Customer Reviews

Chocolate Chip

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I became a "House Music" convert in 83-84. One of the tunes I remember hearing in the Clubs was "Love Can't Turn Around", produced by Farley "Jack Master Funk" Keith. I nearly lost my mind dancing to that tune. When someone sat me down and informed me of Mr. Hayes' original version (7 years later), I couldn't find it on CD. Now I got it, Baby......... And for the shear strength of " I Can't Turn Around", "Chocolate Chip" gets 5 Stars.

Last night a DJ and Isaac Hayes saved my life.

On this 1975 release, Isaac Hayes made a transition from soul to disco. Not as essential or as artistically substantial as his Stax releases but its production values are solid and it has the right blend of ballads and disco tracks.

I have so much to say about the 'Late great ('Isacc Lee Hayes') that I do not know where to begin in this reveiw. But I will just get to the main point. There will never be another Isacc Hayes. His music is simply the Greatest. I was in my so-called Media Room, When I received a knock at the door, and I was told 'Isacc Hayes was Dead. It blew me away. I cried so hard that I really thought that I was loosing my mind. I have been listening to Isacc Hayes since I was about 10-years old. I remember all of his great songs that some of the people in these reviews are talking about.You know in 'Life' as we all travel though, some of us not all do remember a certain time or era, of singers that were producing songs in those times. And as one hears a certain song by a certain artist it reminds them of a certain time or era, back in the day, when this happen, or that happen or my son was born or my daughter was born, or I had a 66-mustang, or I had a 1973 whatever model of car, or I lived in that place or state. It is so many, many, many different ordeals of life that has happen to a person. I could go on and on. But it is one thing for certain..."MUSIC" was always in the background. And I do love music so very much. But this man 'Isacc Hayes' was forever in my Life. And now when I play his music, lately I have been doing a lot of crying. Just about everytime I hear him sing, It reminds me of the past. I get water in my eyes real often, It really has took a toll on me. But I have enough sense to know, that God is the Master of the universe, and he knows what he is doing, As I was told by my Great Grand-Mother, 'God' knows his business'. However Isacc Hayes made greatest music ever. Of all the music that he made, I would say the best of them all was the U-TURN album, and the '& Once Again' great and wonderful music. As a soldier stationed in Germany & Korea, I used to listen to Isacc! so much in Germnay, that it should of been against the law. And one slightly cool cool morning while being stationed in 'Korea' on my day off, After eating breakfast was early morning, I went in a Music place downtown and I heard this CD 'U-TURN. I was so in a rush to get back on base, in order to get to the Base PX so I could buy this CD. And when I did I played it so much, that I almost wore it out the first day.Un-Beleiveable music. You know as I have stated already in this reveiw, There will never be another Isacc Hayes. And that is the real truth. My visit to Memphis,Tn about 4-years ago, I was in the STAX studio, and I got a chance to see and hear this legend and where all this got started at. I went into his resturant. A super great and wonderful time. I am in the process of trying to find this U-TURN CD & the CD call; "& Once Again". But it is real hard, since all of my CD's were lost in shipping. But I will not give up, Because I know one day I will stumble upon these two CD's again. I really don't think no one that I have ran across can say that they do not like Isacc! I remember all to well as I was riding the tranist bus in 'Korea' in 1986, I had a tape player, without no ear-plugs, as I sit at the front of the bus on a 2-1/2 hour ride, I remember the Bus driver saying to me, Sir I can barely hear your music, can you please turn it up some. I had that U-TURN album playing....So many people on that bus asked me who is that singer? along with the bus driver..they were amazed, however the thing that got me the most, was an Older white Lady, who was visiting her sister in Korea! was just blown away with the music. In fact she said young man! can you write down that man who is singing on that tape. So many comments were made about his voice. Of course it was some black people who came up to me and knew exactly who I was listening to, but had never heard of that CD. And they wanted to know where I purchased it from. They were just blown away.He will never be forgotton at all. There used to an old Lady back in my hometown in "TEXAS" who has gone on now to be with God. But she told me as a young teenager many long years ago. She said; 'Time' is not a 'friend' because if it was. It would not run off and leave us..And her point made a lot of sense. We have to enjoy the great quality's of life, MUSIC is one of them. Because one day we too! will no longer be here on earth, Just like the Late great "ISACC HAYES" everything has an end to it. Just like this long reveiw that was just wrote, has a end to it. 'RIP' Isacc! my dear brother.

for those of u who don't know,this album contains the basis for all house/dance music that was recorded after 1988. the single "i cant turn around" is to house music, what run-dmc is to rap. when house music was begining to come out of the underground, this was one of the most wanted,(and hardest to find) albums to a true d.j. if u love house/disco, you gotta have this one in your collection.

