A Deep Soul Masterpiece

It's easy to bandy about terms like masterpiece but in its' given genre that term applies to Hot Buttered Soul by Isaac Hayes. Prior to this recording, Hayes was known only for his song writing partnership at Stax with David Porter, which made it an even braver decision to release an album of only four tracks, including an 18 minute 40 second epic. That epic is an inspired reworking of the Jimmy Webb song, By The Time I Get To Phoenix. Hayes takes the song to church and launches it with a long, slow smouldering spoken monologue over spare bass and drums. This sets the scene and tells the sad tale of a relationship coming apart at the seams. When the song finally comes in, there is a danger that it would be an anti climax but it is superbly styled with Hayes mellow soulful voice and an arrangement that builds remorslessly with members of the Bar Kays joining in one by one to build to the full band plus strings, before subsiding again to a gentle resigned conclusion. The other three tracks on the album suffer slightly by comparison but the leisurely expansion of Walk On By is also impressive, despite the dated fuzz guitar sound, and the ridiculously titled Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic ends with a wonderfully funky electric piano workout, presumably played by Hayes himself although the sparse booklet notes don't say. This album led ultimately to the soundtrack album for Shaft and a period of superstardom but if you only know Isaac Hayes for Chef in South Park, do yourself a favour and catch up with this recipe.