Only Way to Correct a Mistake (Is to Make One)," a duet with "The Demon." "All I Need," featured today, is a Mayfield-related recording, and it finds June providing fine vocals over a swinging Chicago soul groove.

Get on Down ... #29!

Now that the bar exam is out of the way, your ever-lovin' Stepfather of Soul is ready to get back in the saddle and to start sockin' soul power on a regular basis again! And what better way is there to do that than to roll out a new podcast?

1. Mitty Collier - Get Out
2. Sidney Barnes - Ember Furniture Song
3. Tee Fletcher - Down in the Country
4. Jimmy James Thomas - I Can't Dance
5. Eddie Floyd - Hobo
6. The Raelets - Leave My Man Alone
7. Soul Brothers Six - I'll Be Loving You
8. John R - James Brown "Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things" Radio Ad
9. Lou Johnson - Nearer
10. Little Hank - Mr. Bang Bang Man
11. Joe Simon - Put Your Trust in Me (Depend on Me)
12. T-Bone Walker - Party Girl
13. Alton Ellis & The Flames - Girl I've Got a Date
14. Earl Gaines - Been So Long
15. James Moore - Feet
16. Pauline Shivers - You Better Tell Him No
17. The Lollipops - Cheating, Is Telling on You
18. Carla Thomas - Coca-Cola Radio Ad
19. Clydie King - I'm Glad I'm a Woman
20. Bobby Womack - Lillie Mae
21. Lee Austin - Respect
22. Mel & Tim - I've Got Puredee
23. The Mad Lads - Monkey Time '69
24. Joe Haywood - Say You Will
25. The Pac-Keys - Stone Fox

Lattimore, Part 5!

Part Five of the Lattimore Brown story is now online at The B-Side! This chapter is full of info and contains a big news story for soul fans!

(EDITOR'S NOTE - Tomorrow and Wednesday your ever-lovin' Stepfather of Soul will be sitting for the Georgia bar examination. Once that monster is out of the way, it'll be time to sock soul!)

Part 4 of the Lattimore Brown Story Is Online!

Make sure to head on over to The B-Side and check out Part Four of Red Kelly's Lattimore Brown story!

Deep Soul, Mark 1973

Kim Tolliver - Medley (I Need You - Drop Whatever You're Doing)



One of the most-awaited reissues of this year was the late Kim Tolliver's Come and Get Me I'm Ready, her 1973 LP for Chess. Despite solid material - songwriter/producer Freddie Briggs was her husband - and solid performances by Kim, Chess elected to release no 45s and the album drifted into obscurity. John Ridley, who had a hand in the reissue, has a write-up about Tolliver on the Sir Shambling site that I'll defer to for more details about Kim.

Although every track on the album is stellar, my personal favorite is "Medley (I Need You - Drop Whatever You're Doing)." The tune starts off with a "cinematic soul" opening that would not be out of place in a blaxploitation soundtrack, complete with swirling strings, chanted lines from the background singers, and Tolliver providing falsetto embellishments along the way. After a couple of minutes of this, however, the tune shifts gear, slowing down and settling into a mid-tempo groove over which Kim most effectively delivers the message of the song. This is "sho' 'nuff" soul despite the 1973 influences, and in a perfect world it would've been, in my opinion, a hit record had it received 45 release.

Chicago Soul Friday!

Mel & Tim - I've Got Puredee

Mel & Tim were featured on this blog earlier in the year, so I'll just jump into today's selection. "I've Got Puredee" had two 45 issues on Gene Chandler's Bamboo label in 1969 and 1970 (the latter release being a B-side) and was included on their sole Bamboo LP Good Guys Only Win in the Movies. It's a fine piece of Chicago soul, featuring a funky soul groove and fine vocals by the duo.