Isaac Hayes wrote “Do Your Thing” for the soundtrack to Gordon Parks’ 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft. Hayes initially wanted to be cast in the movie but Parks sent footage for him to write music for and gave him a cameo. Parks and MGM liked the first few songs Hayes composed for the movie and they eventually hired him to score the whole film. The soundtrack was released in 1971 and was the first double album of original music from a Black artist. It was five years before Stevie Wonder’s Songs In The Key of Life and four before Earth, Wind & Fire’s Gratitude. Shaft hit number one on the Billboard 100 and R&B Albums chart, went platinum within a month, and won two Grammys for Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical, and Best Instrumental Arrangement. Hayes became the first Black person to win an Oscar in a non-acting category for the theme song from Shaft that won for Best Original Song.
Shaft made a way for soul music to feature prominently in movies and it would only be a year later when Gordon Parks Jr. would hire Curtis Mayfield to create the soundtrack to Super Fly. In 2019, a remastered version of Shaft was released with 22 bonus tracks. Hayes recorded 20 solo albums, more than six collaboration albums with Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and more, and had appeared in over 50 films and television shows by the time of his passing in 2008. He rose from being a storied songwriter with partner David Porter at Stax Records into a blueprint for the soul star. On August 14th, HUF will release its capsule collection of Hayes’ merchandise.
