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Black Moses

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Isaac Hayes

 
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Black Moses
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Avg: 4.0 (38 ratings)

Isaac Hayes at the moment he went supernova

  • We Say...

    Review by Dan Epstein

    Calling your own album Black Moses — to say nothing of wrapping said album in an expensive package that folded out in the shape of a crucifix — might seem to the uninitiated like the very height of artistic hubris. But in 1971, when this double album was first released, Isaac Hayes was far more than just a soul superstar; he was the pre-eminent icon of musical achievement within the black community. The massive success of 1969's Hot Buttered Soul (and its 1970 follow-ups, The Isaac Hayes Movement and ...To Be Continued) had already established Hayes as the first black "album artist" of the era, whose long-players were in even higher demand than his hit singles; and his film score for Gordon Parks' Shaft (also released in 1971) not only forged the template for all blaxploitation soundtracks to follow, but would also eventually net him an Oscar for Best Original Song, making him the first African-American ever to be thusly honored. Taken in that context, the title Black Moses seemed neither sacrilegious nor presumptive; it seemed, frankly, about right.

    But rather than lead his followers into the Promised Land with this record, Hayes drew them instead into an extended conversation about love, loss and longing. Hayes was going through a divorce at the time of the recording, and the songs he chose to cover — and the aching, intimate manner in which he covered them — all spoke to his agonized state of heart and mind. (Oddly enough, his lone original composition on the record — the upbeat and funky "Good Love" — seems woefully out of place amid the beautifully meditative performances.) Of particular note here are the extended versions of the Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye," Toussaint McCall's "Nothing Takes the Place of You," the Friends of Distinction's "Going In Circles" and Jerry Butler's "Never Gonna Give You Up," but almost everything flows so seamlessly and soulfully, it's easy to forget that Black Moses isn't just another killer Isaac Hayes make-out record.

  • They Say...

    Review by Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide

    The sheer tenacity -- albeit undeniably fitting -- of this double-disc set has made Black Moses (1971) one of Isaac Hayes' most revered and best-known works. The multi-instrumental singer/songwriter and producer had been a central figure in the Memphis soul music revolution of the mid-1960s. Along with Booker T. and The MG's, Hayes' wrote and performed on more Stax sides than any other single artist. By the time of this release -- his fifth overall, and first two-record set -- Hayes had firmly established himself as a progressive soul artist. His stretched out and well-developed R&B jams, as well as his husky-voiced sexy spoken "raps" became key components in his signature sound. Black Moses not only incorporates those leitmotifs, but also reaffirms Hayes abilities as an unmistakably original arranger. Although a majority of the album consists of cover material, all the scores have been reconfigured and adapted in such a fundamental way that, for some listeners, these renditions serve as definitive. This is certainly true of the extended reworkings of Jerry Butler's "Brand New Me," or Esther Phillips' "You're Love Is So Doggone Good" -- both of which are prefaced by the spoken prelude to coitus found in each respective installment of "Ike's Rap." The pair of Curtis Mayfield tunes -- "Man's Temptation" and "Need to Belong to Someone" -- are also worth noting for the layers of tastefully scored orchestration -- from both Hayes and his long-time associate Johnny Allen. The pair's efforts remain fresh and discerning, rather than the dated ersatz strings and horn sections that imitators were glutting the soul and pop charts and airwaves with in the mid-1970s. Hayes' own composition, "Good Love," recalls the upbeat and jive talkin' "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" from Hot Buttered Soul (1969), adding some spicy and sexy double-entendre in the chorus. Wisely, the CD reissue also reproduced Chester Higgins' original tongue-in-cheek liner note essay giving the history and mythology of the Black Moses persona.

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