I listened to this album on loan from the Shake Library while a freshman at Vincennes University in the 1980s; it was one of the few highlights of my having spent my only year at that institution before transferring to Ball State. I especially liked the last track, "I Can't Turn Around", which has definite shades of Steely Dan in the musical overtones. At least two of the songs from this disc should be included in The ABC Records Story, which I hope Universal Music will get around to releasing at some point in the future. I can now see how Isaac Hayes' musical style would translate to success on "South Park" two decades later and was glad to have retrieved "Chocolate Chip" on iTunes. His music will be missed; but I will never forget this album.

It's the year 1975 and music is starting to change.

For a lot of soul legends, the birth of disco meant slow as well as sudden death... CHOCOLATE CHIP; however, though one of Hayes's lesser known albums is actually one of his best... and at the time hit #1 on the R&B charts and #18 on the Billboard 200... It also demonstrates how his sound was really well ahead of its time.. For example, many artists survived disco by adding the orchestra and strings... Hayes was already doing that... then there was the sizzling high hat, the pulsating bass and wa wa guitar... by then Hayes had been there and done that...

The album includes some of Hayes's trademark mellow soul... but much better engineered than his classic recordings... plus a few booty shakers, including the hit single CHOCOLATE CHIP.

In retrospect, many critics give the album low ratings (I won't say where) but I like the groove and vibe...
none of the tunes are memorable nor genre redefining, but the album's still tight and listenable. I also like the bouncy soul tune "I Can't Turn Around" - - a bit uncharacteristic for Hayes... but a real good'un... I'm surprised more people haven't covered it.

IT'S AMAZING I NEVER HEARD THIS ALBUM WHEN I WAS COMING UP IN THE 70'S. WOW, THIS IS A GEM. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE EVERY SONG ON HERE. THE TOTAL TIME OF THE CD IS 40:37 LONG(ADD THE NUMBERS UP YOU GET 14, 7X2=14. THE NUMBER 7 STANDS FOR COMPLETION). I HAVE TO SAY MY FAVORITE SONG IS "I CAN'T TURN AROUND". I FIRST HEARD THIS SONG ON YOUTUBE 2 WEEKS AGO. I WAS BOUNCING AROUND IN MY CHAIR. THAT SONG IS #7 ON THE ALBUM. IT IS SUCH A GREAT MOTIVATIONAL SONG AND IT SURE SOUNDS GREAT!!!! ISAAC IS SORELY MISSED, BUT I THANK GOD FOR BLESSING HIM WITH SUCH ENORMOUS TALENT. REST IN PEACE, BLACK MOSES!!!

I guess some time in the mid 1970s, Isaac Hayes got sick of being Black Moses. Or maybe Moses simply acquired a taste for sweets, Here he is, no chains, no royal gown. Just a soul singer, or a soul prophet, hanging out in a black turtle neck, eating a cookie.


How he wound up going from Enterprise to ABC I am not sure, but it wast not only the label and the image that changed. The music also did.


No worries, though. You will recognize Chocolate Chip as an Isaac Hayes album---and a killer one. This came in 1976, and Hayes opted to scale down the epic royal purple of albums like Hot Buttered Soul and, yeah, Black Moses. Keyboards fill spaces once plugged by strings and horns. The songs are more concise--punchy as a coco candy.

Does it compromise the music: absolutely not. The tracks here are more subtle. They have even textures--tons of textures. Each instrument here is balanced flawlessly. If anything, Hayes arranging has gotten more refined and complex.

There is funk, there is disco, there are ballads, all rich as that cookie badder Hayes has cooked up. This music may not have the instant grip of "Theme From Shaft," or the sweep of "Never Can Say Goodbye," but in this lesser known material, there may be even more rewards for repeat listeners.

I have to admit, it took me a long time to get to Isaac Hayes. My mother (the biggest Isaac Hayes fan I know), rocked our house with deathless soul classics like "Hot Buttered Soul" and " ...To be Continued" regularly. Of course, his musical homage to cool ass Black men ("Shaft" in case you wondering) still stay in regular rotation on radio stations and is the source to a hundred pop culture references regarding being cool and black. Since the aforementioned albums and the theme to shaft is often looked upon as the best of his output, I never had a desire to seek out Isaac Hayes when I started collecting 70's music-since his most popular records have been played to death (make no mistake they're classics).

