Isaac Hayes -- soul god, creator of the iconic "Theme from Shaft" and one-time voice of "Chef" on South Park -- is no more.
With his muscular build, shiny head and sunglasses, Hayes cut a striking figure at a time when most of his contemporaries were sporting Afros. His music, which came to be known as urban-contemporary, paved the way for disco as well as romantic crooners like Barry White.
And in his spoken-word introductions and interludes, Hayes was essentially rapping before there was rap. His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the animated TV show ''South Park.''
''Isaac Hayes embodies everything that's soul music,'' Collin Stanback, an A&R executive at Stax, told The Associated Press on Sunday. ''When you think of soul music you think of Isaac Hayes -- the expression ... the sound and the creativity that goes along with it.''
Hayes was about to begin work on a new album for Stax, the soul record label he helped build to legendary status. And he had recently finished work on a movie called ''Soul Men'' in which he played himself, starring Samuel Jackson and Bernie Mac, who died on Saturday.
As his NYT bio notes, Hayes helped pen some of the great soul classics: Soul Man and Hold On, I'm Comin', both made famous by Sam and Dave.
A particularly happy memory is driving eastward out of Memphis across the mighty Mississippi River listening to Soul Man on a sunny fall day.
The bio doesn't note that Hayes was a Scientologist, and he left South Park in 2006 after the infamous "Trapped in the closet" episode, which made vicious sport of Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Scientology in general (you can find it at Comedy Central's website, South Park episode 912; the part about what Scientologists believe is kinda scary).
South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are believed to have edited Hayes' voice to do a follow-up episode called "The return of Chef."' (episode 1001)
Chef was then killed off once and for all. Or was he?
While I have a lot of affection for his Chef character, it is Hayes' musical accomplishments that will make him immortal. Here's the man directing the "Theme from Shaft:"
And here's a wistful, downbeat version of Hayes covering Walk On By, from his 1969 album Hot Buttered Soul: