News

On the heels of last year’s acclaimed box set The Spirit of Memphis (1962-1976), Craft Recordings is returning to the catalogue of soul legend Isaac Hayes with three upcoming vinyl reissues.  The seminal trio of Hot Buttered Soul, Shaft, and Black Moses will return to vinyl on February 23 as newly remastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters from the original analog tapes.  All three titles have been pressed on 180-gram vinyl by Memphis Record Pressing and feature authentic tip-on jackets.  Black Moses replicates the original four-foot, cross-shaped fold-out image of Hayes in his Black Moses persona.

Hayes’ sophomore album, 1969’s Hot Buttered Soul, featured just four songs – radical reinventions of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Walk on By” (12 minutes) and Jimmy Webb’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” (almost 19 minutes!) plus Sandra Rhodes and Charles Chalmers’ “One Woman” (a concise 5 minutes) and Hayes’ tongue-twisting “Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic” (almost 10 minutes).  Listeners hadn’t heard anything like Hot Buttered Soul before, as it blended Hayes’ lengthy raps with slow-burning, hypnotic grooves, and cinematic ambition.  It became a U.S. No. 1 R&B record, as well as a top ten crossover pop smash (aided by cut-down single versions, of course).

1971 saw the release of both the original soundtrack to Shaft and Black Moses.  Shaft, Hayes’ most successful LP as well as an Academy Award and Grammy Award winner, catapulted the artist-composer into a new realm of stardom thanks to his oft-imitated but never-duplicated title track.  A chart-topper on the Billboard 200 and the R&B and Jazz charts, the score album blended lush yet hard-driving funk with smooth, laconic Bacharach-inspired instrumental cues and more.  Just three songs have vocals – the title theme, “Soulsville,” and the top 40 hit “It’s Your Thing,” but Shaft remains the pinnacle of Hayes’ considerable achievement.  Its August 1971 release was followed in November by Black Moses.  Like Shaft, it was a double album.  It built on the sound of Hot Buttered Soul with a more expansive canvas.  Hayes returned to the Bacharach/David songbook with silky versions of “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” and an epic “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” and reinvented The Jackson 5’s infectious “Never Can Say Goodbye” as well as songs by Kris Kristofferson, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and Curtis Mayfield.  Hayes was rewarded with a No. 1 R&B/No. 2 Jazz/No. 10 Pop success.

All three of these soul classics are due on 180-gram vinyl in deluxe replica packages from Craft Recordings on February 23.  You’ll find pre-order links below!

Isaac Hayes, Hot Buttered Soul (Stax/Enterprise ENS-1001, 1969 – reissued Stax/Enterprise/Craft, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. Walk On By
2. Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic

Side B

1. One Woman
2. By The Time I Get to Phoenix

Isaac Hayes, Shaft: Music from the Soundtrack (Stax/Enterprise ENS2-5002, 1971 – reissued Stax/Enterprise/Craft, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. Theme from Shaft (Vocal)
2. Bumpy’s Lament
3. Walk from Regio’s
4. Ellie’s Love Theme
5. Shaft’s Cab Ride

Side B

1. Café Regio’s
2. Early Sunday Morning
3. Be Yourself
4. A Friend’s Place

Side C

1. Soulsville (Vocal)
2. No Name Bar
3. Bumpy’s Blues
4. Shaft Strikes Again

Side D

1. Do Your Thing (Vocal)
2. The End Theme

Isaac Hayes, Black Moses (Stax/Enterprise ENS-5003, reissued Stax/Enterprise/Craft, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. Never Can Say Goodbye
2. (They Long to Be) Close to You
3. Nothing Takes the Place of You
4. Man’s Temptation

Side B

1. Never Gonna Give You Up
2. Medley: Ike’s Rap II/Help Me Love
3. Need to Belong to Someone
4. Good Love 6-9-9-6-9

Side C

1. Medley: Ike’s Rap III/Your Love is So Doggone Good
2. For the Good Times
3. I’ll Never Fall in Love Again

Side D

1. Part-Time Love
2. Medley: Ike’s Rap IV/A Brand New Me
3. Going in Circles