African American Artist Ernest Withers Photo 8X10 Photographer Isaac Hayes

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Seller: memorabilia111 ✉️ (808) 100%, Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 176290343423 AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTIST ERNEST WITHERS PHOTO 8X10 PHOTOGRAPHER ISAAC HAYES. A PHOTOGRAPH THAT I OBTAINED FROM ERNEST C. WITHERS , AFRICAN AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER, MEASURING 8X10 INCHES  THE PHOTOGRAPH IS OF ISAAC HAYES C1970S AND IS A RARE IMAGE BY HIM.  Ernest C. Withers Gelatin Silver Print by E C. Withers  Printed later by Ernest C. Withers.
Withers, Ernest C. (Memphis, TN, 1922-Memphis, TN, 2007))    

Bibliography and Exhibitions

MONOGRAPHS AND SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

Anstead, Alicia. ERNEST WITHERS: A Second Look. 2011. In: Art New England 32, no. 4, July/August 2011. Folio, wraps.

Boston (MA). Massachusetts College of Art. Let Us March On!: Selected Civil Rights Photographs of ERNEST C. WITHERS 1955-1968. 1992. 86 pp. exhib. cat., b&w illus. Foreword by poet Margaret Walker; text by Michele Furst, et al. Important work by a photographer also known for his photographs of the Memphis Blues scene during the same period. Unlike many photojournalists who covered the Civil Rights Movement, Ernest Withers was an active participant in the cause and his work often went unpaid and without credit. Widely published in Time, Life, and Newsweek magazines, Withers's photographs record the more quiet, personal moments within the larger, historic events. [Traveled to: Diggs Gallery, Winston-Salem State University, through Dec. 10, 1994, and other venues; exhibition of same title at Harriet Tubman House, Macon, GA, 2000.] 4to, wraps. First ed.

Boston (MA). Panopticon Gallery of Photography. Signs of Social Change: Photographs by ERNEST C. WITHERS. June 8-August 19, 2008. Solo exhibition. A selection of works from Withers's archive of Civil Rights movement photographs.

Jackson (MS). Museum of Art, University of Mississippi. ERNEST C. WITHERS Photography. June 4-June 19, 2005. Solo exhibition.

Little Rock (AR). Hearne Fine Art. ERNEST C. WITHERS: Negro League Baseball.. April 14-May 6, 2006. Solo exhibition.

Memphis (TN). Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. ERNEST C. WITHERS. 2001. Solo exhibition.

Nashville (TN). Pink Palace. One Day is Not Enough: Memphis Desegregation Through the Lens of ERNEST WITHERS. January, 2006. Solo exhibition.

Norfolk (VA). Chrysler Museum of Art. Pictures Tell the Story: ERNEST C. WITHERS Reflections in History. January 28-May 7, 2000. 191 pp., b&w illus. Texts by F. Jack Hurley and Daniel J. Wolff. The first major monograph on the Memphis photographer who, more than any other, documented the Southern chapter of the Civil Rights Movement as well as the lively music scene in Memphis and the Negro League. [Traveling exhibition: High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, 2001-2002; and other venues.) 8vo (24 cm.).

OSHKOSH (WI). Gail Floether Steinhilber Art Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. I Was There: Photographs by Civil Rights Photographer ERNEST C. WITHERS. February 7-March 11, 2005. Solo exhibition.

Philadelphia (PA). Philadelphia Art Alliance. Pictures Tell the Story: Photographs by ERNEST C. WITHERS Documenting the Civil Rights Movement. Thru May 4, 2003. Solo exhibition.

WITHERS, ERNEST C. Complete Photo Story of Till Murder Case. 1955. Self-published booklet by Ernest C. Withers. Wraps.

Wolff, Daniel. Negro League Baseball: Photographs by ERNEST C. WITHERS. New York: Abrams, 2004. 192 pp., 142 illus. Sq. 4to (26 x 25 cm.), cloth, d.j. First ed.

Wolff, Daniel and ERNEST C. WITHERS (photos). ERNEST C. WITHERS: The Memphis Blues Again. New York: Viking Studio, 2001. 160 pp., b&w illus. (Same title as the 2005 exhibition of the High Museum's recently acquired collection of over 75 of Withers' photographs from the 1950s-1970s depicting the rise of the Memphis and Tennessee music scene, covering many different musical genres (blues, jazz, R&B, gospel, early rock and roll, soul and funk.) Sq. 4to (12.3 x 10.9 in.), cloth, d.j. First ed.

GENERAL BOOKS AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

ATLANTA (GA). High Museum of Art. Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956-1968. Thru October 5, 2008. Group exhibition of nearly 170 historic photographs. Curated by Julian Cox, Curator of Photography at the High Museum of Art. Includes work by Doris Derby, Leroy Henderson, and Ernest ithers, dozens of well-known white activist photographers, photojournalists, and also important photos taken by amateurs and press corps photographers which are not often displayed in a museum context. [Traveled to: kirball Cultural Center, -March 7, 2010 where The Skirball added a new section to the exhibition that documents the struggle for civil rights in Los Angeles; among the local events portrayed are the picketing of the Kress Store in Pasadena (1960) and the Watts Riots (1965). This expanded exhibition also included a documentary film, specially produced for the Skirball's presentation of Road to Freedom, that illuminates the unified efforts of the Jewish and African American communities to achieve justice for all during the Civil Rights movement; also exhibited Bronx Museum of the Arts, March 28-August 11, 2010.]

BERGER, MARTIN A. Seeing Through Race: A Reinterpretation of Civil Rights Photography. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011. 264 pp., 65 b&w illus. (only two images are by a black photographer - Ernest C. Withers.) A study of how white journalists and their audiences selected, framed, and responded to images of the Civil Rights era, with selective comparisons to coverage of the same events by the black media.

BERGER, MAURICE, ed. Constructing Masculinity (Discussion in Contemporary Culture, No. 11). Routledge, 1995. 320 pp. Maurice Berger, Simon Watson. Adrian Piper, Marlon Riggs, Ernest C. Withers, Carrie Mae Weems. Extensive discussion of race stereotypes of black males in popular culture, the media and the arts. 8vo, wraps. First ed.

BOSTON (MA). Panopticon Gallery of Photography. Baseball Faces. July 1-September 14, 2009. Group exhibition of work by three photographers. Included: Ernest C. Withers.

BOSTON (MA). Panopticon Gallery of Photography. Our Lives Begin to End the Day We Become Silent About Things That Matter” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. January 14-May 9, 2010. Group exhibition. Included: Ernest Withers, Tanya Murphy Dodd, Frank Stewart, Leroy Henderson and Robert Sengstacke.

BOSTON (MA). Panopticon Gallery of Photography. Sight of Sound: Photographs by Ryan Mastro, Ron Pownall, Charlie Sawyer, Frank Stewart, and Ernest C. Withers. March 10-May 18, 2010. Group exhibition of music-related photographs.

BROOKLYN (NY). Brooklyn Museum of Art. Witness: Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties. March 7-July 6, 2014. 176 pp. exhib. cat., color and b&w illus., notes, bibliog., index. Texts by Kellie Jones, Connie H. Choi, Teresa A Carbone, Cynthia A. Young; chronol. by Dalila Scruggs. Includes: Chalres Alston, Benny Andrews, Emma Amos, Romare Bearden, Frank Bowling, Elizabeth Catlett, Barbara Chase-Riboud, LeRoy P. Clarke, Roy DeCarava, Jeff Donaldson, Emory Douglas, Melvin Edwards, Sam Gilliam, David Hammons, Ben Hazard, Barkeley Hendricks, Jae Jarrell, Daniel Larue Johnson, Barbara Jones-Hogu, Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, Tom Lloyd, Ademola Olugebefola, John Outterbridge, Joe Overstreet, Gordon Parks, Ben Patterson, Noah Purifoy, Faith Ringgold, John T. Riddle, Betye Saar, Raymond Saunders, Robert A. Sengstacke, Merton D. Simpson, Moneta J. Sleet, Jr., Bob Thompson, Charles White, Jack Whitten, William T. Williams, Ernest C. Withers. Dozens of others mentioned in passing. [Traveled to: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, August 30-December 14, 2014.] 4to (11.2 x 9.7 in.), boards. First ed.

BROOKLYN (NY). MoCADA Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art. I AM A MAN. September 25, 2008-January 18, 2009. Group exhibition. Curated by Kevin Powell. Included: Hank Willis Thomas, Russell Frederick, Rah Crawford, Radcliffe Bailey, Charly Palmer, LeRoy Henderson, Fahamu Pecou, Jefferson Pinder, Jamel Shabazz, Lorenzo Steele, Jr., Juan Sanchez and Ernest C Withers.

