Just had the chance to view 1971 Shaft on the ElRey Network and had the chance to view and listen to the work of Mister Hayes again. A well-deserved Oscar win for his work....WOW!
Gordon Parks being a composer himself is certainly a part of the creative process happening in this documentary. He was defining to Isaac what music dynamics should used in certain parts of the film. Very interesting and also education. Don't you just love a great rhythm section?
I LOVE rehearsals on video. There are so many dynamic interactions and when the arrangement is ready there is the great added dynamic interaction of the audience response. That's why we see musicians sweating during a performance; they are giving us 100%.
Yeah man, dig it...you have no idea what an influence Isaac's music was to a young 16 y.o. brother in '71. What a self made musician. Rest easy Issac Hayes. Peace!
A master......I said a MASTER composer/musician/singer showing how FAR WE'VE FALLEN musically! This clip has been DELETED SEVERAL TIMES and I THANK YOU FOR RE-POSTING! This should be FAIR-USE for teaching purposes and if you buy a copy you'll find it well worth it!
Yeah but the sad part about it is that's not the original Bar-Kays only the bass player is the original band member remember the band died in with Otis Redding in the plane crash
The director of this film soul in cinema is hugh Robertson the first black nominated for best editor.(the midnight cowboy). His deal to edit Shaft stipulated that mgm would let him direct a film. That film is forgotten. Melinda!
Think this is included on the updated "Shaft" DvD version. Gordon Parks, Sr. was also very adept with musical scores. He wrote the soundtrack for "Shaft's Big Score".
What this video shows is how truly raw the Shaft Main Theme was until the masterful arranger, Johnny Allen, flew out to California from Detroit and bailed out Isaac Hayes on this movie project. Yes, Johnny Allen won the Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement for the Theme from Shaft. The Theme from Shaft is a clear example of an arranger crossing way over the blurred line that separates the arranger's role and the composer's role. As a matter of fact, I will state that the arranger, Johnny Allen, crossed way over the aforementioned blurred line on the entire score for the movie. That evening at the Grammy Ceremony in 1972 at the Felt Forum In NYC, in his acceptance speech, Isaac Hayes told everyone that he could not have done it without Johnny Allen. To that, I say "Amen." For more information about the blurred lines, follow the link to this article.... www.filmmusicmag.com/?p=527 . A quote from the article.......It was years later that I realized that the only time I heard or saw black composers scoring for film or television was when the film called for a blues, R&B or jazz score. Then when Shaft came along, I saw someone black, other than Quincy Jones, win an Academy Award (Isaac Hayes), for best song. But I later found out that the actual dramatic scoring of Shaft was done by two other African-American composer/arrangers: J.J. Johnson and Johnny Allen. Both Johnson and Allen were brilliant musicians and were peers of Johnny Pate and Quincy Jones."
Micheal Toles (cigarette in mouth) on guitar/Charles "Skip" Pitts (Mr Shaft) on guitar/James Alexander (one of 2 survivors of the BarKays plane crash) on bass/Willie Hall (you might remember him from the "Blues Bros" films) on drums
No surprises. The album credits the Bar-Kays as the rhythm section. This was the then-current Bar-Kays rhythm lineup plus Skip Pitts. Bar-Kays guitarist Michael Toles handles the lead on “Cafe Regio.”
