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Soul Strut 100: # 49 - Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul

RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
edited March 2018 in The Soul Strut 100
I will slowly be unveiling the Top 100 Soul Strut Related Records as Voted by the Strutters Themselves.

# 49 - Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul



About


The album almost never came to be. Hayes' solo debut, Presenting Isaac Hayes, had been a poor seller for Stax Records, and Hayes was about to return to his behind-the-scenes role as a producer and songwriter at the venerable soul label when it suddenly lost its complete back catalog after splitting with Atlantic Records in May 1968. Stax executive Al Bell decided to release a new, almost instant, back catalog of 27 albums and 30 singles at once, ordered all of Stax's artists to record new material, and encouraged some of Stax's prominent creative staff, including Hayes and Steve Cropper, to record solo albums.

Burned by the retail flop of Presenting Isaac Hayes, Hayes told Bell that he would not cut a follow-up unless he was granted complete creative control. Since Bell had encouraged Hayes to record Presenting... in the first place, he readily agreed.

The album was notable for its use of innovative Bell/Hayes production and Terry Manning engineering techniques, and has deeply influenced a great deal of subsequent soul, hip hop and Motown music. Both "Walk on By" and "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" have been sampled extensively, the former showing up on tracks by the likes of Compton's Most Wanted, 3rd Bass, MF DOOM, Wu-Tang Clan, Hooverphonic and Notorious B.I.G., while the latter song was sampled by Public Enemy for "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos". "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" also appears on the soundtrack to the film Zodiac, while "Walk On By" appears along with Hayes' version of "The Look Of Love" on the soundtrack to the film Dead Presidents.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Buttered_Soul

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  Comments

  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    i have a tendency to take this record for granted because it is pretty common and i ahve had it for ages. also, he became a parody of himself at some point in the 70's and by end he was literally a cartoon character..

    that said, the rare occasion i put it on, i am always blown away. first thing i do when i get home tonight is to put this record on and ease back. he had other good records but it never really got better than this one.
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    crabmongerfunk said:
    i have a tendency to take this record for granted because it is pretty common

    I just posted on FB about this very thing.

    It is one of a handful of perfect recordings.

    I know every record that places before the Top 10 or Top 5 will have someone saying "Why is this not in the Top 10?" "Why is this not in the Top 5?"
    This record definitely belongs in the Top 5, especially on a site like this. It touches almost everything we appreciate in one way or another.

    And if you don't own this - we can't be (e)friends.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    ....by the time I get to Oklahoma........

    The organ chord change at 8:42 on Phoenix is my shit

    Desert Island Album.

    Gangsta Funk
    Pimp Funk
    The Blues
    Extended Rock-Funk Guitar Workouts
    Proto Rap
    Love Stories
    Beats Yo
    Orchestra Soul

    I'd put the Bar-Kays in the ring with any Funk band.

    Dookie Rope Chain Cover

    Great Background vocals

    11/10
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    crabmongerfunk said:
    i have a tendency to take this record for granted because it is pretty common and i ahve had it for ages. also, he became a parody of himself at some point in the 70's and by end he was literally a cartoon character..

    that said, the rare occasion i put it on, i am always blown away. first thing i do when i get home tonight is to put this record on and ease back. he had other good records but it never really got better than this one.

    What he said.
  • walter_chronwalter_chron 347 Posts
    bassie said:
    This record definitely belongs in the Top 5
  • DustedDonDustedDon 830 Posts
    I'm kind of suprised it didn't make the top 20 or so. It's a complete masterpiece. Love it. I have never taken it for granted and when people ask me what's a good album to put on front to back, HBS is on the top of that list. Shit is H.A.M.
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    One of the greatest albums ever made. I sometimes waver between this and To Be Continued according to my mood, but HBS probably deserves a more prominent place in The Canon because it pretty much invented that whole epic prog-soul idiom. GOAT version of Walk On By, too.
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,473 Posts
    LaserWolf said:
    crabmongerfunk said:
    i have a tendency to take this record for granted because it is pretty common and i ahve had it for ages. also, he became a parody of himself at some point in the 70's and by end he was literally a cartoon character..

    that said, the rare occasion i put it on, i am always blown away. first thing i do when i get home tonight is to put this record on and ease back. he had other good records but it never really got better than this one.

    What he said.

    Yup. I don't think I've listened to this album in at least a couple years. Remedying that tonight for sure.
  • HollafameHollafame 844 Posts
    Certified Classique Album.

    One of my first digging "A-ha!" moments (re Biggie sample).

    I love this list.
  • yuichiyuichi Urban sprawl 11,332 Posts
    Without question.
  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    This album really hits me every time I listen, but it is one of those I blow off occasionally. It's such a vivid intimate soundscape, taking my mind to the 1970s blight/trouble/conflict/strife and thoughts on love. I love this one so much.
  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
    My uncle turned me onto this record in the mid 90s. At the time I knew very little about 60s/70s soul / funk. This shit blew my mind!

