this dude was a great man for many reasons. his rich musical history is a fantastic story. Sharecroppers kid, started out by lying about being able to play the piano, found out the girls loved  musicians, so music became his thing. thats just real man.  he had a hand in some classic songs while he was at stax and afterwards. he was the producer on the emotions cut "so i can love you" ( a true classic, i love that song! ).

but not only music, this brother had a hand in many other things, he had a true compassion for mankind, and he was involved in making the world a better place for those whom could not  do for themselves.

the point i am trying to make is this. i am reading that everyone wants the man to be remembered for more than the score to shaft. thats cool, but for ME, my personal memory, the reason i will always remember mr isacc hayes.

is because as a black kid, army brat, living all over the world, always moving, never having real roots, having an identity was difficult. my escape, my was of connectiing to a world where eveything i liked was done by white people,  was movies. while my mom worked and my dad was in the army. my sister and my brothers and i LIVED at the army base movies houses ( it cost .15 cents to get in and we brought our own popcorn ) .

my favorite part of the movies was the music. when i saw the good, the bad and the ugly. the music stayed with me long after the movie was over.  so there i was, beliving that if i liked a movie and the music, it was done by white people. i was black, so i thought i will never be able to do that, for a while back then i was really confused, i wanted to be white so i can make music like that for movies. when i saw the movie shaft, i was in SHOCK, when i saw this black brother, taking on these white people, i was on the edge of my seat, expecting the worst for this guy. when he came out on top, my sister and my brother and went nuts, we saw that movie over and over and over. when we at home palying "shaft", we had big fights about who would be john shaft. but the best part for me was the score, it helped chang my life you see. i was beginning to understand, who i was and more importantly who i could become.

my mom bought the soundtrack and i studied the cover art, and i looked at the pictures and was again in shock, the score was done by a man that looked just like me. i was so proud! this man helped me to understand as a young black kid, that black people were creating the things that i loved and needed. i still am a movie addict, i still love movie soundtracks and will always love mr  issac hayes.

thank you mr hayes