That's not the case with Chocolate Chip. Isaac sleeper hit record from 1975 still finds him in classic form for the most part. What's surprisingly distinctive about this release is that it's stripped down and direct compared to his Stax's releases. You won't find the extensive spoken monologues and string arrangements here. Instead, Ike (not Ike Turner!) delivers some raw southern fried ghetto funk that's borderline disco -"The title track" and "I Can't Turn Around", slow and sensual bedroom soul " Body Language" and "Come Live With Me" and the mid tempo fillers in "That Loving Feeling" and " I Want To Make Love To You So Bad" (so much for being casual about it ha ha). All the songs have spare production values which makes the funk tougher and the slow jams more personal.

On the title track, Ike and The Movement haul ass on a groove with a pocket nasty enough to make The JB's sound like a backing band for Johnny Mathis. The blaxploitation vibe of the music and the lyrics certainly help as Black Moses engages in some proto pimp posturing that will come to define hip hop/ rap music in the years to come;

I'm clean I'm mean
Girl I'm a walking sex machine
I'm the slickest player in the street
Got mack from way back
My wardrobe stays intact
You ain't never had a n&*%^ like me!

Yes, a highly regarded soul artist who my mother will use to bash rap music actually used the "N" word! (Though it's distorted in the hook) While the lyrics may also sound tame today since rappers has took pimped out lyrics to decadent extremes- For 1975, it was every bit as triumphant as Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson in Black Caesar and Hell up in Harlem) gunning down a house full of mob affiliated Bigots.

For anyone who's familiar with Chicago house music will recognize the horn riff from "I Can't Turn Around" since it was sampled by Farley Jackmaster funk for his classic "Can't Turn Love Around" (though I prefer Ike's version). This is the record where Isaac's melodic richness, disco's immediacy, and his bands raw funk intercepts perfectly to create another classic that even surpasses the epic title track. It's one of the best endings to any album I've heard as well as one of his best uptempo songs.

The slow jams also stand out as well. Rather it's the imitate yearning of "Body Language" or the pleading for long term commitment on "Come Live With Me" , these jams capture Isaac at his sincere best with performances that are every bit as inspired as his classics from Stax- even though the lyrics and arrangements are not nearly as complex in its structure. With stripped down arrangements, you get the feeling you're eaves dropping on a romantic encounter between Ike and his lady (or one of his ladies for that matter) since it feels more personal.

The Album is nicely rounded off by a couple of solid midtempo tracks in "That Loving Feeling" and "I Want to make love to You So Bad". They don't reach the heights of the uptempo and slow jams , but the busy drum playing of Willie Cole on "I Wanna Make love...." make it worthy of a few listens. An Instrumental version of the title track is complimentary for DJ's, but unnecessary for the listeners.
All in all, this is an excellent latter day release from Isaac Hayes.

While it's true that he could've been past his prime at this point, Chocolate Chip proved that Ike was still capable of delivering some Hot Buttered Soul.

Having already created one funk masterpiece after another Ike Hayes came up with his funkiest to this date! The Stax days were over,a lot of things had changed but DAMN if Isaac still wasn't giving it ip and giving it up hard! At this point his musical formula had changed to a huge extent. Most of this album consists of his own compositions. Not only that but he was abandoning the heavy strings in order to make the music easier for the stage and he didn't put any 10 minute or more epic reworkings on this album. Having already integrated his productions style to the dancefloor,among other things on Shaft he really upped the ante in a big way here by putting music out where even the slower tunes were really heavily funky. In the environment of heavy cross pollination this was something he was adapting from Barry White's innovations on his own sound and again doing his own thing with it. The only cover here is Tony Joe White's "That Loving Feeling";it's relatively close to his older music but the groove is a lot tighter and there's stronger eletronic keyboard textures here as opposed to orchestration. "Body Language" is just a flat out AMAZING piece of music where the slick,slow groove of the song pushes itself along in an potent extension of the sound he had on his last studio album Joy. The title track of the album with it's wah wah's and fast,hardcore funk rhythms he presents it not only in a vocal version but as an instrumental as well:it's likely the main centerpiece of this entire album. "I Want To Make Love To You So Bad" is a different but also wonderful tune-a shorter pop/funk number with some instrumental rhythms,harmonies and chordal melodies that look not only to Barry White's but to Stevie Wonder's influence as well. To my ears it's one of the more unsung items in Ike's mid 70's catalog. "Come Live With Me" finds him in a great slow funk phase again where he's so heavy into what he's singing he puts a lot of vocal emphasis on all it's main phrases. "I Can't Turn You Around" is another fast funk jam that turned out to have this unexpected influence on modern house music and is an excellent example (yet again) of the funk-functioning-as-disco musical ethic. There is not a single dud track to be found on this seven track album and the liner notes for this 1998 edition give you some helpful insight into this production that really help the already excellent music pop out all the more. Very highly recommended!