Hot Buttered Soul (Remastered)

iTunes Review

Eighteen minutes and 42 seconds of “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” redefined what soul music could be in 1969. Stax/Volt session musician and staff songwriter Isaac Hayes could only fit four tracks on his second solo album, but each one resonated for each and every elongated minute. This 2009 re-master includes “single” edits for “Phoenix,” cut to seven minutes, and “Walk On By,” the 1964 Dionne Warwick hit, cut from 12 minutes down to four-and-a-half. It’s interesting and fun to hear the tracks paired down to what someone in the business thought were the essential moments, but it’s still the free-for-all sprawl, the droning organ chord that lingers in the background while Hayes sets up the scenario for Jimmy Webb’s tale of a man leaving his woman behind, that makes this a landmark recording. In addition to “Phoenix,” Hayes offers up the hypnotic “Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic” (later sampled by Public Enemy) and the relatively conventional and smooth “One Woman.” Hayes’ monologues were an unusual innovation, but they merely set the stage for his heartfelt vocals and sensitive reads of quality songwriting that transcended all genres.