COOKS, BRIDGET R. Exhibiting Blackness: African Americans and the American Art Museum. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2011. 240 pp., color illus., notes, index. The narrative begins in 1927 with the Chicago "Negro in Art Week" exhibition, and in the 1930s with the Museum of Modern Art's exhibition of "William Edmondson" (1937) and "Contemporary Negro Art" (1939) at the Baltimore Museum of Art; the focus, however, is on exhibitions held from the 1960s to present with chapters on "Harlem on My Mind" (1969), "Two Centuries of Black American Art" (1976); "Black Male" (1994-95); and "The Quilts of Gee's Bend" (2202). Numerous artists, but most mentioned only in passing: Cedric Adams, Charles Alston, Emma Amos, Benny Andrews, Edward M. Bannister, Richmond Barthé, Romare Bearden, numerous Bendolphs (Annie, Jacob, Mary Ann, Mary Lee, Louisiana) and Loretta Bennett, Ed Bereal, Donald Bernard, Nayland Blake, Gloria Bohanon, Leslie Bolling, St. Clair Bourne, Cloyd Boykin, Kay Brown, Selma Burke, Bernie Casey, Roland Charles, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Claude Clark, Linda Day Clark, Robert Colescott, Dan Concholar, Emilio Cruz, Ernest Crichlow (footnote only), Alonzo Davis, Selma Day (footnote only), Roy DeCarava, Aaron Douglas, Emory Douglas, Robert M. Douglass, Jr., David Driskell, Robert S. Duncanson, William Edmondson, Elton Fax (footnote only), Cecil L. Fergerson, Roland Freeman, Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, Reginald Gammon (footnote only), K.D. Ganaway, Sam Gilliam, David Hammons, William A. Harper, Palmer Hayden, Vertis C. Hayes, Barkley L. Hendricks, James V. Herring, Richard Hunt, Rudy Irwin, May Howard Jackson, Suzanne Jackson, Joshua Johnson, William H. Johnson, Lois Mailou Jones, Gwendolyn Knight, Wifredo Lam, Artis Lane, Jacob Lawrence, Edmonia Lewis, Norman Lewis, Samella Lewis, Alvin Loving (footnote only), William Majors (footnote only), Richard Mayhew, Reginald McGhee, Archibald J. Motley, Jr., Richard Mayhew, Willie Middlebrook, Ron Moody, Lottie and Lucy Mooney, Flora Moore, Scipio Moorhead, Norma Morgan, Archibald J. Motley, Jr., Sara Murrell (footnote only), Otto Neals (footnote only), Odili Donald Odita, Noni Olubisi, Ademola Olugebefola, John Outterbridge, Gordon Parks, six Pettways (Annie E., Arlonzia, Bertha, Clinton, Jr., Jesse T., Letisha), James Phillips, Howardena Pindell, Horace Pippin, Carl Pope, James A. Porter, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Noah Purifoy, Martin Puryear, Okoe Pyatt (footnote only), Robert Reid (footnote only), John Rhoden, John Riddle, Faith Ringgold (footnote only), Betye Saar, Raymond Saunders (footnote only), Augusta Savage, William E. Scott, Georgette Seabrook, James Sepyo (footnote only), Taiwo Shabazz (footnote only), Gary Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Merton Simpson (footnote only), Albert Alexander Smith, Arenzo Smith, Frank Stewart, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Alma Thomas, Danny Tisdale, Melvin Van Peebles, James Vanderzee, Annie Walker, Kara Walker, Augustus Washington, Timothy Washington, Carrie Mae Weems, James Lesesne Wells, Charles White, Pat Ward Williams, William T. Williams, Deborah Willis, Fred Wilson, Ernest C. Withers, Beulah Ecton Woodard, Hale Woodruff, Lloyd Yearwood, Annie Mae and Nettie Pettway Young. 8vo (9 x 6 in.), wraps.

Durham (NC). Doubletake. Doubletake Vol. 5, no. 1 (Winter 1999). Durham (NC). Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, 1999. This issue contains an article on the photographs of Ernest C. Withers and photojournalism on Tupelo, Mississippi. 4to, wraps.

GATES, HENRY LOUIS and EVELYN BROOKS HIGGINBOTHAM, eds. African American National Biography. 2009. Originally published in 8 volumes, the set has grown to 12 vollumes with the addition of 1000 new entries. Also available as online database of biographies, accessible only to paid subscribers (well-endowed institutions and research libraries.) As per update of February 2, 2009, the following artists were included in the 8-volume set, plus addenda. A very poor showing for such an important reference work. Hopefully there are many more artists in the new entries: Jesse Aaron, Julien Abele (architect), John H. Adams, Jr., Ron Adams, Salimah Ali, James Latimer Allen, Charles H. Alston, Amalia Amaki, Emma Amos, Benny Andrews, William E. Artis, Herman "Kofi" Bailey, Walter T. Bailey (architect), James Presley Ball, Edward M. Bannister, Anthony Barboza, Ernie Barnes, Richmond Barthé, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cornelius Marion Battey, Romare Bearden, Phoebe Beasley, Arthur Bedou, Mary A. Bell, Cuesta Ray Benberry, John Biggers, Camille Billops, Howard Bingham, Alpha Blackburn, Robert H. Blackburn, Walter Scott Blackburn, Melvin R. Bolden, David Bustill Bowser, Wallace Branch, Barbara Brandon, Grafton Tyler Brown, Richard Lonsdale Brown, Barbara Bullock, Selma Hortense Burke, Calvin Burnett, Margaret Taylor Goss Burroughs, John Bush, Elmer Simms Campbell, Elizabeth Catlett, David C. Chandler, Jr., Raven Chanticleer, Ed Clark, Allen Eugene Cole, Robert H. Colescott, Eldzier Cortor, Ernest T. Crichlow, Michael Cummings, Dave the Potter [David Drake], Griffith J. Davis, Thomas Day, Beauford Delaney, Joseph Delaney, Thornton Dial, Sr., Joseph Eldridge Dodd, Jeff Donaldson, Aaron Douglas, Sam Doyle, David Clyde Driskell, Robert S. Duncanson, Ed Dwight (listed as military, not as artist); Mel Edwards, Minnie Jones Evans, William McNight Farrow, Elton Fax, Daniel Freeman, Meta Warrick Fuller, Reginald Gammon, King Daniel Ganaway, the Goodridge Brothers, Rex Goreleigh, Tyree Guyton, James Hampton, Della Brown Taylor (Hardman), Edwin Augustus Harleston, Charles "Teenie" Harris, Lyle Ashton Harris, Bessie Harvey, Isaac Scott Hathaway, Palmer Hayden, Nestor Hernandez, George Joseph Herriman, Varnette Honeywood, Walter Hood, Richard L. Hunster, Richard Hunt, Clementine Hunter, Bill Hutson, Joshua Johnson, Sargent Claude Johnson, William H. Johnson, Lois Mailou Jones, Ann Keesee, Gwendolyn Knight, Jacob Lawrence, Hughie Lee-Smith, Edmonia Lewis, Samella Lewis, Glenn Ligon, Jules Lion, Edward Love, Estella Conwill Majozo, Ellen Littlejohn, Kerry James Marshall, Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier, Richard Mayhew, Carolyn Mazloomi, Aaron Vincent McGruder, Robert H. McNeill, Scipio Moorhead, Archibald H. Motley, Jr., Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack), Lorraine O'Grady, Jackie Ormes, Joe Overstreet, Carl Owens, Gordon Parks, Sr., Gordon Parks, Jr., C. Edgar Patience, Howardena Pindell, Adrian Margaret Smith Piper, Rose Piper, Horace Pippin, William Sidney Pittman, Stephanie Pogue, Prentiss Herman Polk (as Prentice), James Amos Porter, Harriet Powers, Elizabeth Prophet, Martin Puryear, Patrick Henry Reason, Michael Richards, Arthur Rose, Alison Saar, Betye Saar, Raymond Saunders, Augusta Savage, Joyce J. Scott, Addison Scurlock, George Scurlock, Willie Brown Seals, Charles Sebree, Joe Selby, Lorna Simpson, Norma Merrick Sklarek, Clarissa Sligh, Albert Alexander Smith, Damballah Smith, Marvin and Morgan Smith, Maurice B. Sorrell, Simon Sparrow, Rozzell Sykes, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Alma Thomas, J.J. Thomas, Robert Louis (Bob) Thompson, Mildred Jean Thompson, Dox Thrash, William Tolliver, Bill Traylor, Leo F. Twiggs, James Augustus Joseph Vanderzee, Kara Walker, William Onikwa Wallace, Laura Wheeler Waring, Augustus Washington, James W. Washington, Jr., Carrie Mae Weems, James Lesesne Wells, Charles White, John H. White, Jack Whitten, Carla Williams, Daniel S. Williams, Paul Revere Williams (architect), Deborah Willis, Ed Wilson, Ellis Wilson, Fred Wilson, John Woodrow Wilson, Ernest C. Withers, Beulah Ecton Woodard, Hale Aspacio Woodruff.

GOLDBERG, VICKI and ROBERT SILBERMAN, eds. American Photography: A Century of Images. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1999. 228 pp., 50 color and 110 b&w illus. Includes: Bernie Boston, Albert Chong, Chester Higgins, Jr., Gordon Parks, Eli Reed, Lorna Simpson, James Vanderzee, Carrie Mae Weems, Ernest C. Withers. 4to, cloth, d.j.

HALL, STUART and MARK SEALY, eds. Different: Historical Context Contemporary Photographers and Black Identity. London and New York: Phaidon, 2001. 207 pp., b&w and color illus. (most full-page), index of artists. Major text by Stuart Hall. Work by black artists from the U.S., Britain, Caribbean, and Africa, exploring images of their identity. Includes: Ajamu, Faisal Abdu'allah, Vincent Allen, David A. Bailey, Oladélé Bamgboyé, Dawoud Bey, Zarina Bhimji, Vanley Burke, Mama Casset, Albert V. Chong, Clement Cooper, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Samuel Fosso, Armet Francis, Remy Gastambide, Bob Gosani, Joy Gregory, George Hallett, Lyle Ashton Harris, Seydou Keita, Roshini Kempadoo, Peter Max Khondola, Alf Kumalo, Anthony Lam, Eric Lesdema, Dave Lewis, Peter Magubane, Ricky Maynard, Eustaguio Neves, Horace Ove, Gordon Parks, Eileen Perrier, Ingrid Pollard, Richard Samuel Roberts, Franklyn Rodgers, Faizal Sheikh, Yinka Shonibare, Malick Sidibé, Lorna Simpson, Clarissa Sligh, Robert Taylor, Iké Udé, James VanDerZee, Maxine Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Deborah Willis, Ernest Withers. Small 4to (25 cm.), red papered boards. First ed.

JOHNSON, CHARLES R. and BOB ADELMAN, eds. KING: The Photobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.. New York: Viking, 2000. 288 pp., b&w photos. Includes photographs by Frank Dandrige, Benedict J. Fernandez, Robert Sengstacke, Ernest Withers, as well as dozens of white photographers. 4to (12 x 9 in.), cloth, d.j. First ed.

