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Avg: 4.5 (120 ratings)
- Date Released: January 1, 1969
- Genre: Hip-Hop/R&B
- Style: Soul, Oldies, Soul/R&B
- Label: Fantasy / Stax
A landmark of R&B — utterly essential
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We Say...
With this landmark 1969 release, Isaac Hayes not only established his stylistic identity and importance as a solo artist, he helped usher African-American popular music into the album era. Though it was not his debut album as some have stated, Hot Buttered Soul was his first major work outside the successful songwriting partnership he had established with David Porter. Hayes abandoned the previously dominant three-minute love song format, instead opting for an elaborate production with multi-tracked voices and instruments that paved the way for the invigorating Gamble/Huff club-floor epics of the '70s. He reconfigured such already shopworn pop hits as "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and "Walk On By," turning them into compelling narratives with multiple sections, sweeping orchestration, and his own robust, sensual baritone framed by slashing piano and organ solos. The results (multiple gold sales, widespread FM radio airplay) forever shattered the notion that R&B and soul fans wouldn't buy albums, and influenced other artists like Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, whose subsequent ambitious, challenging works like Innervisions and What's Goin' On owe a debt to Hot Buttered Soul.
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They Say...
Released at the tail end of the '60s, Hot Buttered Soul set the precedent for how soul would evolve in the early '70s, simultaneously establishing Isaac Hayes and the Bar-Kays as major forces within black music. Though not quite as definitive as Black Moses or as well-known as Shaft, Hot Buttered Soul remains an undeniably seminal record; it stretched its songs far beyond the traditional three-to-four-minute industry norm, featured long instrumental stretches where the Bar-Kays stole the spotlight, and it introduced a new, iconic persona for soul with Hayes' tough yet sensual image. With the release of this album, Motown suddenly seemed manufactured and James Brown a bit too theatrical. Surprising many, the album features only four songs. The first, "Walk on By," is an epic 12-minute moment of true perfection, its trademark string-laden intro just dripping with syrupy sentiment, and the thumping mid-tempo drum beat and accompanying bassline instilling a complementary sense of nasty funk to the song; if that isn't enough to make it an amazing song, Hayes' almost painful performance brings yet more feeling to the song, with the guitar's heavy vibrato and the female background singers taking the song to even further heights. The following three songs aren't quite as stunning but are still no doubt impressive: "Hyperbolicsyllabicsequedalymistic" trades in sappy sentiment for straight-ahead funk, highlighted by a stomping piano halfway through the song; "One Woman" is the least epic moment, clocking in at only five minutes, but stands as a straightforward, well-executed love ballad; and finally, there's the infamous 18-minute "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and its lengthy monologue which slowly eases you toward the climactic, almost-orchestral finale, a beautiful way to end one of soul's timeless, landmark albums, the album that transformed Hayes into a lifelong icon.
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| 01. |  |
Walk On By |
12:02 | |
| 02. | |
Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic |
9:39 | |
| 03. |
One Woman |
5:10 | ||
| 04. | |
By The Time I Get To Phoenix |
18:42 | |
04 Total Tracks, 45:33 Total Length
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Credits
- Bob Smith - Photography // Terry Manning - Engineer // The Bar-Kays - Rhythm Section // Al Bell - Producer // Al Bell - Supervising Producer // Isaac Hayes - Keyboards // Isaac Hayes - Vocals // Isaac Hayes - Main Performer // Isaac Hayes - Mixing // Russ Terrana - Remixing // Marvell Thomas - Producer // Bill Dahl - Liner Notes // Ed Wolfrum - Engineer // Ed Wolfrum - Mixing // Christopher Whorf - Cover Design // Kate Hoddinott - Package Redesign // Honeya Thompson - Art Direction // Joe Tarantion - Mastering // Bob Smith - Photography // Allen Jones - Producer
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