He is probably best remembered today as the voice of the Chef on the animated series ‘South Park.’
Early in his career, he won an Oscar for Best Song of the Year for the “Theme from Shaft.’ Isaac Hayes was born on August 20th, 1942, in Covington, Tennesse, a town about 40 miles north of Memphis.
The stardom of Elvis Presley in the 1950s put Memphis on the musical map. In 1959, a new record company was born in Memphis. A young Isaac Hayes made some his first recordings for the young label, Stax Records with a group called Sir Isaac & The Do-Dads.
The young keyboard player worked on several sessions with Otis Redding who was one of Stax Records biggest stars in the 1960s. Then he teamed up with David Porter and began writing songs for the duo Sam & Dave.
Photo ©API, Bill Carrier, API Photographers, Inc.
While he was still with Stax in Memphis, Isaac Hayes put himself back out front under his own name with an album called ‘Presenting: Isaac Hayes,’ in 1967,’ but it wasn’t until ‘Hot Buttered Soul’ his 1969 album, that he came to public attention as a major new soul star.
‘Hot Buttered Soul’ was revolutionary for Stax, which was used to the usual two-and-a-half-minute song format. The album version of ‘Walk On By’ was over 12 minutes long. Isaac’s version of ‘By the Time I Get to Phenoix’ came in at over 18 minutes. Isaac Hayes had the biggest hit of his career with ‘The Theme from Shaft’ in 1971. The Shaft soundtrack was his biggest album. Many hits followed, including ‘Joy,’ ‘Don’t Let Go,’ Issac’s version of an old song by Roy Hamilton, and in 1986 ‘Ike’s Rap.’
Isaac Hayes died at age 65 on August 10th, 2008, in Memphis, Tennessee.
One of the biggest pop stars of the 20th century was born on August 29th, 1958, in Gary, Indiana. He made his recording debut at age 10 with his brothers for a small local company called Steel Town Records.
The song ‘Big Boy’ and a few others went unnoticed by this local group called The Jackson 5. It wasn’t until singer Bobby Taylor introduced them to Motown Records that they became international stars.
The long and eventful career of Michael Jackson has been well documented. Thriller, Produced by Quincy Jones in 1982, remains one of the top-selling albums of all time. Michael Jackson died on June 25th, 2009, in California.
Featured Tracks:
Mystery Train - Elvis Presley
Theme from Shaft - Isaac Hayes
Soul Man - Sam & Dave
Walk on By - Isaac Hayes
Joy - Isaac Hayes
Big Boy - Jackson Five
I Want You Back - Jackson Five
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
