ISAAC HAYES – GROOV-A-THON – 320 kbs
Released 1976 on HBS Records
An unjustly neglected item in Mr. Hayes catalog, at least by me. The second release on his own HBS (Hot Buttered Soul) imprint, I like this better than Chocolate Chip (the first on HBS, which I should have posted anyway but will now wait until 2010). Or at least, that’s what I am saying now. This was actually the first album of his I ever bought, and maybe it didn’t do much for me at the time or I was just too blown away with his earlier Enterprise recordings once I discovered them to pay this title too much attention. But this is high-quality Isaac Hayes.
The title track has disco aspirations but without neglecting the funky soulfulness that you would come to expect from an ten-minute Ike track. It even ends with a low-key guitar solo. The second tune is just gorgeous, an earnest and articulate ballad about two people in a love affair who are committed to someone else. It’s the kind of confessional story that fills many an Isaac Hayes tune, but he never fails to make me believe that, in the moment I am listening, this is the first time he has ever told it to anyone. Rock Me Easy Baby is just a warm slab of funk, with some flute riffs that I am pretty sure have been sampled a million times. Hayes was famous for his innovative covers of other peoples songs and for making them entirely his own (That Loving Feeling; Something; Ain’t No Sunshine and others) — and his interpretation of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ is no exception, opening up the album’s second side in triumphant fashion. The album does not quite end with the same momentum it begins with, but by this time I’ve enjoyed myself so much I am not keen on complaining. A very strong effort from the second half of the 1970s for Isaac Hayes (may he rest in peace always!).
A1 Groove-A-Thon (9:48) Guitar [Solo] – Anthony Shinault
A2 Your Loving Is Much Too Strong (5:39)
A3 Rock Me Easy Baby (8:17)
B1 We’ve Got A Whole Lot Of Love (5:42)
B2 Wish You Were Here (You Ought To Be Here) (5:53) Guitar – Charles Pitts*
B3 Make A Little Love To Me (6:24) Guitar [Solo] – Anthony Shinault
Credits: Arranged By – Isaac Hayes , Lester Snell Artwork By [Album Design] – Martin Donald Artwork By [Art Direction] – Tom Wilkes Artwork By [Lettering] – Joe Garnett , Ron Criss Backing
Vocals – Hot Buttered Soul Unlimited* , Isaac Hayes
Bass – Erroll Thomas*
Congas – Jimmy Thompson*
Drums, Tambourine – Willie Cole , Willie Hall
Engineer – Henry Bush , Roosevelt Green Engineer [Re-mix] – Isaac Hayes , Roosevelt Green French Horn – Bryant Munch , Richard Dolph
Guitar – Michael Toles , William Vaughn
Keyboards – Isaac Hayes , Lester Snell , Sidney Kirk
Mastered By – Lanky Linstrot
Photography – Jeff Dunas
Producer – Isaac Hayes
Saxophone [Alto] – Bill Easley , Emerson Able
Saxophone [Baritone] – Floyd Newman
Saxophone [Tenor] – Darnell Smith , Lewis Collins (2) , Tommy Williams (4)
Trombone – Jackie Thomas , Bill Flores*
Trombone [Bass] – Gary Russell
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Ben Cauley , Edgar Matthews , Johnny Davis , William Taylor (2)
Written-By – Isaac Hayes
All selections recorded at Hot Buttered Soul Recording Studios 247 Chelsea Avenue Memphis, Tennessee 38107 Mastered at ABC Recording Studios, Inc.
Music Hall MMF.5 Turntable with Goldring 1012GX cartridge, Gyger II diamond stylus, and MK II XLR Ringmat –> Projekt Speedbox II -> Parasound Z Phono Preamp -> Marantz PMD 661 digital recorder at 24/96khz
Declicked on very light settings with Click Repair -> DC Offset and track splitting in Adobe Audition 2.0
Dithering using Mbit via iZotope RX Advanced
Converted to FLAC and mp3 with DbPoweramp
Ripped by Flabbergast
