On February 23rd, Craft Recordings will release newly
remastered editions of three classic albums from soul icon Isaac Hayes: Hot
Buttered Soul, Shaft, and Black Moses. Each LP boasts audio remastered by
leading engineer Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters from the original analog tapes
and comes housed in a faithfully reproduced package, complete with old-school
style tip-on jacket, and in the case of Black Moses, a replica of the
legendary, iconic four-foot cross-shaped fold-out image of Isaac as Black
Moses.
The release comes on the heels of a year-long celebration of
the 60th Anniversary of Stax Records, and a historic look at the contributions
made by Hayes to the success of the label as embodied in the lauded 2017 deluxe
4CD box set, Isaac Hayes: The Spirit of Memphis (1962-1976), which celebrates
the multi-faceted artist’s talents as a producer, writer, and performer.
About Hot Buttered Soul:
Reaching #1 on the Billboard Soul/R&B chart in the year
of its release (1969), Hot Buttered Soul is a transformative genre-bending soul
record that changed the shape of popular music forever. Featuring “Walk On By”
and Hayes’ expansive, cinematic take on “By The I Get To Phoenix,” this new
reissue from Craft Recordings showcases newly remastered audio cut at Elysian
Masters under the supervision of Dave Cooley and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at
Memphis Record Pressing.
Track list:
Side A
1.Walk On By
2.Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic
Side B
1.One Woman
2.By The Time I Get To Phoenix
About Shaft:
Both a commercial and critical success, it remains Isaac
Hayes’ best-known and best-selling LP released by Stax Records, winning Hayes
multiple Grammy® Awards in 1972 and an Oscar® for “Best Original Song.” The
album reached #1 on the Billboard 200 and spent 60 weeks on the chart. In 2014,
it was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress
in 2014 for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The
album contains the ubiquitous #1 chart-topping hit “Theme From Shaft” and
top-40 smash, “Do Your Thing.” This new 2-LP reissue from Craft Recordings
showcases newly remastered audio cut at Elysian Masters under the supervision
of Dave Cooley and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Memphis Record Pressing.
Track list:
Side A
1.Theme From Shaft (Vocal)
2.Bumpy’s Lament
3.Walk From Regio’s
4.Ellie’s Love Theme
5.Shaft’s Cab Ride
Side B
1.Café Regio’s
2.Early Sunday Morning
3.Be Yourself
4.A Friend’s Place
Side C
1.Soulsville (Vocal)
2.No Name Bar
3.Bumpy’s Blues
4.Shaft Strikes Again
Side D
1.Do Your Thing (Vocal)
2.The End Theme
About Black Moses:
The crucial, ambitiously artistic follow-up to Hayes’ Shaft,
Black Moses reached #1 on the Billboard Soul/R&B chart in 1972 and remains
relevant today as the result of prominent samples by the likes of Portishead
(“Glory Box”) and Alesia Cara (“Here”) who both used elements from “Ike’s Rap
II” as the basis of their compositions. Boasting an ambitious package, complete
with two 180-gram vinyl LPs, deluxe fold-out packaging, and a replica of the
original multi-panel four-foot cruciform image of Hayes as Black Moses, this
reissue from Craft Recordings showcases newly remastered audio cut at Elysian
Masters under the supervision of Dave Cooley and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at
Memphis Record Pressing.
Track listing:
Side A
1.Never Can Say Goodbye
2.(They Long To Be) Close To You
3.Nothing Takes The Place Of You
4.Man’s Temptation
Side B
1.Never Gonna Give You Up
2.Medley: Ike’s Rap II / Help Me Love
3.Need To Belong To Someone
4.Good Love 6-9-9-6-9
Side C
1.Medley: Ike’s Rap III / Your Love Is So Doggone Good
2.For The Good Times
3.I’ll Never Fall In Love Again
Side D
1.Part-Time Love
2.Medley: Ike’s Rap IV / A Brand New Me
3.Going In Circles
From his humble beginnings as an orphaned sharecropper to
his rise as a session musician, house songwriter, and producer for Stax
Records, to his arrival as a star in his own right, Isaac Hayes (1942-2008)
became a symbol of what was possible for Black America. Dubbed “Black Moses”
during the height of his popularity, Hayes revolutionized soul music, leading
it out of the era of the three-minute single and into new territory: that of
the fully-orchestrated concept album, complete with extended cuts that, in some
cases, spanned nearly the entire side of an LP. The artist also broke barriers
in the film industry, scoring the 1971 film Shaft. The soundtrack became Hayes’
fourth consecutive platinum LP, and also earned him an Academy Award® for Best
Original Song (“Theme From Shaft”). The musician became the first African
American to win the Oscar in a non-acting category, and was also the first
recipient of the “Best Original Song” category to both write and perform the
winning track. Hayes’ success opened the door for other artists and composers,
like Curtis Mayfield and Norman Whitfield, to score music for the screen.
Released in 2017, The Spirit of Memphis (1962-1976)
chronicles the ascension of one of the greatest American musical talents the
world has ever seen. From his humble beginnings as an orphaned sharecropper to
his time as a session player, house songwriter, and producer for Stax Records,
to his arrival as an artist in his own right as “Black Moses,” Hayes became a
symbol for what was possible for Black America, perhaps best encapsulated by
his barrier-busting Oscar-win for “Best Original Song” with “Theme From Shaft”
in 1972. This four-CD set includes both songs written and produced by Hayes and
performed by the other artists (Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man,” Carla Thomas’
“B-A-B-Y”), as well as a collection of Hayes’ best-loved hits (“Walk On By,”
“Theme from Shaft”), plus a wealth of previously unreleased material. This
essential collection examines the many facets of Hayes’ career and provides an
essential survey of one of the most influential, genre-defining artists in
American music history. Click here for press release announcing The Spirit of
Memphis (1962-1976), released September 22, 2017 on Craft Recordings.
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