Isaac Hayes is easily my favourite old-school soul singer. He's got a great voice, and the instrumentation behind it is always fantastic. I love the way he takes simple pop tunes and with the help of a fantastic backing band, turns them into epic songs that can go for 10-20 minutes. He sort of does for R&B and soul music what progressive rock bands do for rock, but even that sounds a little disparaging, given progressive rock isn't always great. I don't talk about music nearly as much as I talk about movies... you can probably tell 😅
Why talk about music when this is a concert film, then? Well, because there's not a lot to the presentation. It's solid, but it's really all about the music. It feels more cinematic when Hayes goes and does a few lengthy monologues as introductions to some of his more epic songs, but his classic albums from the late 1960s and early 1970s already have those monologues (or similar ones), so that aspect isn't really exclusive to the film.
I did like this overall, but could only get up to a 7/10 for selfish reasons, and that's that I was bummed I didn't hear any of his absolute best songs (or my personal favourites). No 'Going In Circles,' no 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling,' and no 'Walk On By.' The last of those is particularly sad; it's one of the best songs of all time; an already iconic 2-3 minute pop song that Hayes takes and transforms into a 12-minute emotional odyssey that has a crazy build and a fantastic outro that you don't want to end. There's only room in this 78-minute concert film for about six or seven songs, but surely it could have been longer? 20-30 more minutes, and room for two to three more of his best songs? I can only dream; then this would have been fantastic.
Anyway, it doesn't represent the very best of Hayes, but it's still a good showcase of his talents and undeniable power as an artist. For anyone who only knows Hayes as the voice of Chef from South Park, you could do worse, as far as starting points to his music career go.
Why talk about music when this is a concert film, then? Well, because there's not a lot to the presentation. It's solid, but it's really all about the music. It feels more cinematic when Hayes goes and does a few lengthy monologues as introductions to some of his more epic songs, but his classic albums from the late 1960s and early 1970s already have those monologues (or similar ones), so that aspect isn't really exclusive to the film.
I did like this overall, but could only get up to a 7/10 for selfish reasons, and that's that I was bummed I didn't hear any of his absolute best songs (or my personal favourites). No 'Going In Circles,' no 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling,' and no 'Walk On By.' The last of those is particularly sad; it's one of the best songs of all time; an already iconic 2-3 minute pop song that Hayes takes and transforms into a 12-minute emotional odyssey that has a crazy build and a fantastic outro that you don't want to end. There's only room in this 78-minute concert film for about six or seven songs, but surely it could have been longer? 20-30 more minutes, and room for two to three more of his best songs? I can only dream; then this would have been fantastic.
Anyway, it doesn't represent the very best of Hayes, but it's still a good showcase of his talents and undeniable power as an artist. For anyone who only knows Hayes as the voice of Chef from South Park, you could do worse, as far as starting points to his music career go.
