Isaac Hayes released a whopping 6 albums between the 4 years of 1968-1971, including the double-albums Black Moses and Shaft. All the albums are worth seeking out, and I’ve previously covered his excellent debut from 1968. The young artist followed that up with Hot Buttered Soul, his magnum opus, and in 1970 released his third LP, The Isaac Hayes Movement.

Hot Buttered Soul standout “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” is echoed here on Movement‘s opener “I Stand Accused”. The grand narrative buildup, the orchestral accompaniment and the arresting performance of the song make this track nearly as good at nearly 12 minutes. The epic buildup pays off as ol’ Ike, brimming with emotion, rattles off “I love you”s to his unrequited love. Similar in length is the closer “Something”, a take on George Harrison’s classic contribution to Abbey Road, though it fails to beat the Beatles version. The album is filled out with “One Big Unhappy Family”, as bitter in lyrics as it is sweet in sound, and the downbeat “I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself”.

I was walking to work in Philly one day, about 2 years ago, when I found a stack of records abandoned on the sidewalk. Among them were gems like Superfly and this Hayes album (which has a sick insert that hangs on my wall). Though it seems to get overshadowed by some of his other work, Isaac Hayes Movement is classic material from the artist at his peak.

Listen to The Isaac Hayes Movement here.