KALAMAZOO (MI). Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts. Embracing Diverse Voices: African-American Art in the Collection. October 3-November 29, 2009. Group exhibition of over sixty works of art. Artists included: Al Harris, Murphy Darden, James M. Watkins, Maria Scott and James Palmore along with nationally known artists Robert S. Duncanson, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Lorna Simpson, Hughie Lee-Smith, Charles White, photographs by James Van Der Zee and Ernest C. Withers. [Traveled to: Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery, Keene State College, Keene, NH, September 19-November 16, 2014.]

KALAMAZOO (MI). Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts. Energy and Inspiration: African-American Art from the Permanent Collection. January 14-April 9, 2008. Group exhibition. Included: Ron Adams, Romare Bearden, Robert G. Carter, Reginald Gammon, Sam Gilliam, Earlie Hudnall Jr., Richard Hunt, Jacob Lawrence, Richard Mayhew, Kara Walker, Ernest C. Withers.

KASHER, STEVEN, intro. The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History, 1954-1968. New York: Abbeville, 1996. 256 pp., 150 b&w illus. Intro. by Steven Kasher; foreword by Myrlie Evers-Williams. Black photographers of the movement included Gordon Parks and Frank Dandridge working for Life; Robert Sengstacke of the Chicago Defender; Joffre Clark, Fred de Van, Bob Fletcher, Rufus Hinton, Julius Lester, Francis Mitchell, and Clifford Vaughs of SNCC; and freelancers Ernest Withers, Beuford Smith, and Robert Houston. Johnson Publishing Co., the owners of Jet and Ebony, employed a large staff of black photographers including Moneta Sleet, Jr. Sq. 4to (9 x 9 in.), cloth, d.j. First ed.

KNOXVILLE (TN). Knoxville Museum of Art. Streetwise: Masters of 60s Photography. May 4-August 5, 2012. Group exhibition. Included: Ernest Withers.

LITTLE ROCK (AR). Hearne Fine Art. The Power of Art: Generational Wealth. September, 2012. Group exhibition. Included: Benny Andrews, Richmond Barthé, John T. Biggers, Elizabeth Catlett, Robert S. Duncanson, LaToya Hobbs, Clementine Hunter, Dean Mitchell, Charles Ethan Porter, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Ernest C. Withers.

LITTLE ROCK (AR). Pyramid / Hearne Fine Art. Collaborations: Two Decades of African American Art: Hearne Fine Art 1988-2008. Thru January 17, 2009. Note: Exhibition title was slightly different: "Two Decades of Excellence." 130 pp. exhib. cat., color and b&w illus. Foreword by Halima Taha; texts by Archie Hearne, III, Garbo Watson Hearne; afterword by Dianne Smith. Includes new work by 57 artists: Gabriel Ajayi. Leroy Allen, Benny Andrews, Phoebe Beasley, Alix Beaujour, John Biggers, Bisa Butler, Elizabeth Catlett, Chukes, William Clarke, Kevin Cole, Adger Cowans, Charles Criner, Earnest Davidson, Rex Deloney, Ed Dwight, Marion Epting, Lawrence Finney, Frank Frazier, Paul Goodnight, Jonathan Green, Larry Hampton, Chester Higgins, Jr., Kennith Humphrey, George Hunt, Ariston Jacks, Laura James, Leroy Johnson, Brenda Joysmith, Artis Lane, Anthony D. Lee, Samella Lewis, Sylvester McKissick, Dean Mitchell, Tonia Mitchell, Euneda Otis, Charly Palmer, Johnice Parker, Morris Richardson, II, Mario Robinson, W. Earl Robinson, Alvin Roy, AJ Smith, Albert Smith, Dianne Smith, Phyllis Stephens, TAFA, Twins (Jerry & Terry Lynn), Evita Tezeno, William Tolliver, Ed Wade, Dale Washington, Basil Watson, Kiersten Williams, Susan Williams, Marjorie Williams-Smith, Ernest C. Withers. [Traveled to: Chattanooga African American Museum.] [Review: Michael Crumb, "African American Art History: Collaborating With You," The Chattanooga Pulse, September 16, 2009.] Sq. 4to (29 x 30 cm.; 11.75 x 11.25 in.), cloth, d.j.

MEMPHIS (TN). Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Photographs from the Memphis World, 1949-1964. August 23, 2008-January 5, 2009. 135 pp. exhib. cat., 58 b&w illus., bibliog. Curated from the Brooks Museum of Art Memphis World Collection. Intro. by Marina Pacini; texts by Russell Wigginton (on the history of the Memphis World newspaper) and by Deborah Willis (emphasis on black press photographers generally, most of whom were not included in the exhibition: Allan Edward Cole, Gordon Parks, and Teenie Harris.) Includes: 12 photos by Ernest C. Withers, 11 by the Hooks Brothers, several by R. Earl Williams, P. Cuff, Clarence Blakely, E.H. Jaffe, Henry Ford, Reese Studios, Mark Stansbury, Tisby. The selection includes photographs of groups and numerous photographs of individuals with brier biographies and other information on each by fifteen contributors. [19 of the photographs also exhibited at: Clough Hanson Gallery, Rhodes College, September 5-October 4, 2008.] Sq. 8vo, pictorial wraps.

MEMPHIS (TN). Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. The Soul of a City: Memphis Collects African American Art. June 9-September 2, 2013. Group exhibition of 130 works. Included: Romare Bearden, Radcliffe Bailey, Chakaia Booker, Elizabeth Catlett, Sonya Clark, Thornton Dial, William Edmondson, Minnie Evans, Sam Gilliam, Clementine Hunter, Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, Glenn Ligon, Whitfield Lovell, Wangechi Mutu, Demetrius Oliver, Elijah Pierce, Tim Rollins & K.O.S., Lorna Simpson, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Alma Thomas, Bill Traylor, James Vanderzee, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Kehinde Wiley, Ernest C. Withers, Purvis Young, and Memphis artists George Hunt, Brenda Joysmith, TWINS (Jerry & Terry Lynn), Jared Small, Danny Broadway, Anthony Lee, Michael Rodgers, Dewitt Jordan, Kiersten Williams, Hattie Childress, Luther Hampton, Edwin Jeffrey, and Hawkins Bolden.

MILLSTEIN, BARBARA HEAD, ed. Committed to the Image: Contemporary Black Photographers. Brooklyn: Museum of Art in association with London: Merrell, 2001. 240 pp., excellent quality b&w and color illus., brief biogs. of artists, bibliog. Texts by Clyde Taylor and Deba P. Patnaik. Published to accompany an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Includes 94 contemporary African American photographers who live and work in the United State, each represented by several images. Excellent reference. Artists included: Salimah Ali, Jules Allen, Anthony Barboza, Ronald Barboza, Hugh Bell, Donald L. Bernard, Kwame Brathwaite, Nathaniel Burkins, Keith Calhoun, Don Camp, Ron Campbell, Howard T. Cash, Albert Chong, Barron Claiborne, Carl Clark, Linda Day Clark, Wayne Clarke, Jim Collier, Kerry Stuart Coppin, Adger W. Cowans, Renée Cox, Gerald Cyrus, Martin Dixon, Sulaiman Ellison, Mfon (Mmekutmfon) Essien, Delphine A. Fawundu, Albert R. Fennar, Collette Fournier, Omar Francis, Roland L. Freeman, Gerard H. Gaskin, Bill Gaskins, Tony Gleaton, Faith Goodin, Lonnie Graham, Todd Gray, Bob Greene, C.W. Griffin, Inge Hardison, Joe Harris, Art Harrison, Leroy W. Henderson, Jr., Raymond W. Holman, Jr., Imari (DuSauzay), Reginald L. Jackson, Leslie Jean-Bart, Jason Miccolo Johnson, Omar Kharem, Gary Jackson Kirksey, Andrea Davis Kronlund, Fern Logan, Lauri Lyons, Stephen Marc, Charles Martin, Steve J. Martin, Chandra McCormick, Willie Middlebrook, Cheryl Miller, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Ozier Muhammad, Marilyn Nance, Oggi Ogburn, Gordon Parks, Toni Parks, John Pinderhughes, Carl Pope, Jr., Herbert Randall, Eli Reed, Vernon Reid, Orville Robertson, Herb Robinson, Richard Howard Rose, Jeffery A. Salter, Juma Santos, Jeffrey Henson Scales, Keisha Scarville, Accra Shepp, Coreen Simpson, Beuford Smith, Jamyl Oboong Smith, Chuck Stewart, Frank Stewart, Gerald Straw, Bruce W. Talamon, Ron Tarver, Shawn W. Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Edward West, Cynthia Wiggins, Budd Williams, Ernest C. Withers, Suné Woods, Mel Wright, Gene Young. 4to, cloth, d.j. First ed.

NEW ORLEANS (LA). Ogden Museum of Southern Art, University of New Orleans. Visualizing the Blues: Images of the American South, 1862-1999. February 6-May 16, 2004. Group photography exhibition including over 50 photographers. Curated by Wendy McDaris. Included: Gordon Parks and Ernest C. Withers. [Traveled to: Krannert Art Museum, September 5-November 2, 2003, and other venues.]

OTFINOSKI, STEVEN. African Americans in the Visual Arts. New York: Facts on File, 2003. x, 262 pp., 50 b&w photos of some artists, brief 2-page bibliog., index. Part of the A to Z of African Americans series. Lists over 170 visual artists (including 18 photographers) and 22 filmmakers with brief biographies and token bibliog. for each. An erratic selection, far less complete than the St. James Guide to Black Artists, and inexplicably leaving out over 250 artists of obvious historic importance (for ex.: Edwin A. Harleston, Grafton Tyler Brown, Charles Ethan Porter, Wadsworth Jarrell, John Outterbridge, Noah Purifoy, William Majors, Camille Billops, Whitfield Lovell, Al Loving, Ed Clark, John T. Scott, Maren Hassinger, Lorraine O'Grady, Winnie Owens-Hart, Adrienne Hoard, Oliver Jackson, Frederick Eversley, Glenn Ligon, Sam Middleton, Ed Hamilton, Pat Ward Williams, etc. and omitting a generation of well-established contemporary artists who emerged during the late 70s-90s. [Note: a newly revised edition of 2012 (ten pages longer) has not rendered it a worthy reference work on this topic.] 8vo (25 com), laminated papered boards.

