Sunday, February 04, 2018

If Your Ears Knew What Was Good For Them...

 A few days ago I wrote about my latest music discovery, the awesome Johnnie Taylor Live At The Summit Club. It's still in heavy rotation in my universe but I stumbled on something equally jaw dropping; Isaac Hayes / Black Moses. This record is a revelation. The arrangements are incredible and it was obviously made in an era when an artist could succeed enough commercially to earn a degree of autonomy in the studio. Released in 1971, radio at that time required songs to be a commercial friendly 2:30-3:00 minutes max. There's not a song on this record under 5:00 minutes and if one second is displaced you would lose everything! THESE ARE GROOVES! The first track, a Jackson 5 hit; Never Can Say Goodbye, is an epiphany. The second song is (They Long To Be) Close To You. Originally a hit for the Carpenters only a year before! This arrangement and performance sounds like a different song! This is Isaac Hayes at the peak of his game.
 My strong advice is to set aside some time, get yourself some headphones and listen to this record in it's entirety. LISTEN