Isaac Hayes

2008: In Memoriam

andybetablog | December 31, 2008 12:15 pm
andybetablog | December 31, 2008 12:15 pm

“There are so many little dyings that it doesn’t matter which of them is death,” wrote esteemed poet/ author Kenneth Patchen. Yet the accrual of such dying over the course of a calendar year belies such “little”ness. As we nudge into the 21st century, the luminaries of the previous one begin to wane, the architects and innovators of prime American music forms: blues, jazz, folk, rock. The obituary page for 2008 may not feature so many marquee names, but the crucial people behind the stage—the gurus, the producers, the poster artists, the record executives, the session men—all continued to vanish as well.

We lost studio drummers like Earl Palmer and guitarist Robert Ward, Phil Spector’s engineer Phil Levine, jazz photographer William Claxton, Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black, Thelonious Monk saxophonist Johnny Griffin. Number groups diminished by one, be they the Count Five, the Four Tops, the Dave Clark Five, or the Kingston Trio. Here are a few of the folks-–some well-known, some never heard of— whose work and influence created a great resonance here and whose efforts will hopefully continue to reverberate in the generations to come.

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noah | August 12, 2008 12:45 pm
noah | August 12, 2008 12:45 pm

Two fine appreciations of the late Isaac Hayes’ career, courtesy of Stephen Thomas Erlewine at the Allmusic Blog and Idolator contributor Chuck Eddy at the Rhapsody blog. More »


Isaac Hayes, R.I.P.

noah | August 10, 2008 5:00 am
noah | August 10, 2008 5:00 am

Soul pioneer Isaac Hayes was found dead at his Memphis home this morning. Hayes’ decades-spanning career began with a gig writing, arranging, and producing music at Stax Records, where he collaborated with David Porter on tracks for Sam & Dave and Carla Thomas, among others. More »


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