OXFORD (MS). Southside Gallery. Ernest C. Withers / Wim Zurne. May-June 9, 2002. Two-person exhibition.

POWELL, RICHARD J. Black Art and Culture in the 20th Century. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1997. 256 pp., 176 illus. (including 31 in color), biog. notes, list of illus., bibliog. 8vo, cloth, d.j. First ed.

POWELL, RICHARD J. Black Art: A Cultural History. London: Thames & Hudson, 2002. 272 pp., 192 illus. including 39 in color, biog. notes, list of illus., index. Revised and slightly enlarged from 1997 edition. 8vo, wraps. Second Revised ed.

POWELL, RICHARD J. Cutting a Figure: Fashioning Black Portraiture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. 292 pp., 116 illus. (43 in color), notes, bibliog., index. Substantial chapter devoted to Barkley L. Hendricks; discussion of the self-portrait photographs of Lyle Ashton Harris and Renée Cox; extensive discussion of African American fashion model Donyale Luna, and brief mention of nearly 70 other African and African American artists. 8vo (25 x 23 cm.), cloth, d.j. First ed.

SYRACUSE (NY). Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery, Syracuse University. Appeal to this Age: Photography of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968. November 1-December 20, 1995. Unpag. exhib. cat., b&w illus. Curated by Steven Kasher. Includes: Gordon Parks and Ernest Withers. [Traveling exhibition.]

WASHINGTON (DC). Howard University Gallery of Art. Mixing Metaphors: The Aesthetic, the Social and the Political in African American Art. August 14-December 17, 2010. Exhib. cat., illus. Group traveling exhibition. Curated by Deborah Willis - a selection from the Bank of America collection. 94 photographs, paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture and mixed media executed by 37 artists ranging from range from photographers Ernest C. Withers, Robert Sengstacke, Jamel Shabazz, Lorna Simpson, Chuck Stewart, Gordon Parks, Dawoud Bey, Carrie Mae Weems, and James VanDerZee to Henry Clay Anderson, Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, John Biggers, Willie Birch, Beverly Buchanan, Walter Cade, Kevin E. Cole, Robert Colescott, Allan Rohan Crite, Allan Edmunds, Lawrence Finney, Sam Gilliam, Earlie Hudnall, Margo Humphrey, Jacob Lawrence. Willie Little, Juan Logan, Whitfield Lovell, Julie Mehretu, Martin Puryear, Faith Ringgold, Mario A. Robinson, Raymond Saunders, Leo Twiggs, James W. Washington, William T. Williams, and Fred Wilson. [Traveled to: The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum, Atlanta, GA, March 19-July 31, 2011.]

WILLIS, DEBORAH. Visualizing Political Struggle: Civil Rights Era Photography. London: Continuum, 2005. In: Holloway, David and John Beck, eds. American Visual Cultures:166-173, 4 b&w illus. A survey of how Civil Rights era photography aroused public opinion and informed social consciousness, that at least mentions in passing a small roster of black photographers: Roy DeCarava, Jonathan Eubanks, Benedict Fernandez, Bob Fletcher, Jack T. Franklin, Doug Harris, R. C. Hickman, Bert Miles, Gordon Parks, Richard Saunders, Moneta Sleet, Jr., Beuford Smith, Elaine Tomlin, Cecil Williams, and Ernest Withers. 8vo (9.7 x 6.7 in.), cloth, d.j.

WILLIS, DEBORAH, ed. Black Photographers: 1940-1988, An Illustrated Bio-Bibliography. New York: Garland, 1989. 483 pp., over 350 illus. The most comprehensive list of Black photographers to date, with brief biographical entries on many artists and a few bibliographical entries on approximately half of the hundreds of names. Photographers included in Willis's earlier book, Black Photographers 1840-1940, receive only a brief notation here. An indispensable reference work. Artists discussed include: Salimah Ali, Omobowale Ayorinde, J. Edward Bailey, III, Anthony Barboza, Donnamarie Barnes, Vanessa Barnes Hillian, Fay D. Bellamy, Lisa Bellamy, Dawoud Bey, Hart Leroy Bibbs, Bonnie Brisset, Barbara Brown, Lisa Brown, Millie Burns, Muriel Agatha Fortune Bush, Cynthia D. Cole, Juanita Cole, Cary Beth Cryor, Tere L. Cuesta, Fikisha Cumbo, Phyllis Cunningham, Pat Davis, Carmen DeJesus, Lydia Ann Douglas, Barbara Dumetz, Joan Eda, Sharon Farmer, Phoebe Farris, Valeria "Mikki" Ferrill, Collette V. Fournier, Roland L. Freeman, Rennie George, Bernadette F. B. Gibson, Anthony Gleaton, Dorothy Gloster, Lydia Hale-Hammond, Gail Adelle Hansberry, Inge Hardison, Teenie Harris, Madeleine Hill, Zebonia Hood, Vera Jackson, Louise Jefferson, Michelle M. Jeffries, Brent Jones, Brian V. Jones, Julia Jones, Kenneth G. Jones, Marvin T. Jones, Leah Jaynes Karp, Irene C. Kellogg, Lucius King, Romulo Lachatanere, Allie Sharon Larkin, George Larkins, Archy La Salle, Abe C. Lavalais, Joyce Lee, Sa'Longo J.R. Lee, Carl E. Lewis, Harvey James Lewis, Matthew Lewis, Roy Lewis, Fern Logan, Edie Lynch, Peter Magubane, Jimmie Mannas, Louise Martin, Mickey Mathis, Carroll T. Maynard, Rhashidah Elaine McNeill, Marlene Montoute, Michelle Morgan, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Marilyn Nance, Yvonne Payne, Patricia Phipps, Ellen Queen, Phillda Ragland, Arkili-Casundria Ramsess, Odetta Rogers, Veronica Saddler, Lloyd Saunders, Cheryl Shackelton, Victoria Simmons, Coreen Simpson, Lorna Simpson, Clarissa T. Sligh, Ming Smith, Toni Smith, Charlynn Spencer Pyne, Jo Moore Stewart, Celeste P. Stokes, Elisabeth Sunday, Elaine Tomlin, Sandra Turner-Bond, Jacqueline La Vetta Van Sertima, Dixie Vereen, William Onikwa Wallace, Sharon Watson-Mauro, Carrie Mae Weems, Dolores West, Judith C. White, Elizabeth "Tex" Williams, Lucy Williams, Pat Ward Williams, Deborah Willis, Carol R. Wilson, Jonni Mae Wingard, Ernest Withers, and many, many others. Not all listed in this description, but all individual photographers are cross-listed. Large stout 4to, pictorial boards, no d.j. (as issued). First ed.

WILLIS, DEBORAH, ed. Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2009. 280 pp., color plates, notes, bibliog., index. Includes: Ifétayo Abdus-Salam, James Lattimer Allen, Kwaku Alston, Henry Clay Anderson, Thomas Askew, Anthony Barboza, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Josephine Baker, Cornelius Battey, James Brown, Renée Cox, Mansita Diawara, Lola Flash, Daniel Freeman, Joy Gregory, Charles (Teenie) Harris, Lyle Ashton Harris, Alex Harsley, Terrence Jennings, Marian Jones, Seydou Keita, Lauren Kelley, Harlee Little, Robert H. McNeill, white photojournalist Wayne F. Miller, John W. Mosley, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, David "Oggi" Ogburn, J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, Gordon Parks, Prentiss H. Polk, Sheila Pree Bright, Eli Reed, Richard S. Roberts, Jeffrey Scales, Addison Scurlock, Robert Sengstacke, Jamel Shabazz, Malick Sidibé, Coreen Simpson, Lorna Simpson, Bayeté Ross Smith, Hank Willis Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Lewis Watts, Carrie Mae Weems, Wendel A. White, Carla Williams, Ernest C. Withers, Lauren Woods, et al. [Published in conjunction with exhibition of the same title at Gulf & Western, New York, NY; Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, New York, August 27-October 18, 2009; Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, January 16-May 9, 2010; Taubman Museum, Roanoke, VA, June 11-August 22, 2010; Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA, September 11-November 21, 2010; Newark Museum, Newark, NJ, February 2-May 8, 2011; USC Fisher Museum of Art, Los Angeles, September 7-December 3, 2011; Everhart Museum, Scranton, PA, February 2-April 1, 2012; Figge Museum of Art, Davenport, IA, September 8-November 3, 2012; The College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, OH, January 15-March 3, 2013; Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, September 5-December 7, 2013; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, April 26-July 27, 2014, and many other venues.] 4to (12.4 x 9.3 in.), cloth, d.j. First ed.

