Who’s the Black Private Dick, That’s a Sex Machine to All the Chicks

Jo Hale/Getty ImagesIt’s a bad weekend for famous black men I’m fond of, after Bernie Mac’s passing. The legendary Isaac Hayes has also passed away:

Soul singer and arranger Isaac Hayes, who won Grammy awards and an Oscar for the theme from the 1971 action film “Shaft,” has died, sheriff’s officials in Memphis, Tennessee, reported Sunday.

Hayes was found dead Sunday at age 65.

Relatives found Hayes, 65, unconscious in his home next to a still-running treadmill, said Steve Shular, a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department.

Paramedics attempted to revive him and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2 p.m., the sheriff’s department said.

No foul play is suspected, the agency said in a written statement.

Hayes was a longtime songwriter and arranger for Stax Records in Memphis, playing in the studio’s backup band and crafting tunes for artists such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave in the 1960s.

After reading a couple of stories about Hayes’s passing, I guess my only complaint about him would be that he helped pave the way for disco.

R.I.P.

Photo: Jo Hale/Getty Images via E Online

FILED UNDER: Obituaries, Popular Culture, , , , ,
Robert Prather
About Robert Prather
Robert Prather contributed over 80 posts to OTB between October 2005 and July 2013. He previously blogged at the now defunct Insults Unpunished. Follow him on Twitter @RobPrather.

Comments

  1. Boyd says:

    …my only complaint about him would be that he helped pave the way for disco.

    Even that’s not as bad as it seems. Disco was a necessary phase we had to go through. Sort of the bottom cycle of the sine wave.

  2. Dyre42 says:

    “Sort of the bottom cycle of the sine wave.”

    I thought that was ABBA.

  3. Michael says:

    I thought that was ABBA.

    No, that’s a tangent.

  4. Some disco music was OK and I like the ABBA song “Dancing Queen”. As a phase we had to go through, you’re probably right Boyd. Thankfully the disco phase was brief.

  5. markm says:

    “Some disco music was OK and I like the ABBA song “Dancing Queen””

    …not that there’s anything wrong with that…

    I remember him more for playing Gandolf Finch on Rockford files than any musical abilities. Odd that.

  6. …not that there’s anything wrong with that…

    I didn’t even realize it was a “gay song” until a few months ago when Sully mentioned it.

  7. markm says:

    “…not that there’s anything wrong with that…

    I didn’t even realize it was a “gay song” until a few months ago when Sully mentioned it.”

    Just bustin’ your chops.