Isaac Hayes - Presenting Isaac Hayes (LP 1967 Enterprise - CD 1995 Stax + Booklet) - Rare Blues/Soul (FLAC 298MB)

One of my all time fave artists is the legend Isaac Hayes who recorded 33 studio albums and 120 x 45,s, he,s up there with the best of them. "Presenting Isaac Hayes" (1967) was the debut long player from soul man extraordinaire Isaac Hayes initially for the stax label Enterprise. but here,s the CD with a bonus. Isaac liked to really lengthen his tracks and here in the early days shows his skill on the piano as well as vocals. Not the stuff he banged out on later albums but the talent was evident from this album of what was to come, Genius!...Although he had been a major force on the Memphis R&B scene as an instrumentalist/arranger/producer. With partner David Porter he was also a songwriter for artists associated with the legendary Stax label. Along with Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass) and Al Jackson, Jr. (drums) of Booker T. & the MG's fame, Hayes unleashes his familiar blend of highly introspective jazz, soul, and blues on this album. He turns Willie Dixon's blues standard "I Just Wanna Make Love to You" into a sensual medley with B.B. King's signature composition "Rock Me Baby." In direct contrast to the aggression in much of his later work, his originals most notably the sexy "Precious, Precious" and a blast from his past, "You Don't Know (Like I Know)," are almost discomfortingly intimate. His stylish and classic rendering of "When I Fall in Love" demonstrates Hayes' obvious understanding and deep abiding appreciation of pop standards. His emotive rendering is not unlike that of Nat King Cole who recorded the song himself to great effect. The long, spoken "raps" that Hayes would become known for on subsequent releases had yet to be fully developed. However the idea of stretching the song out melodically and extending the arrangement yields one of the most poignant and unlikely medleys of all time, combining the Count Basie/Jimmy Rushing classic "Going to Chicago Blues" with, of all things, "Misty." This reveals the extreme sensitivity that exists between music and musician. In fact, so densely packed and involved are some of the passages it is easy to dismiss that all the sounds are coming from a trio. This 1995 CD reissue features a previously unreleased 19-plus minute "long version" of "Precious, Precious," from which the two-minute album track was derived. Although die hard soul fanatics will inevitably include "Presenting Isaac Hayes" in their collection, it should also be considered essential listening for the burgeoning enthusiasts of not only R&B, but anyone who loves well arranged music. Born in 1942 in Tennessee he sadly passed in 2008. A seasoned writer/performer & Actor he signed to the Stax record label during the 1960s, Hayes played an important role in shaping the "Memphis sound". First active for the label as musician and later songwriter/producer (usually teaming up with David Porter), he enjoyed his biggest success as a solo artist in 1971 with the soundtrack to the movie "Shaft". He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 as a Performer. His albums are becoming harder to acquire as time moves on but all are essential to lovers of great soul. I,ll endeavour to post more of them up as this man was special in his delivery of that word SOUL!..As an actor, he is best known as the voice of Chef on the animated TV series "South Park" (1997-2006). He also played the role of "The Duke" in John Carpenter's 1981 movie "Escape From New York", along with Kurt Russel, Ernest Borgnine and others. There,s always an "Ike" album on my player most weeks. One for the real collectors, the second half of the taster showed what we were to hear in his future releases!

AMM

                                                                                                           The Taster!