WILLIS, DEBORAH, ed. Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2000. 348 pp., 81 color plates, 487 b&w illus., notes, bibliog., index. Foreword by Robin D.G. Kelley. Published to accompany the three-part traveling exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institution. Important gathering of photographs of Black subjects by African American photographers from mid-nineteenth century through the present (roughly half from 1980s and 90s) by the pre-eminent historian of this subject. Photographers include: O'Neal Abel, Salima Ali, James Lattimer Allen, Winifred Hall Allen, Amalia Amaki, Linda L. Ammons, Ken D. Ashton, Thomas Askew, John B. Bailey, James Presley Ball, Sr., James Presley Ball, Jr., Thomas Ball, Anthony Barboza, Cornelius M. Battey, Anthony Beale, Arthur P. Bedou, Donald Bernard, Dawoud Bey, Howard Bingham, Caroll Parrott Blue, Terry Boddie, Rick Bolton, St. Clair Bourne, George O. Brown, John H. Brown, Jr., Keith M. Calhoun, Dennis Callwood, Don Camp, Roland Charles, Albert Chong, Carl Clark, Linda Day Clark, Allen Edward Cole, Florestine Perrault Collins, Herbert Collins, Adger Cowans, Renée Cox, Cary Beth Cryor, Steven Cummings, Gerald G. Cyrus, Jack Davis, C. Daniel Dawson, Roy DeCarava, Doris Derby, Stephanie Dinkins, Lou Draper, George Durr, Nekisha Durrett, Edward (Eddie) Eleha, Darrel Ellis, Jonathan Eubanks, Delphine A. Fawundu, Alfred Fayemi, Jeffrey Fearing, Joe Flowers, Collette Fournier, Jack T. Franklin, Elnora Frazier, Daniel Freeman, Roland L. Freeman, King Daniel Ganaway, Bill Gaskins, Glenalvin Goodridge, Wallace Goodridge, William Goodridge, Bob Gore, Lonnie Graham, Todd Gray, Camille Gustus, Robert Haggins, Austin Hansen, Edwin Harleston, Elise Forrest Harleston, Charles "Teenie" Harris, Doug Harris, Joe Harris, Lyle Ashton Harris, Thomas Allen Harris, Lucius Henderson, Craig Herndon, Leroy Henderson, Calvin Hicks, Chester Higgins, Jr., Milton Hinton, Raymond Holman, Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Curtis Humphrey, Reginald Jackson, Chris Johnson, Brent Jones, Kenneth George Jones, Lou Jones, Benny Joseph, Kamoinge Workshop, Perry A. Keith, Andrew T. Kelly, Roshini Kempadoo, Winston Kennedy, Keba Konte, Andree Lambertson, Bill Lathan, Carl E. Lewis, Nashomeh L. R. Lindo, Harlee Little, Fern Logan, Stephen Marc, Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier, Charles Martin, Louise Ozell Martin, Chandra McCormick, Robert H. McNeill, Bertrand Miles, Cheryl Miller, Robert (Bob) Moore, John W. Mosley, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Ming Smith Murray (as Ming Smith), Mansa Mussa, Marilyn Nance, Sunny Nash, Constance Newman, David Ogburn, G. Dwoyid Olmstead, Kambui Olujimi, Villard Paddio, Gordon Parks, D.M. Pearson, Moira Pernambuco, Bonnie Phillips, John Pinderhughes, P. H. Polk, Paul Poole, Carl R. Pope, Marion James Porter, Sheila Pree, Eli Reed, Richard Roberts, Wilhelmina Williams Roberts, Orville Robertson, Herb Robinson, Eugene Roquemore, Susan J. Ross, Ken Royster, Jeffery St. Mary, Richard Saunders, Jeffrey Scales, Addison L. Scurlock, George H. Scurlock, Robert S. Scurlock, Robert A. Sengstacke, Harry Shepherd, Accra Shepp, Carl Sidle, Coreen Simpson, Lorna Simpson, Moneta Sleet, Clarissa Sligh, Beuford Smith, Marvin Smith, Morgan Smith, Frank Stallings, Charles (Chuck) Stewart, Gerald Straw, Ron Tarver, Hank Willis Thomas, Elaine Tomlin, June DeLairre Truesdale, Sheila Turner, Richard Aloysius Twine, James Vanderzee, Vincent Alan W., Christian Walker, Shawn W. Walker, Augustus Washington, Lewis Watts, Carrie Mae Weems, Ellie Lee Weems, Jean Weisinger, Edward West, Wendel A. White, Cynthia Wiggins, Carlton Wilkinson, Carla Williams, Charles Williams, Milton Williams, Pat Ward Williams, William Earle Williams, Ernest C. Withers, Mel Wright. Large 4to (31 cm.), cloth, d.j. First ed.

