When Isaac Hayes passed away just 10 days shy of his 66th birthday, he left a rich, disparate legacy that spanned generations. To many, he would embody the essence of muscular ’70s soul. The musical godfather gave the decade’s “blaxploitation” films their signature sound and popular appeal via his epochal theme from Shaft, where Hayes’ music immediately crystallizes the film’s gritty urban cool in its opening credits:
Yet, by then Tennessee-born Hayes was already a budding soul music titan―indeed, he’d co-written one of its greatest ’60s anthems with David Porter, Sam and Dave’s Summer ’67 Stax Records smash, “Soul Man”:
When Memphis-based Stax’s rich back catalog was signed away by the majors, Hayes became one of the indie soul label’s greatest stars via 1969’s chart-topping Hot Buttered Soul, an album that showed that the masterful writer/arranger with the shaved head and menacing visage could be both a sex symbol and gifted vocal interpreter on his cover of Burt Bachrach’s “Walk On By.”
But to a younger generation, Isaac Hayes would be best remembered for arguably his most unlikely career incarnation: the lady-loving Chef of the irreverent animated series, South Park. Here’s Hayes as Chef, crooning his unforgettable musical contribution to the show, “Chocolate Salty Balls.”