Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes just died. He was a great soul songwriter and performer, and yet is probably best known today as a voice on a cartoon.

In the 60s, the two poles of soul were slick, well-produced sound of Detroit's Motown the grittier Stax Records from Memphis. Hayes worked at the latter, first as a session player, then as a songwrite-producer. With David Porter he wrote Sam & Dave's "Hold On, I'm Comin'" (title inspired when Hayes wanted Porter out of the bathroom) and the immortal "Soul Man."

In the late 60s, Hayes started recording his own music, and in 1969 had a huge hit album with Hot Buttered Soul. He mostly covered other hits, such as "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" and "Walk On By," but he'd do slow, gospel-inflected versions that turned the songs inside out.

Then, in 1971, he had his biggest hit with the score to and theme from Shaft. The album and the song went to #1. More amazing, Hayes beat out legends Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini, among others, to win the Best Song Oscar.

Later in the year, Hayes would continue his streak with his top ten album, Black Moses. He'd continue having hits through the 70s, but was never as big again, and by the 80s, stopped charting.

Which makes it all the more surprising that he became more famous than ever in the last decade of his life. He became the voice of the popular character Chef ("Hello there, children!") on Comedy Central's enormous hit South Park. Chef, based on low-talking soul singers from the 70s (as much Barry White as Isaac Hayes), was the one the kids turned to when they were in trouble, and he regularly dispensed valuable advice.

Hayes was involved in a controversy a couple years ago when he quit South Park. After years of making fun of everything in sight, he thought the show finally went too far when it spent a whole episode mocking his religion, scientology.

Though Hayes made a hasty exit from the show, he'll be remembered for Chef, and, I'd guess, even after that's forgotten, for all his great soul music.