Ernest Withers, a highly accomplished photographer, was born on August 7, 1922, in Memphis, Tennessee to parents Arthur Withers, a mailman and Pearl Withers, a school teacher, both from Marshall County, Mississippi.  Mr. Withers’ collection, which spans over 60 years of the 20th century, provides a vivid account of the segregated South.  It includes team shots of the Memphis Red Sox, a team from the historic Negro Baseball League, major moments from the Civil Rights movement, and the Beale Street music scene.  His work has appeared in major publications including Time, Newsweek, and the New York Times. It has also been collected in four books: Let Us March On (1992), Pictures Tell the Story (2000), The Memphis Blues Again (2001), and Negro League Baseball (2005). Ernest Withers’ interest in photography began in the eighth grade.  After graduating from high school in 1941, he joined the Army at 17, where he attended the Army School of Photography.  During his time in the Army, Withers ran a freelance business photographing white soldiers in Saipan, a U.S. occupied Japanese island. Shortly after his discharge, Withers returned home and bought a photography studio in Memphis with help from the GI Bill.  During this period Withers also worked for about three years as one of the first nine African-American police officers hired in Memphis.     During the late 1940s, Withers furnished publicity shots for the Memphis Red Sox. Without realizing it, Withers, with his images, documented the last years of the Negro League.  The league would soon fold after Jackie Robinson desegregated professional baseball in 1947.   During the 1950s and 1960s, Withers photographed many of the most important figures and events in the Civil Rights movement.  He traveled throughout the South with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., James Meredith, Medgar Evers, and other leaders of the Civil Rights movement.  His now iconic images include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. riding the first desegregated bus in Montgomery in 1956, the photos of Dr. King on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel just before and just after he was shot in 1968, and the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike which led to the assassination of Dr. King.    The Withers photographs also captured the history of Beale Street which by the 1940s was an epicenter for American music.  On Saturday nights he photographed musicians and their audiences.  His work documented the emergence of Rock and Roll, and Rhythm and Blues, in the 1950s as they grew from traditional blues and gospel music.  One of his best known images here was of Elvis Presley and B.B. King in 1956. Ernest Withers passed away in Memphis on October 15, 2007 at the age of 85 from complications due to a stroke.  He was survived by his wife, Dorothy, three sons, Joshua, Andrew Jerome, and Perry, all in Memphis, and a daughter, Rosalind, in West Palm Beach, Florida.   Three years after his passing, a New York Times article revealed that Withers was briefly a paid FBI informant. He secretly provided the FBI photographs, biographical information, and scheduling details for Dr. King and other notable leaders of the civil rights movement between 1968 and 1970. Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and producer. Hayes was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a session musician and record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. Hayes and Porter were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of writing scores of songs for themselves, the duo Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, and others. In 2002, Hayes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[1] "Soul Man", written by Hayes and Porter and first performed by Sam & Dave, was recognized as one of the most influential songs of the past 50 years by the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was also honored by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, by Rolling Stone magazine, and by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as one of the Songs of the Century. During the late 1960s, Hayes also began a career as a recording artist. He had several successful soul albums such as Hot Buttered Soul (1969) and Black Moses (1971). In addition to his work in popular music, he worked as a composer of musical scores for motion pictures. Hayes was well known for his musical score for the film Shaft (1971). For the "Theme from Shaft", he was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1972. He became the third African-American, after Sidney Poitier and Hattie McDaniel, to win an Oscar in any competitive field covered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He also won two Grammy Awards for that same year. Later, he was given his third Grammy for his music album Black Moses. In 1992, Hayes was crowned honorary king of the Ada region of Ghana in recognition of his humanitarian work there. He acted in motion pictures and television, such as in the movies Truck Turner and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, and as Gandolf "Gandy" Fitch in the TV series The Rockford Files (1974–1980). He voiced the character Chef from the animated Comedy Central series South Park from its debut in 1997 until 2006. His influences were Percy Mayfield, Big Joe Turner, James Brown, Jerry Butler, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, and psychedelic soul groups like The Chambers Brothers and Sly and the Family Stone. On August 5, 2003, Hayes was honored as a BMI Icon at the 2003 BMI Urban Awards for his enduring influence on generations of music makers.[2] Throughout his songwriting career, Hayes received five BMI R&B Awards, two BMI Pop Awards, two BMI Urban Awards and six Million-Air citations. As of 2008, his songs generated more than 12 million performances.[3] Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Stax Records and Shaft 2.2 HBS (Hot Buttered Soul Records) and bankruptcy 2.3 Basketball team ownership 2.4 Polydor and hiatus, and film work 2.5 Return to fame and stardom 3 South Park 3.1 Scientology episode 3.2 Departure from South Park 3.3 After South Park 4 Personal life 4.1 Family 4.2 Scientology activism 4.3 Charitable work 5 Death 5.1 Legacy 6 Awards and nominations 7 Discography 8 Collaborations 9 Filmography 10 References 11 External links Early life 1973 photo of Hayes taken by John H. White Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. was born in Covington, Tennessee,[4] the second child of Eula (née Wade) and Isaac Hayes Sr.[5] After his mother died young and his father abandoned his family, he was raised by his maternal grandparents,[6] Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade Sr. The child of a sharecropper family, he grew up working on farms in the Tennessee counties of Shelby and Tipton. At age five Hayes began singing at his local church; he taught himself to play the piano, Hammond organ, flute, and saxophone. Hayes dropped out of high school, but his former teachers at Manassas High School in Memphis encouraged him to complete his diploma, which he did at age 21. After graduating from high school, Hayes was offered several music scholarships from colleges and universities. He turned down all of them to provide for his immediate family, working at a meat-packing plant in Memphis by day and playing nightclubs and juke joints several evenings a week in Memphis and nearby northern Mississippi.[6] His first professional gigs, in the late 1950s, were as a singer at Curry's Club in North Memphis, backed by Ben Branch's houseband.[7] Career Stax Records and Shaft Hayes began his recording career in the early 1960s, as a session player for various acts of the Memphis-based Stax Records.[citation needed] He later wrote a string of hit songs with songwriting partner David Porter, including "You Don't Know Like I Know", "Soul Man",[8] "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" and "Hold On, I'm Comin'" for Sam & Dave. Hayes, Porter and Stax studio band Booker T. & the M.G.'s were also the producers for Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas and other Stax artists during the mid-1960s. Hayes-Porter contributed to the Stax sound made famous during this period, and Sam & Dave credited Hayes for helping develop both their sound and style. In 1968, Hayes released his debut album, Presenting Isaac Hayes, a jazzy, largely improvised effort that was commercially unsuccessful.[9] His next album was Hot Buttered Soul, which was released in 1969 after Stax had gone through a major upheaval. Its biggest star, Otis Redding, had died in a plane crash in 1967. Stax lost its back catalog to Atlantic Records in May 1968. As a result, Stax executive vice president Al Bell called for 27 new albums to be completed in mid-1969; Hot Buttered Soul was the most successful of these releases.[9] This album is noted for Hayes's image (shaved head, gold jewelry, sunglasses, etc.) and his distinct sound (extended orchestral songs relying heavily on organs, horns and guitars, deep bass vocals, etc.). Also on the album, Hayes reinterpreted "Walk On By" (which had been made famous by Dionne Warwick) into a 12-minute exploration. "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" starts with an eight-minute-long monologue[10] before breaking into song, and the lone original number, the funky "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" runs nearly ten minutes, a significant break from the standard three-minute soul/pop songs. "Walk On By" would be the first of many times Hayes would take a Burt Bacharach standard, generally made famous as three-minute pop songs by Dionne Warwick or Dusty Springfield, and transform it into a soulful, lengthy and almost gospel number. In 1970, Hayes released two albums, The Isaac Hayes Movement and To Be Continued. The former stuck to the four-song template of his previous album. Jerry Butler's "I Stand Accused" begins with a trademark spoken word monologue, and Bacharach's "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" is re-worked.[citation needed] The latter spawned the classic "The Look of Love", another Bacharach song transformed into an 11-minute epic of lush orchestral rhythm (mid-way it breaks into a rhythm guitar jam for a couple of minutes before suddenly resuming the slow love song). An edited three-minute version was issued as a single.[11] The album featured the instrumental "Ike's Mood," which segued into his own version of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling". Hayes released a Christmas single, "The Mistletoe and Me" (with "Winter Snow" as a B-side).[citation needed] In early 1971, Hayes composed music for the soundtrack of the blaxploitation film Shaft (he appeared in a cameo role as a bartender). The title theme, with its wah-wah guitar and multi-layered symphonic arrangement, would become a worldwide hit single, and spent two weeks at number one in the Billboard Hot 100 in November. The remainder of the album was mostly instrumentals covering big beat jazz, bluesy funk, and hard Stax-styled soul. The other two vocal songs, the social commentary "Soulsville" and the 19-minute jam "Do Your Thing," would be edited down to hit singles.[11] He won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the "Theme from Shaft", and was nominated for Best Original Dramatic Score for the film's score. Later in the year, Hayes released a double album, Black Moses, that expanded on his earlier sounds and featured The Jackson 5's song "Never Can Say Goodbye". Another single, "I Can't Help It", was not featured on the album.[citation needed] In 1972, Hayes would record the theme tune for the television series The Men and enjoy a hit single (with "Type Thang" as a B-side).[11] He released a couple of other non-album singles during the year, such as "If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want to Be Right)" and "Rolling Down a Mountainside". Atlantic would re-release Hayes's debut album this year with the new title In The Beginning.[12] Hayes was back in 1973 with an acclaimed live double album, Live at the Sahara Tahoe, and followed it up with the album Joy, with the eerie beat of the 15-minute title track. He moved away from cover songs with this album. An edited "Joy" would be a hit single.[13] In 1974, Hayes was featured in the blaxploitation films Three Tough Guys and Truck Turner, and he recorded soundtracks for both. Tough Guys was almost devoid of vocals and Truck Turner yielded a single with the title theme. The soundtrack score of Truck Turner was eventually used by filmmaker Quentin Tarantino in the Kill Bill film series, and has been used for over 30 years as the opening score of Brazilian radio show Jornal de Esportes on the Jovem Pan station. Unlike most African-American musicians of the period, Hayes did not sport an Afro; his bald head became one of his defining characteristics.[citation needed] HBS (Hot Buttered Soul Records) and bankruptcy By 1974, Stax Records was having serious financial problems, stemming from problems with overextension and limited record sales and distribution.[citation needed] Hayes himself was deep in debt to Union Planters Bank, which administered loans for the Stax label and many of its other key employees. In September of that year, Hayes sued Stax for $5.3 million. As Stax was in deep debt and could not pay, the label made an arrangement with Hayes and Union Planters: Stax released Hayes from his recording and production contracts, and Union Planters would collect all of Hayes's income and apply it towards his debts. Hayes formed his own label, Hot Buttered Soul, which released its product through ABC Records.[14] His new album, 1975's Chocolate Chip, saw Hayes embrace the disco sound with the title track and lead single. "I Can't Turn Around" would prove a popular song as time went on. This would be Hayes's last album to chart in the top 40 for many years. Later in the year, the all-instrumental Disco Connection album fully embraced disco. In 1976, the album cover of Juicy Fruit featured Hayes in a pool with naked women, and spawned the title track single and the classic "Storm Is Over". Later the same year the Groove-A-Thon album featured the singles "Rock Me Easy Baby" and the title track. However, while all these albums were regarded as solid efforts, Hayes was no longer selling large numbers. He and his wife were forced into bankruptcy in 1976, as they owed over $6 million. By the end of the bankruptcy proceedings in 1977, Hayes had lost his home, much of his personal property, and the rights to all future royalties earned from the music he had written, performed, and produced.