Description
Isaac Hayes was previously known as a staff songwriter for Stax Records, and he was well acquainted with their main session band The Bar-Kays. When the Stax hit-maker Otis Redding died in a plane crash in 1967, so did several members of The Bar-Kays. Stax management felt that Isaac Hayes had potential as a replacement for Redding, and issued a Hayes solo album in 1968 that flopped badly. Hayes insisted he would record again only if he had complete creative control. The combination of Hayes’ vocal abilities and the reconstituted Bar-Kays proved to be a winning formula. Hot Buttered Soul made it to Number One on the R & B album charts in 1969.