Can the soundtrack to Shaft get any bigger? "You're damn right!" Isaac Hayes' masterful, chart-topping album comes back in June as a 2CD deluxe edition that features the original double album alongside Hayes' original film score recordings.
It's been nearly 50 years since Richard Roundtree first lit up the screen as New York's toughest private detective, John Shaft. In that time, he's reprised the role on TV and in four sequels. (A fifth is due next month; 2019's Shaft follows 2000's Shaft, both of which star Samuel L. Jackson as the nephew of the original protagonist.) And no matter where the character goes, Hayes' distinctive, deeply funky theme (featuring instrumentation by The Bar-Kays along with lush orchestral passages) isn't far off. The Stax Records superstar lobbied to play the character, but gave him a musical voice that's long endured over the decades. The double album topped both the Billboard 200 and the R&B albums chart, while "Theme From Shaft" reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 for two weeks in the fall of 1971. For his efforts, Hayes became the first black man to win an Academy Award for a non-acting category, taking home the year's Best Original Song trophy and earning three Grammy Awards including Best Instrumental Composition Specifically Written For a Motion Picture Or For Television.
For this new deluxe edition - a joint release between Craft and its newly-acquired Varese Sarabande soundtrack label - the album is paired with the rare original recordings as heard specifically in the film. (MGM recorded Hayes' score direct to three-track, and he wanted a bigger sound for his album. This disc was previously included in a 2008 box set from Film Score Monthly.) This 2CD deluxe edition will be limited to 5000 copies and can be ordered through Varese at the below link. (A single CD remaster is also available at Amazon U.S., Amazon U.K. and Amazon Canada.) All releases hit stores June 14.
Isaac Hayes, Shaft: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Deluxe Edition (Craft Recordings, 2019)
Disc 1: Shaft: Music From The Soundtrack (originally released as Enterprise ENS-2-5002, 1971)
- Theme From Shaft (Vocal)
- Bumpy's Lament
- Walk From Regio's
- Ellie's Love Theme
- Shaft's Cab Ride
- Cafe Regio's
- Early Sunday Morning
- Be Yourself
- A Friend's Place
- Soulsville
- No Name Bar
- Bumpy's Blues
- Shaft Strikes Again
- Do Your Thing
- The End Theme
Disc 2: Film score (released in Shaft Anthology: His Big Score and More! - Film Score Monthly Vol. 11 No. 8, 2008)
- Theme From Shaft (Film Version)
- Shaft's First Fight
- Reel 2 Part 2/Cat Ought Be Here
- Bumpy's Lament (Film Version)
- Soulsville (Film Version)
- Ellie's Love Theme (Film Version)
- Shaft's Cab Ride (Film Version)/Shaft Enters Building
- I Can't Get Over Losin' You
- Reel 4 Part 6
- Reel 5 Part 1
- A Friend's Place (Film Version)
- Bumpy's Blues (Film Version)
- Bumpy's Lament (Reprise) (Film Version)
- Early Sunday Morning (Film Version)
- Do Your Thing (Film Version)
- Be Yourself (Film Version)
- No Name Bar (Film Version)
- Shaft Strikes Again (Film Version)/Return Of Shaft
- Cafe Regio's (Film Version)
- Walk From Regio's (Film Version)
- Shaft's Pain
- Rescue/The End Theme (Film Version)
Rob says
The album was also released in quad also. I've never heard it, but I'm told the mix is excellent. Wish they would have included it on a Blu-ray.