[15] Basketball team ownership On July 17, 1974, Hayes, along with Mike Storen, Avron Fogelman and Kemmons Wilson, took over ownership of the American Basketball Association team the Memphis Tams.[16] The prior owner was Charles O. Finley, the owner of the Oakland A's baseball team. Hayes's group renamed the team the Memphis Sounds. Despite a 66% increase in home attendance, hiring well regarded coach Joe Mullaney and, unlike in the prior three seasons, making the 1975 ABA Playoffs (losing to the eventual champion Kentucky Colonels in the Eastern Division semi-finals), the team's financial problems continued. The group was given a deadline of June 1, 1975, to sell 4,000 season tickets, obtain new investors and arrange a more favorable lease for the team at the Mid-South Coliseum. However, the group did not come through and the ABA took over the team, selling it to a group in Maryland that renamed the team the Baltimore Hustlers and then the Baltimore Claws before the club finally folded during preseason play for the 1975–1976 season.[17] Polydor and hiatus, and film work In 1977, Hayes was back with a new deal with Polydor Records, a live album of duets with Dionne Warwick did moderately well, and his comeback studio album New Horizon sold better and enjoyed a hit single "Out The Ghetto", and also featured the popular "It's Heaven To Me". 1978's For the Sake of Love saw Hayes record a sequel to "Theme from Shaft" ("Shaft II"), but was most famous for the single "Zeke The Freak", a song that would have a shelf life of decades and be a major part of the House movement in the UK. The same year, Fantasy Records, which had bought out Stax Records, released an album of Hayes's non-album singles and archived recordings as a "new" album, Hotbed, in 1978. In 1979, Hayes returned to the Top 40 with Don't Let Go and its disco-styled title track that became a hit single (U.S. #18), and also featured the classic "A Few More Kisses To Go". Later in the year he added vocals and worked on Millie Jackson's album Royal Rappin's, and a song he co-wrote, "Deja Vu", became a hit for Dionne Warwick and won her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal. Neither 1980s And Once Again or 1981's Lifetime Thing produced notable songs or big sales, and Hayes chose to take a break from music to pursue acting. In the 1970s, Hayes was featured in the films Shaft (1971) and Truck Turner (1974); he also had a recurring role in the TV series The Rockford Files as an old cellmate of Rockford's, Gandolph Fitch (who always referred to Rockford as "Rockfish" much to his annoyance), including one episode alongside duet-partner Dionne Warwick. In the 1980s and 1990s, he appeared in numerous films, notably Escape from New York (1981), I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), Prime Target (1991), and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), as well as in episodes of The A-Team and Miami Vice. He also attempted a musical comeback, embracing the style of drum machines and synth for 1986s U-Turn and 1988s Love Attack, though neither proved successful. In 1991, he was featured in a duet with fellow soul singer Barry White on White's ballad "Dark and Lovely (You Over There)". Return to fame and stardom In 1995, Hayes appeared as a Las Vegas minister impersonating himself in the comedy series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He launched a comeback on the Virgin label in May 1995 with Branded, an album of new material that earned impressive sales figures as well as positive reviews from critics who proclaimed it a return to form.[18] A companion album released around the same time, Raw and Refined, featured a collection of previously unreleased instrumentals, both old and new. For the 1996 film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, he wrote a version of the Beavis and Butt-head theme in the style of the Shaft theme. Soon after, Hayes joined the founding cast of Comedy Central's animated TV series, South Park. Hayes provided the voice for the character of "Chef", the amorous elementary-school lunchroom cook, from the show's debut on August 13, 1997 (one week shy of his 55th birthday), through the end of its ninth season in 2006. The role of Chef drew on Hayes's talents both as an actor and as a singer, thanks to the character's penchant for making conversational points in the form of crudely suggestive soul songs. An album of songs from the series appeared in 1998 with the title Chef Aid: The South Park Album[19] reflecting Chef's popularity with the show's fans, and the Chef song "Chocolate Salty Balls" became a number-one U.K. hit.[20] In 2000, he appeared on the soundtrack of the French movie The Magnet on the song "Is It Really Home" written and composed by rapper Akhenaton (IAM) and composer Bruno Coulais. In 2002, Hayes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After he played a set at the Glastonbury Festival, the same year a documentary highlighting Isaac's career and his impact on many of the Memphis artists in the 1960s onwards was produced, "Only The Strong Survive". In 2004, Hayes appeared in a recurring minor role as the Jaffa Tolok on the television series Stargate SG-1. The following year, he appeared in the critically acclaimed independent film Hustle & Flow. He also had a brief recurring role in UPN/The CW's Girlfriends as Eugene Childs (father of Toni). South Park Main article: Chef (South Park) Isaac Hayes was the voice of Chef on South Park from 1997 to 2006 During the late 1990s, Hayes gained new popularity as the voice of Chef on the Comedy Central animated television series South Park. Chef was a soul-singing cafeteria worker for South Park Elementary. A song from the series performed by Chef, "Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)", received international radio airplay in 1999. It reached number one on the UK singles chart and also on the Irish singles chart. The track also appeared on the album Chef Aid: The South Park Album in 1998.[21] Scientology episode In the South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet", a satire of Scientology which aired on November 16, 2005, Hayes did not appear in his role as Chef. While appearing on the Opie and Anthony radio show about a month after the episode aired, Hayes was asked, "What did you think about when Matt and Trey did that episode on Scientology?", he replied, "One thing about Matt and Trey, they lampoon everybody, and if you take that serious, I'll sell you the Brooklyn Bridge for two dollars. That's what they do."[citation needed] In an interview for The A.V. Club on January 4, 2006, Hayes was again asked about the episode. He said that he told the creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, "Guys, you have it all wrong. We're not like that. I know that's your thing, but get your information correct, because somebody might believe that shit, you know?" He then told them to take a couple of Scientology courses to understand what they do. In the interview, Hayes defended South Park's style of controversial humor, noting that he was not pleased with the show's treatment of Scientology, but saying that he "understands what Matt and Trey are doing."[22] Departure from South Park On March 13, 2006, a statement was issued in Hayes's name, indicating that he was asking to be released from his contract with Comedy Central, citing recent episodes which satirized religious beliefs were intolerant. "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," he was quoted in the press statement. However, the statement did not directly mention Scientology. A response from Stone said that Hayes' complaints stemmed from the show's criticism of Scientology and that he "has no problem – and he's cashed plenty of checks – with our show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons or Jews."[23][24] Stone added, "[We] never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin." Stone and Parker agreed to release Hayes from his contract by his request. In 2007, Hayes said he had quit because "they [Parker and Stone] didn't pay me enough... They weren't that nice."[25] The South Park season 10 premiere (aired March 22, 2006) featured "The Return of Chef", a thinly veiled telling of the affair from Parker and Stone's point of view. Using sound clips from past episodes, it depicts Chef as having been brainwashed and urges viewers (via Kyle talking to the town) to "remember Chef as the jolly old guy who always broke into song" and not to blame Chef for his defection, but rather, as Kyle states, "be mad at that fruity little club for scrambling his brains." In the episode, the cult that brainwashed Chef is named the "Super Adventure Club" and is depicted as a group of child molesters who travel the world to have sex with prepubescent children from exotic places. In the end, Chef is unable to break free from his brainwashing and dies an extremely gruesome death, falling off a cliff, being mutilated by wild animals and shot several times. At the end of the episode, he is shown as being resurrected as a cyborg in the style of the resurrection of Darth Vader at the end of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.[citation needed] On March 20, 2006, two days before "The Return of Chef" aired, Roger Friedman of Fox News reported having been told that the March 13 statement was made in Hayes's name, but not by Hayes himself. He wrote: "Isaac Hayes did not quit South Park. My sources say that someone quit it for him. ... Friends in Memphis tell me that Hayes did not issue any statements on his own about South Park. They are mystified."[26] In a 2016 oral history of South Park in The Hollywood Reporter, Hayes's son Isaac Hayes III said the decision to leave the show was made by Hayes' Scientologist entourage, all of whom were ardent Scientologists, and that it was made after Hayes suffered a stroke, leaving him vulnerable to outside influence and unable to make such decisions on his own.[27] "The China Probrem", the first South Park episode after Hayes' death, was dedicated to him.[28] After South Park Hayes' income was sharply reduced as a result of leaving South Park.[29] There followed announcements that he would be touring and performing. A reporter present at a January 2007 show in New York City, who had known Hayes fairly well, reported that "Isaac was plunked down at a keyboard, where he pretended to front his band. He spoke-sang, and his words were halting. He was not the Isaac Hayes of the past."[29] In April 2008, while a guest on The Adam Carolla Show, Hayes 'stumbled' in his responses to questions—possibly as a result of health issues. A caller questioned whether Hayes was under the influence of a substance, and Carolla and co-host Teresa Strasser asked Hayes if he had ever used marijuana. After some confusion on what was being asked, Hayes replied that he had only ever tried it once. During the interview the radio hosts made light of Hayes's awkward answers, and replayed snippets of earlier ones to simulate conversation with his co-hosts. Hayes stated during this interview that he was no longer on good terms with Trey Parker and Matt Stone.[30] During the spring of 2008, Hayes shot scenes for Soul Men, a comedy inspired by the history of Stax Records, in which he appears as himself in a supporting role. The film was released in November 2008, after both Hayes and the film's costar Bernie Mac had died.[citation needed] Personal life Hayes' Cadillac at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, Tennessee Family Hayes had 14 children, 14 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.[31] His first marriage was to Dancy Hayes in 1960 and ended in divorce.[32] His second marriage was to Emily Ruth Watson on November 24, 1965. This marriage ended in divorce in 1972. Children from this marriage included Vincent Eric Hayes, Melanie Mia Hayes, and Nicole A. Hayes (McGee). He married bank teller[citation needed] Mignon Harley on April 18, 1973, and they divorced in 1986; they had two children. Hayes and his wife were eventually forced into bankruptcy, owing over $6 million. Over the years, Isaac Hayes was able to recover financially.[33] His fourth wife, Adjowa,[34] gave birth to a son named Nana Kwadjo Hayes on April 10, 2006.[35] He also had one son to whom he gave his name, Isaac Hayes III, known as rap producer Ike Dirty. Hayes's eldest daughter is named Jackie, also named co-executor of his estate and other children to follow Veronica, Felicia, Melanie, Nikki, Lili, Darius, and Vincent[36] and he also had a daughter named Heather Hayes.[37] Scientology activism Hayes took his first Scientology course in 1993,[38] later contributing endorsement blurbs for many Scientology books over the ensuing years. In 1996, Hayes began hosting The Isaac Hayes and Friends Radio Show on WRKS in New York City. While there, Hayes became a client of young vegan raw food chef Elijah Joy and his company Organic Soul Inc. Hayes also appears in the Scientology film Orientation. In 1998, Hayes and fellow Scientologist entertainers Anne Archer, Chick Corea and Haywood Nelson attended the 30th anniversary of Freedom Magazine, the Church of Scientology's self-described investigative news journal, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, to honor eleven activists.[39] In 2001, Hayes and Doug E. Fresh, another Scientologist musician, recorded a Scientology-inspired album called The Joy Of Creating – The Golden Era Musicians And Friends Play L. Ron Hubbard.[40] Charitable work The Isaac Hayes Foundation was founded in 1999 by Hayes.[41] In February 2006, Hayes appeared in a Youth for Human Rights International music video called "United". YHRI is a human rights group founded by the Church of Scientology. He was also involved in other human rights related groups such as the One Campaign. Isaac Hayes was crowned a chief in Ghana for his humanitarian work and economic efforts on the country's behalf.