"Shaft" (Music From The Soundtrack) by ISAAC HAYES – 23 July 1971 US 2LP Set on Enterprise Records and November 1971 UK 2LP set on Stax Records – featuring Backing Bands The Bar-Kays, The Isaac Hayes Movement, The Memphis Strings and Horns with Arrangements by Johnny Allen and J.J. Johnson and backing Singers Pat Lewis, Rose Williams and Telma Hopkins (3 November 2009 USA (25 January 2010 UK) Stax/Concord Music Group Deluxe Edition Reissue – 2LPs onto 1CD with One Bonus Track - Bob Fisher Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Damn Right!"

There was industry discussion in the October 1971 issue of Billboard Magazine as Stax/Enterprise prepped for the release of Isaac Hayes' second double-album "Black Moses" in the same year ("Shaft" had been issued in July 1971) – that they had locked down all promotion of his new opus. This was because some DJ had reputedly been offered $300,000 for his Promo Copy with the aim of bootlegging it.

Why would someone offer an A&R employee such a huge amount of cash in 1971?  Because his previous effort "Shaft" as a Movie, as a 2LP Blaxploitation Soul Music Soundtrack was MASSIVE – an absolute phenomenon and in a way that few had ever seen before. The handsome sex symbol lead actor Richard Roundtree, the bespectacled and impossibly cool musician Isaac Hayes with his beard and bling, the wah wah guitar theme he composed that just slaughtered all in its path worldwide - this bad mother was everywhere. Stax was even then claiming that such was the demand for Isaac’s fourth release, that nearly 40% of copies of "Shaft" in American circulation were bootlegs - gazillions of them.

Few now remember (or even know) that December 1971's "Black Moses" was going to be Isaac Hayes' fifth No. 1 US R&B LP in a row – a feat no one had ever achieved (he would achieve another 2 R&B number ones in 1974 with "Truck Turner" and the 1976 live double "Live At The Sahara Tahoe"). Seven No. 1 R&B albums – wow! But it's "Shaft" that has a special place in fan's hearts - which brings us to this (problematic for some) CD Remaster (issued November 2009 in the USA and January 2010 in The UK and Europe).

I'm going to argue that until 2021 (next year) when a '50th Anniversary Edition' must surely be looming – this 2009/2010 incarnation is about the best way so far to get the double on digital. There have been bitter diatribes about the BOB FISHER sound on this 2009 Concord Music Group Remaster but apart from some lack of punch on the Bass, I'm struggling to hear why anyone is complaining. I love what I'm hearing. The drums are clear and those brass and string parts are mellow and punchy - the organ fills too. The 2009 Mix of the famous title song is a tad superfluous as a supposed bonus - especially when we don't get the way more desirable and important single edits of "Shaft", "Cafe Regio's" or "Do You Thing" - two of which would easily have squeezed on here. Still, time to deal with what we do have. Let's get damn right...

UK released 25 January 2010 (3 November 2009 in the USA) - "Shaft: Deluxe Edition" by ISAAC HAYES on Universal/Stax/Concord Music Group 0888072317512 (Barcode 888072317512) is a Deluxe Edition offering the full 'Music From The Soundtrack' 2LP set Remastered onto 1 CD with One Bonus Track. It plays out as follows (74:33 minutes):

1. Theme From Shaft (Vocal) [Side 1]

2. Bumpy's Lament

3. Walk From Regio's

4. Ellie's Love Theme

5. Shaft's Cab Ride

7. Café Regio's [Side 2]

8. Early Sunday Morning

9. Be Yourself

10. A Friend's Place

11. Soulsville (Vocal) [Side 3]

12. No Name Bar

13. Bumpy's Blues

14. Do Your Thing [Side 4]

15. The End Theme

Tracks 1 to 15 are the double-album "Shaft" - released 23 July 1971 in the USA on Enterprise ENS-2-5002 and November 1971 in the UK on Stax 2659 007. Produced by ISAAC HAYES and featuring THE BAR KAYS and THE MOVEMENT as the backing band – the Music From The Soundtrack 2LP set peaked at No. 1 in both countries.

BONUS TRACK:

16. Theme From Shaft (2009 Mix, 4:45 minutes)

The 20-page booklet is a pleasingly in-depth affair with August 2009 liner notes from ASHLEY KHAN, author of "A Love Supreme: The Story Of John Coltrane's Signature Album". There are photos of rare picture sleeves, Isaac with his Grandmother at the 1972 Academy Awards, him and actor Richard Roundtree looking like the men of the moment, Isaac with backing band The Bar-Kays, members of his own band The Movement and more photos from the Stax archives along with the usual recordings/reissue credits. 

The ROB FISHER Remaster was done at Pacific Multimedia and really lifts the material - shaking tambourine on the instrumental "Cafe Regio's" (an edit of this song was the B-side of the "Shaft" single in September 1971), the slinky Burt Bacharach sounding brass on "Early Sunday Morning" (high-hat taps clear too) and so much more. For sure the Bass feels a tad muffled down but I don't hate it as much as some seem too.  

For an album that's so associated with the chicka-chicka wah-wah guitar of its theme song, "Shaft" the double-album is surprising mellow throughout. The near two-minutes of the sexy instrumental "Bumpy's Lament" is followed by the Funky Brass and Percussion 2:24 minutes of the superb "Walk From Regio's" where you can literally see our hero walking the dude streets with a per in his step and a glide in his stride (oh stop it). There is gorgeous sound on the vibes smooch of "Ellie's Love Theme" - and those brass and strings melting on "Early Sunday Morning" as the high-hat taps time.

The brass pump-and-punch of "Be Yourself" sounds like a 1976 Disco anthem only five years before anyone knew the word (nice clarity on the Sax solo too). Back to yeah baby turn-out-the-lights smooch with "A Friend's Place" - the instrumentation being ever so slightly fragmented in the sound stage (one too up front, the other too far back) - but that's how I remember it was on the original vinyl. Now to one of my faves - the keyboard and vocal "Soulsville" talks about brothers getting high and strung out and finding out that they can get high but never touch the sky. The audio is gorgeous and makes you wish he sang more on the album (a bummer is that the three ladies who add so much to the backing vocals - Pat Lewis, Rose Williams and Telma Hopkins are not credited in the musicians list - a stupid oversight).

There is that big chunky piano that opens up the smooth "Bumpy's Blues" - lovely brass and drums - so clear now. And on it goes to the monster that is the 19:28 minutes of "Do Your Thing" - if the music makes you groove - love on baby. Fantastic to hear it sound this good. Rap On. The 2009 Mix of "Theme from Shaft" is given a drummer's count in before that distinctive wah-wah guitar smacks you. The problem here is that you can 'feel' the manipulation of mix - some of it too far back while the rest is too loud. Like I said, I can't help that NOT including the single edit of the mighty "Do Your Thing" was a mistake.

So this supposed Deluxe Edition of 1971's "Shaft" it's not perfect for sure, but I still think it sounds awesome in so many places, and doesn't come with an aircraft-carrier price tag. Until the next best folks, rap on...