Isaac Hayes – Shaft OST

There are few films that are defined almost entirely by their soundtrack. Shaft, the 1971 Gordon Parks-directed detective drama, is one of them. Its name will always be inextricably linked to Isaac Hayes, who put together its jazzy, funky score. More than that, its reputation is down to one tune alone, the film’s opening theme.

Theme From Shaft is one of those indestructible songs that age cannot wither. It brought together the best of John Barry’s James Bond soundtracks with something a little greasy from the American south.

It is gorgeous, orchestrated soul, slow to reveal its charms with the nagging groove of Willie Hall’s hi-hat and the much loved wah-wah guitar of Charles Pitts. It is still a surprise when Hayes’ vocal comes in after two-and-a-half minutes and just as you are really getting used to it, the song has gone, vanished after just four-and-a-half minutes.

The rest of Shaft is what it is: instrumental soundtrack music. You get a little of Hayes’s keening Hammond on Bumpy’s Lament and the guitar lick in Walk From Regio’s has been sampled myriad times, most notably by the Beastie Boys on The Sounds of Science.

The album became a US number one and won Hayes an Oscar, a Grammy and a Golden Globe.

2 x LP, Reissue, Remastered, 180 grams

Tracklist:
A1 Theme From Shaft 4:37
A2 Bumpy's Lament 1:49
A3 Walk From Regio's 2:22
A4 Ellie's Love Theme 3:15
A5 Shaft's Cab Ride 1:07
B1 Cafe Regio's 6:09
B2 Early Sunday Morning 3:47
B3 Be Yourself 4:27
B4 A Friend's Place 3:21
C1 Soulsville 3:47
C2 No Name Bar 6:09
C3 Bumpy's Blues 4:01
C4 Shaft Strikes Again 3:04
D1 Do Your Thing 19:38
D2 The End Theme 1:56