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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Isaac Hayes

A word of thanks to Raggedy for inviting me to be a guest blogger on her site. Thank You!!
Now for my first intro ….This is a song by one of my most favorite artist “Isaac Hayes”. This is a cover of Billy Joel’s “ Just the way you are” This was ripped from the 1978 album “For The Sake Of Love” on the Polydor label. I just uploaded this song this morning.
I have been listening to this for the past few days and it struck me….where are the baritone singers of today?? Well basically they are non-existent. Today’s music is filled with the same-sounding nasal whiny tenors that have no substance in their voices, but I digress………..That is another blog, another time.
Isaac Hayes knew how to take any song and make it his own. Listen to his very serious, moving “rap” about love and then he starts with his heavy, lush baritone telling his love “don’t change”.
Too me, this is classic Isaac Hayes, remember his first big hit was over 17 minutes long “Walk on By” made famous by” Dionne Warwick” the riffs are quintessential Isaac …just great singing.
ENJOY……………

5 comments:

Raggedy said...

Thanks, Gua, for this post. And what a coincidence. I watched "The Real Deal" last night, the Bernie Mac/Samuel Jackson movie in which Isaac appeared. This movie was full of souls songs from the 60's and 70's -- and guess what? I knew who was singing the minute the song started. No two voices sounded alike.
But -- as I said in the Queen Latifah post, who would have expected she had such a voice when she started out doing her hip hop?
There are good voices around, they just are not allowed to be "used" for the sake of guaranteed sales. Baritones though ... hmmmm?

Soultaker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Soultaker said...

Great first post Gua.

I was going to comment on today's music myself as I have a opinion on it as well. But I decided to be nice and besides, I feel there is no need to even bring those fools up. I don't want to pollute this classy site with that garbage.

I don't have any of Issac's stuff after Stax, so this is a real treat. I'm going to have to look into his post Stax stuff.

Raggedy said...

@Soultaker: I really appreciate what you said about SOTS: "classy" that's something I was aiming at. And I know with you and Gua on board, things can only improve.
When it comes to contemporary music I have the feeling that there are some good voices around -- but they are not allowed to be used for the sake of sales numbers. Why take a risk with an artist who is "different" when you know you can make your millions with someone who is tailored to suit the taste of the masses? The Record Industry simply takes no risks. Remember Clarence Bekker from "Singing For A Change"? He has the most soulful voice I have heard in years -- and where is he allowed to show what he really has to offer? In the streets of Barcelona, Spain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCF46o0X_O8

Gua said...

Thanks, for your comments....and yes this is a "classy" site where good music is recognized.
Raggedy, you hit the nail on the head when you said that no two voices sounded alike. That is what the 60's - 70's gave us...diversity in sound, richness in ear candy. Yes we have no real prominent baritones like Barry, or Issac or Paul Williams.
"Soultaker" I plan to stay with the Baritones for a bit.