Isaac Hayes, Hot Buttered Soul (1969)

Just four songs in total and three-quarters of the album written by other people – even though Isaac Hayes was one-half of a hit-writing/producing team himself. And yet this album is just it. It is the one. When Hayes died I was sad. Sad because too many people would eulogise him as The Chef – as if that was any kind of comeback. The only comeback this chap ever needed (and needs – it’s still possible, any day you feel like it…) is to have this platter of wax dropped down on your turntable. That version of Walk On By! Fuck yes! The epic By The Time I Get To Phoenix (worth it just for the monologue). That hot, buttery vocal spread over the (hot buttered) soul. It almost seems/feels implausible that this album was made in 1969. Any artist could only dream to make something like this now. And it would never happen. I’ve loved this album for years but it’s been high-rotate recently. It’s inching up the list of my all-time favourite albums. (Better link to One Woman too – that way you have the whole album right here in this post. A good start but no replacement for having the actual thing; such an artifact).

Sample Track: Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic

The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown