Customer Reviews

Isaac Hayes Movement (Hybr)

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

 

 

I heard this record before I was able to hear "Hot Buttered Soul" and hence I was unaware of Isaac & the Movement's penchant for epic lenght R&B arrangements. When I first heard the 11-plus minute version of George Harrison's "Something", I was simply blown away. It boast a Noel Pointer-ish galactic violin journey abetted by some of the most inventive pre-"Shaft" wah-wah guitar work ever committed to--in those days--vinyl. The classic Butler cut "I Stand Accused", also of epic length, should be placed in the Soul Music Hall of Fame's catalogue as the most successful renditon of the tune. Anyway, long, long, long before Isaac found his fortunes as the voice of Chef in South Park, even before "Shaft", we were calling the man "Cosmic Hayes". This dude really knows soul, and this album shows he was in great form during his Stax/Enterprise years.

. . . I first heard this album back in 1972 when I was three and remember always asking my father to put on the "blue 8-track" it came in. The 8-track has long since warped, but thanks to CD, the album still remains steadfast as part of my collection. Always a huge fan of Ike's arrangements, I'm particularly amazed that his "Something" is actually ten times better and more interesting than the original. The John Blair violin solo blasts high pitched over the runaway drumming during it's raucous finale, with the screeching representing the correct way to climax an already overwhelming composition. Familiar realities come into play lyrically on "I Stand Accused" and "One Big Unhappy Family", as the pain felt by the narrator translates perfectly into the arrangement. Never has a four-song album affected the listener so much. The depth in these songs is staggering. No wonder I've been listening to this for thirty years. . . .

When Isaac laid the groove on us before flowing into I Stand Accused, we had no idea what we were getting, but we knew we had received a magic moment. Then he took the Beatles song Something and orchestrated it to no end. Man, what a time.

In the almost 40 years since this album was first released there is no question in my mind that this is exactly the place where Hot Buttered Soul left off musically. There is something of a difference however as the bigger than life cinematic flavors of that album are replaced by a collection of what basically ammount to four extended soul ballads with a lot of orchestration,very much in the tradtion of classi 60's Memphis soul only with everything from the vocal harmonies to the instrumental exchanges either being repeated or slowed down some to draw out the lengh. The presence of the strong acid rock touches are downplayed here as well in general."I Stand Accused" consists primarily of Ike "rapping" about the relation between his good Christian upbringing and the situation the character in his song is facing-an excellent analogy if I may say so,before getting into the Jerry Butler original. "One Big Unhappy Family" speeds things up just a tad to deliver more passion and the gospel element of the music is much strong emphasized. For a version of Burt Bacharach's "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" repitition is again the key as something a tad closer to epic begins to arrise. The album closes off with an elongated version of "Something". The lush,to the point George Harrison original is transformed him into a long extended plead in which each shading of the songs moods and accents are very strong emphasized by Hayes and in many cases a lot more ideas are added to it from female backup vocals to the albums only major emphasis on psychedelia with the abstract,fuzzed out guitar solo that concludes it. Isaac Hayes's early 70's recordings may have all seemed similarly executed on the surface but,in fact they were all strong varriations on a spesific theme and each one emphasized something the album had different and new to offer.

I love it. Despite the fact that Hayes habitually did remakes of some hit pop songs from his era, he usually reworked them into soulful hits. In tiose days, a lot of folks didn't even know they were remakes, because pop music wasn't heard on black radio stations at all. All these songs are very good.

While nowhere near as revolutionary, mind-blowing or astoundingly great as 1969's "Hot Buttered Soul", 1971's "To Be Continued" or 1973's "Joy" this CD remains an important title in Isaac's discography. The album's high point is definitely Isaac's superb rendition of Jerry Butler's "I Stand Accused" but the three other songs (especially "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" and "Something") straddle the fence between mundane and merely average. This album was by no means disastrous but it is somewhat disappointing in comparison to "Hot Buttered Soul", "Black Moses", "To Be Continued" and "Joy".

I enjoyed it back when I bought the album in the 70's. And I still enjoy it.

there is nothing much to say: this album has none of that groove that hot buttered soul and ..to be continued has whatsoever. it is overproduced and homogeneous. i recommend not to buy it if you expect to hear the groovy improvisations of hyperbolicsyllabicsesquadellamystic & ike's mood and the great sounds of phoenix. how can man make such an unlistenable album between two masterpieces?
p.s. the two stars go for i stand accused, which intro is a bit soothing(and misleading)