Isaac Hayes, the singer and song writer whose luxurious, strutting funk arrangements in songs like “Theme From ‘Shaft” defined the glories and excesses of soul music in the early 1970′s, died on Sunday in East Memphis at the age of 65.
Isaac Hayes was born on August 20, 1942, in a tin shack in rural Covington, Tennessee. He began playing in local bands, and by early 1964 when he was 21he was working as a backup musician for Stax. His first session was with Otis Redding.
Soon he began writing songs with David Porter, and their music – numbers like “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Comin” for Sam and Dave, and “B-A-B-Y” for Carla Thomas – came to embody the Stax aesthetic. It was tight, catchy pop, an unpolished alternative to Motown.
During late 1960′s, he stepped out as a solo artist, and his reputation grew as much for his dress as for his music.
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