Stevie Gs Podcast Podcasts on Ultra Beat

A mix i recorded paying tribute to some of the great mans music, including loads of best songs, plus many more he wrote for the Stax team. It also inc... read more

A mix i recorded paying tribute to some of the great mans music, including loads of best songs, plus many more he wrote for the Stax team. It also includes many of the hip-hop and r&b tracks that sampled his work. Here's a piece I wrote for last weeks Cork Evening Echo, it can also be found on my blog, alongside a tribute to another legend, Jerry Wexler, at http://steviegblog.blogspot.com A few years ago, after the death of Barry White, I remember doing a radio tribute to the soul star in which I was at pains to stress he was a lot more than the stereotypical love walrus that much of his later work portrayed. It’s a similar story really to Isaac Hayes, who passed away last weekend after an eventful and rewarding life. Yes, he was another ladies man and he helped mould that image himself; but there was so much more to Isaac Hayes, and as always it takes a mans passing for his impact to be assessed properly. The notoriety in later years and subsequent controversy with his role as Chef in Southpark garnered a lot of the attention this week, and it is fair to say that Isaac’s roles as actor and of course soundtrack artist were important in his career, but a closer look reveals he was much more. His role in the Civil rights movement was very important and at a crucial time in black America Isaac Hayes used his fame and fortune for very good uses, as his people made important strides that we sometimes take for granted these days. A lot of this activism dovetailed with his movies but years later, long before his Southpark fame rehabilitation, he became very involved in other humanitarian causes too, particularly in Africa. But it all goes back to his music really. Even in later years he hosted an evening 5-hour radio show and Isaac Hayes had the music in him from the start. Replacing the legendary Booker T as Stax session player in one of the most important rhythm sections in popular music, he was thrown in at the deep end but swam better than nearly anyone. Alongside David Porter he established one of the truly dynamic song writing and arranging duos, and the hits and recognition came without much delay. Sam and Dave were particular beneficiaries, as Stax became the grittier and more street orientated brother of the similarly massive Motown. Isaac Hayes soon achieved immense solo success aswell, “Hot Buttered Soul” was an extravagant album that was huge at the time, but “Shaft” and the Grammy’s and the big time soon followed as his career rarely missed a step before it all went bad and Stax went bust. Like many other Afro- American music legends, he was at relatively low ebb by the mid 80’s, with the high points of the previous decade a distant memory. He was always held in high esteem by music fans though, and like James Brown and other soul men he became a staple and important symbol of the new hip-hop generation. His dress sense and attitude predicted hip-hop years before it happened, but his rich sweeping music arrangements did even more. The Wu Tang Clan, Biz Markie, Portishead, Massive Attack and Public Enemy were just a few who took his template and made something new, catch some of these sample. Rest in Peace brother. read less