Hayes, 'Shaft' singer and disco presage, dies

[TJ Phaserman 2]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Isaac Hayes, the baldheaded, baritone-voiced soul crooner who laid the groundwork for disco and whose "Theme From Shaft" won both Academy and Grammy awards, died Sunday afternoon after he collapsed near a treadmill, authorities said. He was 65.

 

Hayes was pronounced dead at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis an hour after he was found by a family member, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said. The cause of death was not immediately known.

 

With his muscular build, shiny head and sunglasses, Hayes cut a striking figure at a time when most of his contemporaries were sporting Afros. His music, which came to be known as urban-contemporary, paved the way for disco as well as romantic crooners like Barry White.

 

And in his spoken-word introductions and interludes, Hayes was essentially rapping before there was rap. His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the animated TV show "South Park."

 

"Isaac Hayes embodies everything that's soul music," Collin Stanback, an A&R executive at Stax, told The Associated Press on Sunday. "When you think of soul music you think of Isaac Hayes — the expression ... the sound and the creativity that goes along with it."

 

Hayes was about to begin work on a new album for Stax, the soul record label he helped build to legendary status. And he had recently finished work on a movie called "Soul Men" in which he played himself, starring Samuel Jackson and Bernie Mac, who died on Saturday.

 

Steve Shular, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said authorities received a 911 call after Hayes' wife and young son and his wife's cousin returned home from the grocery store and found him collapsed in a downstairs bedroom. A sheriff's deputy administered CPR until paramedics arrived.

 

"The treadmill was running but he was unresponsive lying on the floor," Shular said.

 

The album "Hot Buttered Soul" made Hayes a star in 1969. His shaven head, gold chains and sunglasses gave him a compelling visual image.

 

"Hot Buttered Soul" was groundbreaking in several ways: He sang in a "cool" style unlike the usual histrionics of big-time soul singers. He prefaced the song with "raps," and the numbers ran longer than three minutes with lush arrangements.

 

"Jocks would play it at night," Hayes recalled in a 1999 Associated Press interview. "They could go to the bathroom, they could get a sandwich, or whatever."

 

Next came "Theme From Shaft," a No. 1 hit in 1971 from the film "Shaft" starring Richard Roundtree.

 

"That was like the shot heard round the world," Hayes said in the 1999 interview.

 

At the Oscar ceremony in 1972, Hayes performed the song wearing an eye-popping amount of gold and received a standing ovation. TV Guide later chose it as No. 18 in its list of television's 25 most memorable moments. He won an Academy Award for the song and was nominated for another one for the score. The song and score also won him two Grammys.

 

"The rappers have gone in and created a lot of hit music based upon my influence," he said. "And they'll tell you if you ask."

 

Hayes was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

 

"I knew nothing about the business, or trends and things like that," he said. "I think it was a matter of timing. I didn't know what was unfolding."

 

A self-taught musician, he was hired in 1964 by Stax Records of Memphis as a backup pianist, working as a session musician for Otis Redding and others. He also played saxophone.

 

He began writing songs, establishing a songwriting partnership with David Porter, and in the 1960s they wrote such hits for Sam and Dave as "Hold On, I'm Coming" and "Soul Man."

 

All this led to his recording contract.

 

In 1972, he won another Grammy for his album "Black Moses" and earned a nickname he reluctantly embraced. Hayes composed film scores for "Tough Guys" and "Truck Turner" besides "Shaft." He also did the song "Two Cool Guys" on the "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America" movie soundtrack in 1996. Additionally, he was the voice of Nickelodeon's "Nick at Nite" and had radio shows in New York City (1996 to 2002) and then in Memphis.

 

He was in several movies, including "It Could Happen to You" with Nicolas Cage, "Ninth Street" with Martin Sheen, "Reindeer Games" starring Ben Affleck and the blaxploitation parody "I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka."

 

In the 1999 interview, Hayes described the South Park cook as "a person that speaks his mind; he's sensitive enough to care for children; he's wise enough to not be put into the 'wack' category like everybody else in town — and he l-o-o-o-o-ves the ladies."

 

But Hayes angrily quit the show in 2006 after an episode mocked his Scientology religion.

 

"There is a place in this world for satire," he said. "but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs of others begins."

 

Co-creator creators Matt Stone responded that Hayes "has no problem — and he's cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians." A subsequent episode of the show seemingly killed off the Chef character.

 

Hayes was born in 1942 in a tin shack in Covington, Tenn., about 40 miles north of Memphis. He was raised by his maternal grandparents after his mother died and his father took off when he was 1 1/2. The family moved to Memphis when he was 6.

 

Hayes wanted to be a doctor, but got redirected when he won a talent contest in ninth grade by singing Nat King Cole's "Looking Back."

 

He held down various low-paying jobs, including shining shoes on the legendary Beale Street in Memphis. He also played gigs in rural Southern juke joints where at times he had to hit the floor because someone began shooting.

[GhostofMajorHayes 10]

RIP Isaac Hayes.

[youbroughtheryouRiker 2]

Farewell Chef.

[Kor37 9]

Can't say I was a big fan but RIP nevertheless.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Barry White was better, but Hayes was good as Chef.

[Stephen of Borg 2]

pretty sad, especially since Bernie Mac just died. Seems like a lot of celebs have died this year

[TJ Phaserman 2]

UPDATE

 

Isaac Hayes likely died of a stroke

 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Isaac Hayes apparently died of a stroke, officials with the sheriff’s department said Tuesday.

 

The deep-voiced soul singer died Sunday after he was found unconscious at his Memphis residence. No autopsy was performed, but paperwork filed by Hayes’ family physician, Dr. David Kraus, lists the cause of death as a stroke, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Shular said Tuesday.

 

Deputies were among the emergency crews that responded after a 911 call, and sheriff’s department detectives were looking into the death. Kraus told investigators that he had been treating Hayes, 65, for high blood pressure, Shular said.

 

Family members found Hayes lying on the floor of his home beside a treadmill that was still switched on.

 

Meanwhile, a memorial service will be Monday at Hope Presbyterian Church in Cordova from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

 

His family issued a statement Tuesday, saying: “While he was an iconic figure to many, to us he was husband, father and friend. We will ever miss his love, wisdom, humor and the familiar comfort of his voice.”

 

The baldheaded crooner, who laid the groundwork for disco and whose “Theme From Shaft” won both Academy and Grammy awards, was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. He also acted in movies and provided the voice of Chef, the school cook, on the animated TV show “South Park.”

 

He had recently finished work on the upcoming movie “Soul Men,” in which he played himself. The movie stars Samuel Jackson and Bernie Mac, who died on Saturday.

 

Hayes was hospitalized in 2006 for treatment of exhaustion, family friends said at the time.

[DaboGirl 7]

He had recently finished work on the upcoming movie “Soul Men,” in which he played himself. The movie stars Samuel Jackson and Bernie Mac, who died on Saturday.

Samuel L. Jackson is the only one of the trio still with us. I hope that things don't come in threes and Sam/Mace Windu is with us for years to come.

[TJ Phaserman 2]

i give sam jackson about 20 more years .