    I love this record so much I named my son after Mr. Hayes.
  • caicai spacecho 362 Posts
    batmon said:

    11/10
  • yuichiyuichi Urban sprawl 11,332 Posts
    I was devastated to find out when I searched my records tonight, that I either lent it to my friend, or sold it while cleaning out my shelf.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    "Yo, u see that girl over there at the bar?...dont look!.....Ok now u can look..... go over there and buy her a drink...and while your talkin to her, just mention that u just love Hot Buttered Soul by Issac Hayes."
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    everything i look for in music. its such a rhythm heavy,psychedelic epic
    when i first started looking for old records, there was a certain mystique laden group of album covers that i had seen at record digging friends' houses and seemed to hold mysterious secrets and deeper musical worlds. every time i see those covers, i still treat them like hallowed objects that ushered me into decades of music exploration. Hot buttered Soul, was definitely one. others: Isaac-to be continued, eddie kendricks-People Hold on, dexter wansel- life on mars, cymande, kool and the gang-spirit of the boogie
  • yuichiyuichi Urban sprawl 11,332 Posts
    tripledouble said:
    everything i look for in music. its such a rhythm heavy,psychedelic epic
    when i first started looking for old records, there was a certain mystique laden group of album covers that i had seen at record digging friends' houses and seemed to hold mysterious secrets and deeper musical worlds. every time i see those covers, i still treat them like hallowed objects that ushered me into decades of music exploration. Hot buttered Soul, was definitely one. others: Isaac-to be continued, eddie kendricks-People Hold on, dexter wansel- life on mars, cymande, kool and the gang-spirit of the boogie

    Well said Tony. I share the sentiment about "Spirit of the Boogie" "Hot Buttered Soul",etc . Gateway records that will always be cherished.
  • Possum SlimPossum Slim 353 Posts
    Certailnly a contender for one of the greatest albums imo only slightly let down by the extended intro for Phoenix.

    Unbelievable string arrangements and harmonies,the ups and downs. One Woman probably the greatest song written about infidelity and of course Walk On By and Hyperbollic are almost faultless.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    yuichi said:
    I was devastated to find out when I searched my records tonight, that I either lent it to my friend, or sold it while cleaning out my shelf.

    It's a good thing for you that this album is so easy to find.

    For real. If you're going to lose a record, may as well be something easy to replace.
  • kalakala 3,361 Posts
    diggin' 101,a gateway drug, symphonic funk defined,the template no one else could even come close to.
    elegant yet gritty
    what a juxtaposition it is
    no one will ever make a record like this ever again,not even the dapkings
    i was very upset when the man passed,
    yet his legacy is assured if he produced only this lp.
  • DanteDante 371 Posts
    oh yes, topping the 'albums not to be fucked with' category. kala summed it up pretty good in the post above me. one of the perfect blunthead albums, too.
  • djwaxondjwaxon 411 Posts
    Can't think of anyone who does cover versions of songs like Isaac Hayes. Awesome orchestration. The Oboe on Time I Get To Phoenix is the icing on the cake.
  • Theodore_RucksTheodore_Rucks 105 Posts
    Incredible album. I always thought the connection to MLK made it even more special. Apparently Hayes used HBS as his emotional response to the assasination of King, who he was scheduled to meet with on April 4th. It definitely gives a song like Walk On By even more depth.

    Also interesting to see Wu Tang sample and collab with him and explicitly talk about the assasinations of King, JFK, Malcolm, etc on the same record. In RZA's interview with rap genius he says he has unreleased versions of I Can't Go To Sleep where Hayes and some other musicians completely replay and flip all the parts...

    it's somewhere in this podcast - http://rapgenius.com/posts/New-podcast-f-rza
  • LoopDreamsLoopDreams 1,195 Posts
    One of maybe 30 records that has been in my collection the long longest: a true gateway drug.
  • Dusty CratesDusty Crates 3 Posts
    Love it to death. One of the first records I got when I started collecting.
  • Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
    crabmongerfunk said:
    i have a tendency to take this record for granted because it is pretty common and i ahve had it for ages.
    that said, the rare occasion i put it on, i am always blown away..

    Hey,

    I love this record, and Crabmongerfunk pretty much summed up my sentiments. I played "Hyper (sp?)" and "Walk on By" joints the other day and ended up starting the record from the beginning and vibin' to it. Isaac's music had such lush, beautiful arrangements which is my 'sweet spot' musically. Still, the man kept the rhythms funky along with the silky smooth accents. His sound is one that will never be duplicated, and I'm glad to see that "Hot Buttered Soul" was recognized here on the Soul Strut 100.

    Peace,

    Big Stacks from Kakalak
  • finelikewinefinelikewine "ONCE UPON A TIME, I HAD A VINYL." http://www.discogs.com/user/permabulker 1,416 Posts
    I've got a weird pressing of this on "prince records". The cover is more pale than the original stax cover and I wonder if this is some kind of a bootleg from back in the day. Does anyone know more?
  • IFBIFB 29 Posts
    No matter how hard I try to purge I always seem to end-up with multiple copies of this


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