Number One Songs—Theme From Shaft
Few performers, especially Rock Hall of Fame Inductees, are so closely associated with ONE of their works as soul man Isaac Hayes is with the "Theme from Shaft."Can you dig it? Right on. It was the time (1970s) and John Shaft was the man. He was a bad mutha shut your mouth! But the very fact that Isaac Hayes was inducted into the Rock Hall (in 2002) proves that he was anything but a one-hit-wonder. "Shaft" was not just a hit song. It was a phenomenon.
• November 20, 1971: "Theme from 'Shaft,'" by Isaac Hayes, reaches #1 for the first of two weeks. Shaft, the soundtrack album from which it came, hits #1 as well. Young people (OK and some old people too) know Hayes even better as the voice of Chef ("Hello there, children!") on the wildly popular Comedy Central series South Park. In 1998, Chef Aid: The South Park Album Hayes left the show in 2006 asking to be released from his contract. News reports quoted sources who said his leaving was over South Park's treatment of Scientology in a 2005 episode. Whatever his reigious beliefs, Hayes is known the world over for his charity work and involvement in social issues. A longtime political activist and humanitarian, [Hayes] marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. just before his death, and was scheduled to meet with him the day he died. When speaking out against violations of human rights and drug abuse, Isaac doesn’t mince words--as evidenced in songs like "Soulsville," which describe the battle for equality, human dignity and the despair of the inner cities. He continues today to be committed to global activism and the human empowerment movement. Theme From Shaft Lyrics (Words and Music by Isaac Hayes) Who's the black private dick Who is the man that would risk his neck Who's the cat that won't cop out They say this cat Shaft is a bad mother He's a complicated man
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on Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads (released on Volt Records, a Stax subsidiary). He and lyricist David Porter became a formidable songwriting team at Stax. Hayes and Porter bonded with the soul duo 
, writing and producing a run of hits that included "Hold On, I’m Coming," "Soul Man" and "I Thank You." They also wrote "B-A-B-Y" for Carla Thomas and hits for the Emotions, the Soul Children, Mable John and Lou Rawls. As a keyboardist and producer, Hayes was an important element in the Stax/Volt sound. All the while, he was itching to sing and hearing a different sound in his head. "I wanted to sing pop music, easy listening, but Memphis was stone R&B," he told 
, based on an episode of the hit show, was released on Columbia Records/American Recordings, going platinum (1 million units sold) in a matter of weeks.
