Remembering „Shaft“

So it’s good-bye Isaac Hayes at only 65. His “Hot Buttered Soul” album (1969) had already disappeared from the shelves of my nearest record shop Roxy Records by the time I came looking for more music by the soul singer, composer and arranger who passed away last Sunday at his Memphis home, but I was able to secure a second-hand copy of “Live At The Sahara Tahoe” (1978) instead. It showcases Mr. Hayes in a reflective yet playful mood, responding to calls from the crowd as well as wondering about the state of the planet we’ll be leaving to future generations. What surprises me about the performance is the lightness of his touch. Although Hayes is commanding some 20-odd musicians and singers, he’s doing so with a supple immediacy that makes up for the slow tempo and sheer length of some of the tracks. Needless to say, the concert kicks off with Hayes’ theme from “Shaft”, a song I remember hearing for the very first time in 1974 when I was first getting into music. The track served as the intro to a tape called “Understanding Pop” on which rock critic Derek Jewell mused on the history of 20h century popular music and played snippets of everything from Big Bill Broonzy and “Pinball Wizard” to “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” and Yes. “Shaft” fascinated me immediately, as the music sounded futuristic yet earthy, driving yet sophisticated, and I still marvel at the fact that its composer could put together such an effective piece of sonic cinema without being able to read or write music. The piece was so enthralling that the film was a big disappointment to me when I finally got to see it in the Eighties, as the soft focus and long shots that director Gordon Parks employed back in 1971 seemed decidedly dated. However, Roger Ebert's review makes me want to see this period piece again, and perhaps the quality of the movie itself isn’t so important. Richard Round tree as John Shaft was an inspiration to millions of people all over the world, as the Brazilian composer and Basel resident Fabio Freire reminded me recently. Even in Brazil there were no figures a black citizen could identify with, so “Shaft” had a huge impact on Fabio in his youth. We now know that the blaxploitation genre of films was based entirely on shrewd marketing, but Hays’ score still holds all the street-level energy it had in 1971. Once the itchy wah-wah-guitar and crashing hi-hat kick-start the slow but inevitable build-up that makes the song so gripping, one wants them to go on for ever. And in some ways always will do just that. I can’t see “Shaft” or the best of Mr. Hayes’ repertoire slipping from people’s memories in decades to come. Thank you, Isaac.