Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. was born on August 20, 1942, in Covington, Tennessee. Reared by his grandparents because of the death of his mother when Hayes was a toddler, Isaac was singing in church before he was old enough to attend school and was a professional musician by the time he was in high school. He moved on to Memphis, hooked up with Stax, partnered with songwriter David Porter and authored over 200 singles for Stax artist. The Hayes/Porter combination produced classics of Soul music for artists such as Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, The Soul Children and Johnnie Taylor. Hayes went on to win an Academy Award for his score for the movie Shaft—the theme song became Hayes’ biggest seller. Hayes long and prolific career ended on August 10, 2008.
Dionne Warwick is another artist whose talent is routinely underestimated. Her prowess in vocal terms had both a lyrical and melodic aspect. She could take clichés and make them sound profound. Had she not focused almost entirely on a career as a pop singer, she probably would have received more of the praise her profound talent deserved. Listen to the subtlety of her phrasing; listen to how she makes you believe what she is saying.
This particular mixing of the two songs is a master arrangement. We know both songs and so hear the melody in our heads as we wonder how they are going to manage to make the dissimilar melodic arcs merge and work together. I wish Dionne and Ike had done more like this. Comes with splice, pads and 7 day money-back guarantee.
