Soul prophet

MEMPHIS

In life, Isaac Hayes was the last person to reflect on his past glories; in death, the world is doing it for him.

After news broke last Sunday that Hayes, 65, had died at home in Memphis, felled by an apparent stroke, tributes poured in from around the globe, mourning the loss of an artistic innovator and cultural icon.

Nowhere was that loss felt more dramatically than in his hometown of Memphis, especially among the family of artists and employees at Stax Records with whom he grew up in the 1960s and 1970s.

"As a creative force, he was revolutionary," said his lifelong friend and musical partner David Porter, his voice choked with emotion. "And personally, I've lost a big part of me with him."

Born to sharecroppers north of Memphis and orphaned as a child, Hayes was raised by his maternal grandparents. A musical prodigy -- he began singing in church at 5, and soon learned the first of many instruments -- he embraced not only the rural roots music around him but also the work of such songwriters as George Gershwin and Cole Porter. After dropping out of high school, he became a presence on the Memphis club scene in the early '60s, leading a series of bands before gravitating to the fledgling Stax label as a pianist.

There, he began a historic partnership with Porter. They would write more than 200 songs together, including seminal contributions to the soul-music canon: hits for Carla Thomas ("B-A-B-Y"), Johnnie Taylor ("I Had a Dream"), the Soul Children ("The Sweeter He Is") and, most notably, Sam & Dave ("Hold On, I'm Coming," "Soul Man").

'Songs as dramas'

He made an inauspicious solo debut with 1967's "Presenting Isaac Hayes," but the follow-up, 1969's "Hot Buttered Soul," took him from behind-the-scenes player to front-and-center star. An adventurous, conceptual platter, it shattered R&B conventions with just four lengthy songs, including epic reinterpretations of pop hits like "Walk on By" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," transformed by moody, complex arrangements and the sheer power of his rumbling baritone.

"Like rock groups, I always wanted to present songs as dramas -- it was something white artists did so well but black folks hadn't got into," Hayes said in 1995. "Which was why I picked those, if you like, white songs for that set, because they had that dramatic content. And I knew it would work, too."

His work on the soundtrack to Gordon Parks' pioneering 1971 "blaxploitation" film "Shaft" cemented his place in history. The title track -- an irresistible mingling of wah-wah guitar, orchestral flourishes and Hayes' proto-rapping -- became a pop sensation, earning him an Oscar.

By the early '70s, he had become both a cottage industry and the catalyst for a new kind of black consciousness. He continued to evolve with albums like the Grammy-winning "Black Moses" and the soundtrack for the film "Truck Turner" (in which he also starred). But the collapse of Stax in the mid-'70s, coupled with management woes, forced Hayes to declare bankruptcy in 1976. He mounted a comeback later in the decade with a series of hit songs and albums, while his second career, as actor, blossomed.

At the time of his death, he was preparing an album for the revived Stax label, his first studio effort since 1995. In recent years, he had a number of health issues -- including a stroke -- but continued to perform and tour. He was also involved in numerous charity and humanitarian efforts, particularly in Africa, as well as promoting the cause of literacy in the United States.

Asked in 2006 to reflect on his life, Hayes related a lesson from his grandmother:

"When I used to pick cotton in the fields as a little kid, I was always looking back to see if I got cotton in my sack, and she said, 'Stop! Don't look back. Just keep picking, you'll find out.' So I was picking, picking, picking, and then it felt like someone was standing on my sack. I looked back. My sack is full!