As Chef, Hayes Feasts on Newfound Fame

Leave Isaac Hayes alone. Let the man do whatever he wants to. ‘Cause when he does, good things happen. Like classic record albums. Or immortal movie soundtracks. Or--dare we say it?--”South Park.”

Let Hayes explain.

“ ‘Hot Buttered Soul’ was a selfish thing. I was given the opportunity to produce and record an album the way that I wanted to. That’s how, a lot of times, innovation comes in, because you will not be bound by some kind of rule,” he says of the 1969 collection of smooth soul sounds that firmly established his musical chops.

“[With] ‘Shaft,’ I was given the opportunity to score a movie for the first time in my experience,” he continues, talking about his songs for the 1971 private-eye flick that not only won him an Academy Award but also a timeless persona. (Heard his recent Pepsi “Shaq” commercial?) “I was not restricted musically, that’s how those sounds came about.”

And then there was the time “some crazy white boys” with wild hair and weird notions asked Hayes to lend his deep voice to their new cartoon. When his agent first relayed the offer, Hayes reports, “I was excited, because I thought it was a Disney thing.” Then Matt Stone and Trey Parker explained what was up with their “South Park” concept of four foulmouthed tykes in an alien-infested village.

“I almost walked,” Hayes says, his imposing frame nestled into an easy chair high in Comedy Central’s Manhattan headquarters. “I said, ‘You guys got insurance? Are you indemnified for lawsuits and everything?’ ‘Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. No problem. Everything is cool.’ I said, ‘Well, you know what? If you all are bold enough to do this, I’m crazy enough to go with you.’

“You know, it’s the renegade mentality in me,” says Hayes, 56. “I’ll try something.”

And are we grateful. Hayes’ Chef creation may be “South Park’s” pivotal character--the only adult in town with any sense at all, even if he is a lusty, UFO-chasing nut job of a confidant for the kids. He’s the one who comes to their rescue when plagues infest the town or mutant twins take over. And, of course, he’s at the center of the new CD “Chef Aid: The South Park Album,” an aggregation of mad musical sounds (contributing artists include Wyclef Jean, Master P, Elton John, Ozzy Osbourne and Joe Strummer) built around such Chef favorites as “Simultaneous.”

Hayes Back Before a Worldwide Audience

When “South Park” became a cultural sensation, it cemented Hayes’ amazing career revitalization. He’d already taken another flier, on radio, a medium new to him, and found success in 1996 as the morning man on a New York radio station. And now the Comedy Central TV hit brings him back before a national, and international, audience.

“It’s amazing, this resurgence. Now, I’ve been in the business about 38 years professionally. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. If you stay on a trail--it’s almost like the PGA tournament,” Hayes says, switching gears to golf. “You win some and you lose some, but you stay on the tournament [trail]. So, I’m in the entertainment business. I’ve been in it. But you can’t be at the top of the hill forever. You’re going to hit the valley, the side of the mountain, whatever. So I’m in it for the love of the business.

“Now all of a sudden, boom. It’s happening again. But this is very sweet this time, because I got the kids. And kids mean future.”

Hayes is serious about that, and not just professionally. He’s also devoted to charity and community. On this interview day, he’s just come down from Harlem, where his radio morning crew was shaking hands. He also planned a recent benefit dinner and concert, “Isaac Hayes’ ‘70s Soul Christmas Party,” to fund a new school in the Ada region of Ghana.

An entire section of Hayes’ slick Internet site (https://www.isaachayes.com) is devoted to his charities--the Harlem-based Sheppard Foundation for alternatives to chemotherapy; Rock the Vote, an effort by musicians to get young people to vote; and the World Literacy Crusade, for which he is international spokesman. (Hayes is definitely international: Internet search engines find Web pages devoted to him in French and Dutch, among other languages.)

Turns out Hayes isn’t just loving this current career ascension because it boosts the ego or puts money in the pocket. He’s got a goal to build toward, he says. “I want to muster up enough power, like E.F. Hutton,” he says, alluding to the memorable TV commercials. “So when Isaac speaks, people listen. I want to take it beyond that. They listen, and they respond, and they act.”

Especially when it comes to literacy. “When you’re illiterate you don’t have the tools of survival readily at hand. And some people might do some wrong things in order to survive.”

Take it from a high school dropout whose Memphis teachers cared enough to head to his house and get him back in the classroom. That’s where he discovered music--taking band class and singing in the glee club--and that’s what saved young Isaac. After graduation, he teamed with David Porter to write and produce some of the mid-’60’s most memorable songs--a string of hits for Sam & Dave such as “Hold On, I’m Comin’ ” and “I Thank You,” and other chart-toppers for Johnnie Taylor, the Bar-Kays and Lou Rawls--before he headed into solo stardom with “Hot Buttered Soul” and “Black Moses.”

Music led to movie scoring, which led to acting assignments in the ‘70s. He appeared in such features as “Truck Turner” and TV shows such as “The Rockford Files,” which took advantage of Hayes’ intimidating image--bald head (long before the fashion), omnipresent shades, leather and/or chains, and a rumbling baritone. He had set the stage with his striking performance at the “Shaft” Oscar ceremony, rising high above the stage outfitted in chains, surrounded by smoke effects and singing about “a bad mutha.”

“Shut yo’ mouth!” the female singers interrupted.

But over the next two decades came those career valleys and mountainsides. Hayes kept working in all his show-biz disciplines--releasing albums, making movies (“Escape From New York,” “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka”) and doing TV (“Miami Vice,” “The A-Team”)--but he was off the radar screen for most folks. Then, his amazing mid-’90s resurgence.

Plans Call for CD of ‘Classic Soul’

Besides his radio and Comedy Central-related gigs (including a “South Park” feature film set for next year), Hayes expects to put together his own CD of “classic soul” next year. And, he says, “I want to do a jazz album at some point. People don’t know that side of me. I’d like to do some things with some classical players.” And then there’s that dream of a Christmas album.

A quarter-century after the headiest days of Hayes’ career, he says, “Now it’s all happening all over again. And the irony about it is that you strive and you work for artistic excellence. You always pursue the Holy Grail of artistic excellence, right? And here comes an upstart, insulting, late-night comedy thing that’s wacked--and you’re more popular than you’ve ever been.

“That’s amazing,” he muses. “That’s amazing. It’s ironic. But--I’ll take it.”

* “South Park” airs Tuesdays through Saturdays at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central.