[42] Death On March 20, 2006, Roger Friedman of Fox News reported that Hayes had suffered a minor stroke in January.[26] Hayes's spokeswoman, Amy Harnell, denied this,[43] but on October 26, 2006, Hayes confirmed that he had suffered a stroke.[44] On August 10, 2008, 10 days before his 66th birthday, Hayes was found unresponsive in his home, just east of Memphis, as reported by the Shelby County, Tennessee Sheriff's Department.[45] A Shelby County Sheriff's deputy and an ambulance from Rural Metro responded to his home after three family members found his body on the floor next to a still-operating treadmill. Hayes was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, where he was pronounced dead at 2:08 pm.[45][46][47] The cause of death was not immediately clear,[48] although the area medical examiners later listed a recurrence of stroke as the cause of death.[47][49] He was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, in Memphis, Tennessee.[50] Legacy The Tennessee General Assembly enacted legislation in 2010 to honor Hayes by naming a section of Interstate 40 the "Isaac Hayes Memorial Highway". The name was applied to the stretch of highway in Shelby County from Sam Cooper Boulevard in Memphis east to the Fayette County line. The naming was made official at a ceremony held on Hayes' birth anniversary in August 2010.[51] Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 1972 Academy Award Best Music, Original Song (For the song "Theme from Shaft") Shaft Won Best Music, Original Dramatic Score Nominated BAFTA Award Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music Nominated Golden Globe Award Best Original Song (For the song "Theme from Shaft") Nominated Best Original Score Won Grammy Award[52] Best Instrumental Arrangement (For the song "Theme from Shaft", arranged with Johnny Allen) Won Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special Won 1973 Grammy Award[52] Best Pop Instrumental Performance by an Arranger, composer, Orchestra and/or Choral Leader Black Moses Won 1998 BMI Film & TV Award BMI TV Music Award (Shared with David Porter) Soul Man Won 1999 NAACP Image Award Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series South Park Nominated 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (Shared with cast) Hustle & Flow Nominated Discography Main article: Isaac Hayes discography See also: List of songs written by Isaac Hayes Presenting Isaac Hayes (1968) Hot Buttered Soul (1969) The Isaac Hayes Movement (1970) ...To Be Continued (1970) Black Moses (1971) Live at the Sahara Tahoe (1973) Joy (1973) Chocolate Chip (1975) Disco Connection (1975) Groove-A-Thon (1976) Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak) (1976) New Horizon (1977) Hotbed – Isaac Hayes Demo Album – Stax Records (1978) For the Sake of Love (1978) Don't Let Go (1979) And Once Again (1980) Lifetime Thing (1981) U-Turn (1986) Love Attack (1988) Raw & Refined (1995) Branded (1995) Collaborations With Otis Redding Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (Stax Records, 1965) The Soul Album (Stax Records, 1966) Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul (Stax Records, 1966) King & Queen (Stax Records, 1967) The Dock of the Bay (Stax Records, 1968) With Wilson Pickett The Exciting Wilson Pickett (Atlantic Records, 1966) With Donald Byrd and 125th Street, N.Y.C. Love Byrd (Elektra Records, 1981) Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes (Elektra Records, 1982) With Linda Clifford I'm Yours (RSO Records, 1980) With Albert King Born Under a Bad Sign (Stax Records, 1967) With William Bell The Soul of a Bell (Stax Records, 1967) With Dionne Warwick No Night So Long (Arista Records, 1980) With Rufus Thomas Do The Funky Chicken (Stax Records, 1970) With Eddie Floyd Knock on Wood (Stax Records, 1967) Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1973 Wattstax Himself 1973 Save the Children Himself 1974 Three Tough Guys Lee Truck Turner Mac "Truck" Turner 1976 It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time Moriarty 1976–1977 The Rockford Files Gandolph Fitch TV, 3 episodes 1981 Escape from New York The Duke 1985 The A-Team C.J. Mack TV, 1 episode 1986 Hunter Jerome "Typhoon" Thompson TV, 1 episode 1987 Miami Vice Holiday TV, 1 episode 1988 I'm Gonna Git You Sucka Hammer 1990 Fire, Ice and Dynamite Hitek Leader/Himself Alternative title: Feuer, Eis und Dynamit 1991 Guilty as Charged Aloysius 1993 CB4 Owner Posse Cable Robin Hood: Men in Tights Asneeze American Playhouse Prophet TV, 1 episode 1994 It Could Happen to You Angel Dupree Tales from the Crypt Samuel TV, 1 episode 1995 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Minister TV, 1 episode 1996 Flipper Sheriff Buck Cowan Sliders The Prime Oracle TV, 1 episode 1997 Uncle Sam Jed Crowley 1997–2006 South Park Chef (voice) TV, 136 episodes 1998 Blues Brothers 2000 Member of The Louisiana Gator Boys South Park Chef (voice) Video game 1999 South Park: Chef's Luv Shack Chef (voice) Video game South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Chef (voice) The Hughleys The Man TV, 2 episodes 2000 South Park Rally Chef (voice) Video game Reindeer Games Zook Shaft Uncredited 2001 Dr. Dolittle 2 Possum (voice) 2002 The Education of Max Bickford "Night Train" Raymond TV, 1 episode Fastlane Detective Marcus TV, 1 episode 2003 Book of Days Jonah TV movie Girlfriends Eugene Childs TV, 2 episodes 2003 Dream Warrior Zo 2004 Anonymous Rex Elegant Man 2005 Hustle & Flow Arnel Bernie Mac Show Himself 2006 That '70s Show Himself TV, 1 episode Stargate SG-1 Tolok TV, 4 episodes 2008 Soul Men Himself Released posthumously Kill Switch Coroner Released posthumously Return to Sleepaway Camp Charlie Released posthumously 2014 South Park: The Stick of Truth Chef (voice) Video game; archival recordings ISAAC HAYES WAS A MULTI-FACETED TALENT: SONGWRITER, PRODUCER, SIDEMAN, SOLO ARTIST, FILM SCORER, ACTOR, RAPPER AND DEEJAY. He was hugely influential on the rap movement as both a spoken-word pioneer and larger-than-life persona who influenced everyone from Barry White to Puff Daddy. Hayes is best known for his soundtrack to Shaft, one of the first and best “blaxploitation” films, and for the song “Theme from Shaft,” a Top 10 hit. But his varied resume boasts everything from backing up Otis Redding and writing for Sam and Dave and others at Stax Records in the Sixties to serving as the voice of "Chef" on South Park in the Nineties. At the peak of his popularity in the early Seventies, Hayes devised the character “Black Moses” based on his public persona. With his shaved head, dark glasses, bulging muscles, gold chains, fur coats and serious, unsmiling demeanor, Hayes came off as both a potent sex symbol and an icon for African-American pride. Moreover, according to Jim Stewart, founder of Stax Records, “Isaac Hayes is one of the main roots of the Memphis Sound.” Isaac Hayes was born in Covington, Tennessee, in 1942. His mother died when he was young, and his father abandoned the family. As a result, Hayes was raised by his maternal grandparents, who worked as sharecroppers in Tennessee. When he was seven, the family moved to Memphis. He had begun singing in church at the age of five, and he learned to play piano, organ, flute and saxophone. After leaving school, he worked at a meat-packing plant during the day and performed music at clubs and other venues around Memphis at night. He sang doo-wop with the Teen Tones and the Ambassadors and gospel with the Morning Stars. He played blues saxophone with Calvin Valentine and the Swing Cats, rhythm & blues piano with Jeb Stuart and jazz sax and piano with the Missiles and with baritone saxophonist Floyd Newman’s band. Then, in 1964, Hayes signed on as a sessionman at Stax Records. His first session was for The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads (released on Volt Records, a Stax subsidiary). He and lyricist David Porter became a formidable songwriting team at Stax. Hayes and Porter bonded with the soul duo Sam and Dave, writing and producing a run of hits that included “Hold On, I’m Coming,” “Soul Man” and “I Thank You.” They also wrote “B-A-B-Y” for Carla Thomas and hits for the Emotions, the Soul Children, Mable John and Lou Rawls. As a keyboardist and producer, Hayes was an important element in the Stax/Volt sound. All the while, he was itching to sing and hearing a different sound in his head. “I wanted to sing pop music, easy listening, but Memphis was stone R&B,” he told Rolling Stone in 1970. The origins of Hayes’ style came following a Stax Christmas party, when Hayes, bassist Duck Dunn and drummer Al Jackson, Jr., began playing around in the studio. They hit on a unique approach, recasting pop hits in lengthy arrangements featuring spoken monologues from Hayes and jazzy, orchestrated middle sections. His first album,Presenting Isaac Hayes, appeared in 1967 but failed to chart. Hayes’ breakthrough came with his second solo album, Hot Buttered Soul (1969), which revolutionized soul music by bringing a more silky, adult sound to it – and by interpolating lengthy pillow-talk monologues, which Hayes called “raps.” Hot Buttered Soul contained only four tracks, and two of them – remakes of Dionne Warwick’s “Walk on By” and Glen Campbell’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” – ran 12 and 19 minutes long, respectively. Edited versions of both songs made up a double-sided hit single on the pop and R&B charts in 1969. The album reached Number Eight on the pop chart and went gold. Then, in 1971, Hayes scored his biggest commercial success when he wrote and recorded the soundtrack to the film Shaft. The double album reached Number One and went platinum, while “Theme from Shaft” topped the charts for two weeks. Hayes won an Academy Award for the soundtrack, becoming the first African-American to win that award, and a Grammy. That soundtrack kick-started the disco movement in music. From the early-to-mid-Seventies, Hayes released string of Top 20 albums, including The Isaac Hayes Movement (Number Eight, 1970), To Be Continued (Number 11, 1970),Black Moses (Number 10, 1971), Live at the Sahara Tahoe (Number 14, 1973), Joy (Number 16, 1973) and Chocolate Chip (Number 18, 1975). He also appeared in Wattstax, a concert film and soundtrack spotlighting Stax artists. In 1974, Hayes left Stax and recorded for ABC and then Polydor through 1981. During that period, he placed more than a dozen singles on the charts. Hayes then spent most of the Eighties and early Nineties pursuing an acting career. He appeared in the movies Escape from New York, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Posse and It Could Happen to You. He also made appearances in The Rockford Files, Miami Vice and The A-Team. In 1997, Hayes landed the part of the voice of “Chef” in the animated TV show South Park. The previous year, he became a morning deejay at KISS-FM in New York. In 1995, Hayes made a return to recording, releasing the album Branded. Around the same time, he also issued Raw and Refined, an album of instrumental songs. Throughout much of his life, Hayes was heavily involved in charitable causes. In 1999, he formed the Isaac Hayes Foundation. And in 2006, he appeared in a video for the Youth for Human Rights International organization. He also undertook numerous humanitarian and development efforts in the African nation of Ghana, where he was crowned a chief. In January 2006, Hayes suffered a minor stroke. Then, on August 10, 2008, Isaac Hayes died, 10 days before his 66th birthday. Inductee: Isaac Hayes (vocals, keyboards, production; born August 20, 1942, died August 10, 2008) Musician, actor, and entertainer, Isaac Hayes, was born Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr., on August 20, 1942, in Covington, Tennessee. When his parents died at an early age, Hayes went to live with his grandparents in Memphis. Hayes was a good student in high school, wanting to be a doctor; in the ninth grade, however, he dropped out to earn money. Hayes later enrolled in a night school from which he earned his diploma in 1962. By the time Hayes was in his teens, he was adept at playing the piano, organ, and saxophone, as well as having spent years singing in a church choir. When he dropped out of school, Hayes immediately began performing with local R&B groups in Memphis, earning a solid reputation as a musician. Hayes recorded his first album in 1962, and by 1964, he was playing with the house band at Stax Records, one of the premier soul music recording labels in the South. After writing a number of hits in collaboration with David Porter for the group Sam & Dave, Hayes released his first solo album, Presenting Isaac Hayes, in 1967. Two years later, his breakthrough album, Hot Buttered Soul was released and Hayes became a star. After producing a soundtrack to an experimental film by author Norman Mailer, Hayes was approached to write the musical score of Shaft in 1971; he would become the first African American to win an Oscar for Best Song. Hayes became involved in acting in the mid-1970s with an Italian film titled Uomini Duri, released in America as Three Tough Guys, and the title role in the film Truck Turner in 1974. Hayes returned to acting in 1981 with a role in Escape from New York and 1988’s I’m Gonna Git You Sucka!. The 1990s and beyond saw a resurgence of Hayes in films, playing roles in The Blues Brothers 2000, Dr. Doolitte, and a remake of Shaft; he also became the voice of “Chef” in the animated television series South Park. Hayes had a radio program on KISS-FM and was the spokesman for the World Literacy Crusade, a part of the Scientology movement. Hayes also established the Isaac Hayes Foundation to partner with nonprofit organizations to promote human rights. While in Ada, Ghana, in 1995, as a part of the World Literacy Crusade, Hayes was crowned as a king, adopting the name of Nene Katey Ocansey I. Hayes also opened up a chain of restaurants across the country. In 2002, Hayes was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Isaac Hayes passed away on August 10, 2008, at the age of sixty-five. Hayes was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on June 25, 2003.
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