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Soul Man's Still Cooking: Isaac Hayes

By Jim Abbott

Soul man's still cooking

For all his contributions to music, Isaac Hayes might be best known as Chef on `South Park.'

Isaac Hayes is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He wrote more than 200 soul classics such as "When Something is Wrong with My Baby" and "Soul Man" with collaborator David Porter. Not to
mention writing and performing the eternally cool theme from Shaft.

He owns restaurants, acts in TV and movies, does his own radio show, champions child literacy and is officially a West African king in Ghana.

So how weird is it that his biggest claim to fame seems to be his cartoon role as soulful Chef McElroy in South Park?

Hayes, who performs Saturday as part of the 16th annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts, has been Chef for eight seasons -- hardly a day goes
by that he doesn't hear something about it.

"I get asked about it all the time," Hayes says by phone from a recording studio in his hometown, Memphis, Tenn. "Had someone said when I started
that I'd be doing it for eight seasons, I would've said, 'You're nuts!' "

When South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker approached Hayes about the character, he wasn't interested.

"I told them, 'I am outta here, man.' They said, 'Just read this,' and I started cracking up. I looked around and said, 'Is this a joke on me? This is real?' "

He signed on, then immediately regretted it.

"I thought, 'What have I done. I've ruined my career.' Then the ratings went through the roof."

When Hayes, 62, makes public appearances now, teens with Chef dolls stand in line next to fans with copies of such classic albums as Hot Buttered
Soul and Shaft.

"My fan base has expanded from 6 to 96," he says.

Hayes is working on material for his first new album in 10 years, which he predicts will be "vintage Isaac Hayes," but it's impossible to narrow his
interests to music -- or acting, cooking or youth programs, a cause to which he is devoted.

After losing his father, grandfather and close friend Barry White to kidney disease, he has written a cookbook with kidney-friendly recipes that he
offers for free at IsaacHayes.com.

Is there anything he has wanted to do that he hasn't yet?

"I want to make a billion dollars," he says, with a rumbling laugh. Then, a serious answer:

"I've done a lot of things, but I really want to do something to help people, especially those that are overlooked and those at the poverty level. I really
want to change this downward spiral that I see in various cities and urban areas, especially in literacy and music education."

That mission is pursued at Stax Music Academy in Memphis, where Hayes oversees the training of future musicians. The academy is next door to the
Stax Museum of American Soul Music, a $20 million shrine to the record label that released the seminal R&B that Hayes helped create with Sam &
Dave, Otis Redding and others.

Four decades later, he's still a force in Memphis, where he does a nighttime radio show and owns a restaurant. He says the music business has
changed, not always for the better.

Though his work has been acknowledged as one of the precursors of hip-hop, Hayes thinks that rappers have missed the music's potential amid all the
bling bling.

"Rap started out with a lot of anger, then they threw a lot of money at these guys, and they missed the point. It's about giving and sharing."

As long as the royalty checks keep coming, Hayes doesn't mind rappers sampling his music, but he doesn't think it's good for the stars or the business.

"I'd like to see kids play live music more. They've been throwing mad money at them, which is fine, but they need real art, some real music education.
That will ensure that the art will continue."

Hayes started his music education playing for tough crowds at roadhouses and nightclubs, often learning new instruments on the bandstand. His
songwriting partnership with Porter relied on the same kind of spontaneous spirit.

The title for the Sam & Dave hit "Hold On, I'm Comin'," came from casual conversation.

"I was at the piano working on something in the Stax studio, which was in an old movie theater. David went to the bathroom and he was in there for a
long time. I told him, 'Come on!' He said, 'Hold on, I'm coming.' We both said, 'That's the title!' "

Hayes is a big fan of OutKast and the Roots. He has worked with Alicia Keys, who introduced him at the 2002 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction
by saying "he taught me so much."

Hayes wants to pass his knowledge on to others so that the music he loves will endure.

"Back then, you knew who Kool & the Gang was, the Ohio Players and Earth, Wind & Fire. You could tell the Spinners from the Delfonics. Now
everything sounds alike."

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