Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes, who passed away in August 2008, was a fundamental icon in the history of popular and black music: sampled by legions of hip-hop and house DJs even today, his psychedelic soul-funk established itself as an aesthetic pursuit capable of transcending genre boundaries, standing as a mature, emotional counterpart to rock's most hallucinatory colors and, at the same time, as an expression of mental and perceptual openness beyond the conventions of standard soul. Indeed, while soul's melodic inspiration was encouraged by the public success it found, its experimental drive gradually waned as that very success dictated, with limiting certainty, the path the music had to follow in order to keep being met with approval.

In truth, the music of “Hot Buttered Soul”, and of its author in general, stands as a testament to enthusiasm and hope, to personal pride and interpersonal warmth, even more than to the social or racial dimension so often ascribed to it.

The album opens with “Walk On By”, a cover of the famous Burt Bacharach classic, a track that immediately reveals Hayes's genius: the psychedelic mood and attitude, the syncopated groove, Michael Toles's seductive, biting electric guitar simmering in the background, Isaac's voice, a female choir with a heavenly sound, James Alexander's sexy bass, with every sound drenched in reverb — together they conjure up a “dub” version of soul.

It feels like stepping onto a gorgeous, sun-drenched island of vivid colors, the heat blurring the view while the sounds rise up like a hallucinogenic, paradisiacal symphony. By the seven-minute mark, all the sonic elements mentioned above converge into a breathtaking crescendo, rich in counterpoint and worthy of the finest symphonic tradition: the end result marries that kind of harmony with pop's melodic sensibility and rock's liberating, aphrodisiac drive. It reaches the ten-minute mark with the same lightness, serenity and listening pleasure with which one would listen to a pop song barely three minutes long.

“Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymi”, the album's only original track, co-written with Isbell, is a composition in the Hendrix mold, though the guitar drops the fuzz of the great Seattle guitarist in favor of something far more restrained: the rhythm section (bass, drums and guitar) winks at funk, conjuring up a psychedelic atmosphere steeped in reverb, before Hayes's deep voice comes in with a spoken delivery that would go on to inspire rappers ten or fifteen years later: his vocal timbre inevitably recalls soul, but his sense of rhythm is once again worthy of rock. At six and a half minutes, a piano (played by Michael Thomas) creates a sonic effect that, set against the rest of the music, feels vaguely oxymoronic: a dramatic, unsettling, almost demonic perception of an instrument with such an intense, defined and haughty timbre, combined with the exotic trip typical of psychedelia and dub. A whirlwind of mutually opposing emotions. This track clearly reveals the approach and structure Hayes brought to the first performances on this record: the original, strongly melodic soul song, rearranged and reinterpreted, is gradually transformed into an intense psychedelic ride that sets aside rock's guitar-driven emphasis to focus instead on the emotionally gripping power of its rhythm.

“One Woman”, written by Chalmers and Rhodes, is instead pure and simple soul, with a female choir arranging and embellishing the author's crooning. The track is a triumph of harmonies, soul vocals building to a crescendo enriched by impeccable orchestral arrangements.

“By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, written by country songwriter Jimmy Webb, opens with a spoken declamation by Hayes (“Now I will say something about love”), cast as a muezzin of love and the power of youthful passion, while drummer Willie Hall keeps a steady pulse on the hi-hat.

Hayes speaks for eight minutes, with intensity and, at the same time, deep calm, completely altering the meaning of the original song: a genuine piece of post-soul-rock, more than ten years ahead of Johnny Rotten's sermons and the stripped-down rhythms of Public Image Ltd.: Hayes as the Stax forerunner of “rotten”.

After that, the splendor of this “scorching buttered soul” shines in all its blinding glory: organ, woodwinds and even brass make their entrance like a small chamber ensemble, poised between pop sentiment and heartfelt soul-jazz.

Positive and sensitive music, intense and serene, hallucinated and paradisiacal, the performance of “Hot Buttered Sun” is an extraordinary tour de force from Isaac Hayes, who thus breaks through genre boundaries, particularly those of his own soul tradition, to build a monument of popular music.

None of Sam & Dave, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, James Brown, the Platters or others ever showed the empirical courage and, at the same time, the scorching catharsis of Isaac Hayes on “Hot Buttered Soul”.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

01/05/2011