"Theme from Shaft", written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in
1971, is the soul- and funk-styled theme song to the
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film
Shaft. The theme was released as a single (shortened and
edited from the longer album version) two months after the
movie's soundtrack by Stax Records' Enterprise label. "Theme
from
Shaft" went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in
the United States in November 1971. The song was also
well-received by adult audiences, reaching number six on
Billboard's Easy Listening (later Adult Contemporary)
chart.
The following year, "Theme from
Shaft" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song,
with Hayes becoming the first African American to win that
honor (or any Academy Award in a non-acting category). Since
then, the song has appeared in numerous television shows,
commercials, and other movies, including the 2000 remake of ,
for which Hayes re-recorded the song without making any changes
to it. "Theme from
Shaft" is sometimes considered more iconic than the
movie for which it was written.
In 2000, Hayes told National Public Radio that he had only
agreed to write and record the
Shaftscore after
Shaftproducer Joel Freeman promised him an audition for
the lead role. He never got the chance to audition, but kept
his end of the deal anyway. Director Gordon Parks also had a
hand in composing the theme, describing the character of John
Shaft (the "black private dick/who's a sex machine/to all the
chicks") to Hayes and explaining that the song had to
familiarize the audience with him. Hayes recorded the rhythm
parts on the theme first, scored the entire rest of the film,
then returned to the theme song.
The song begins with a sixteenth-note hi-hat ride pattern,
played by Willie Hall, which was drawn from a break on Otis
Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness", a Stax record on which
Hayes had played. Also featuring heavily in the intro is
Charles Pitts' guitar, which uses a wah-wah effect common in
1970s funk; the riff had originally been written for an
unfinished Stax song. The synthesized keyboard is played by
Hayes. Even on the edited single version, the intro lasts for
more than two and a half minutes before any vocals are
heard.
The lyrics describe John Shaft's coolness, courage, and sex
appeal, and Hayes' lead vocals are punctuated by a trio of
female backup singers. At one famous moment, Hayes calls Shaft
"a bad mother—" before the backup singers (one of whom is Tony
Orlando & Dawn's Telma Hopkins) interrupt the implied
profanity with the line "Shut yo' mouth!" Hayes immediately
defends himself by replying that he's "only talking about
Shaft," with the back-up vocalists replying, "We can dig it."
Other well-known passages include "You're damn right!" also
uttered by Hayes, and "He's a complicated man/but no one
understands him/but his woman/John Shaft."
The song was considered very racy for its time; as late as
1990, censors at the Fox Network thought it too risqué to be
sung on
The Simpsons(until it was demonstrated that the song had
indeed been played on television before).
The song was not intended to be a single, but the success of
the film and the popularity of the track in nightclubs led to a
45 record of the theme being released on Enterprise Records two
months after the soundtrack. Within two months, it hit #1 on
the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there a second week. The song
had an enormous influence on the disco and soul music of the
decade.
In 1972, Hayes performed "Theme from
Shaft" as part of the Academy Awards ceremony in his
trademark chainmail vest, but accepted the award later that
night wearing a tuxedo. Hayes dedicated his historic win to his
grandmother, Rushia Wade, who joined him onstage to accept the
award. In addition, Hayes, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and the Stax
staff dedicated Hayes' win to the black community at an
Operation PUSH rally following the Academy Awards.
Later that year, Hayes performed "Theme from
Shaft" live at the Wattstax concert in Los Angeles Film
footage of this performance was recorded for Mel Stuart's
documentary film of the concert, but was cut before the film's
release due to legal complications with MGM, who would not
allow Hayes to perform his
Shaftsongs in any other film until 1976. A 2003
remastered version of the
Wattstaxfilm reinstates Hayes' performance of "Theme
from
Shaft".
When John Singleton directed an updated version of
Shaft, starring Samuel L. Jackson, in 2000, Hayes
rerecorded the theme for the new film.
(the rerecorded version was based on the 1978 disco 12" mix
titled Shaft II).
The song has been played or parodied in television shows
including
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,
The Simpsons,
Sesame Street,
Scrubs,
The X-Files,
Mystery Science Theater 3000,
Father Ted,
Histeria!, and
The Wire. On
Sesame Streeta parodied version of the song, "Cookie
Disco", was about Cookie Monster, dressed as Isaac Hayes, who
ends up eating the set. The song was featured in the film
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, where the lead character Slade
is a parody on Shaft (Issac Hayes was in the film in a
different role). The 1989 comedy film
UHF(co-written by and starring "Weird Al" Yankovic)
features a mock trailer segment on television parodying the
movie
Gandhicalled
Gandhi II, set to music meant to resemble the
Shafttheme. A 1998 Burger King marketing campaign
featured Hayes singing a retooled version of the song, with
lyrics now alluding to Mr. Potato Head, who is seen dancing on
the piano that Hayes plays. In the series Two and a Half Men,
there are references occainsionally of the song, including one
episode where Alan, Herb, Gordon, and another guy are seen
singing the song as a barbershop quartet.
Sammy Davis Jr recorded a cover version of this song with
extended lyrics, and a version by Eddy & The Soul Band was
a hit in the 1980s.