Isaac Hayes

Craft Recordings celebrates the life and legacy of Isaac Hayes on an essential new 4-CD box set.  The first disc includes 26 of Hayes' great early Stax classics as a songwriter and producer. Disc 2 moves on to his solo singles for the Enterprise label, including many non-LP rarities like a Volt single from 1965, a double-sided holiday platter from 1969, duets with songwriting partner David Porter and even two radio spots.  The final two discs are also themed. One focuses on Hayes' covers, divided between studio tracks (including an unreleased version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David standard "Windows of the World") and a live set at the Operation PUSH Black Expo in Chicago in 1972. (Two of these six tracks appeared on a greatest-hits package in 2005, while the others are heard here for the first time.) The final disc, "Jam Master," covers Hayes' larger-than-life extended studio experiences, almost all of which are heard here for the first time (plus the CD debut of a 33-minute-long version collaboration with The Bar-Kays on Shaft cut "Do Your Thing," released on a Record Store Day 12″ last year.) The box then goes back to the beginning with a bonus 7″ single replicating Hayes' very first commercial recording from 1962.  It's a fitting and powerful tribute to one of the all-time great soul men.