I was 10 and my father took me to the Uptown Theater in Philly -( part of the black music chicken circuit) where he was a usher so I had good seats when the movie first came out. I didnt understand most of the movie but I understood Shaft was a bad mother "shut your mouth".
I do not think the younger generations can understand the pure genius of Mr. Isaac Hayes and how a gem like 'Shaft' is seldom or never heard on modern radio. I am so thankful that I grew up in the golden age of hi-fi, soul and rock n' roll. Music on airplay was once graced with talent and genius of the kraft and that I am sad to say that what you hear today when you turn on the radio sounds like a mental asylum in the dark ages during a full moon. I am not saying there is not great modern music out there but what the industry portrays as good reflects on how mediocre and low our musical culture has degraded to. 'Shaft' by Isaac Hayes is one masterpiece that will always withstand the test of time as well as many other iconic classics. Thank you Mr. Hayes, and rest in piece.
Amen to what he said! Brilliant score. Very underrated movie. Timeless. I still watch it on cable and love the opening scene with this song playing and Richard Roundtree walking the 1970’s gritty Manhattan streets!
Couldn't get the huge smile off my face the entire time. So much respect and appreciation for every single person in that performance. Was that performance perfect? Damn Right!
@@jojonesjojo8919that's too short.... Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Riiiiiiiggghhhhhhtttttt...... 😁😁😁👍👍👍...... The show was smooth
Fantastic performance! The gentleman playing the Wah-Wah guitar is Charles Pitts. Stax records legend who played on original recording. RIP both of you
Charles Pitts plays a funky rhythm and wah-wah guitar! This performance was phenomenal! I can’t stop playing it over and over. The instrumentation, rhythms, strings, flute, horns, Hayes’ rhythm section, wow! I can’t say enough! Rest In Music! You blessed us with your gift🎼🎵🎶🎸
Back in the day everything was recorded live. Very little over dub tracking and music charts were read. This was still the Big Band Era, aka the Soul Orchestra.
EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I. HEAR. THIS. MASTERPIECE. I. AM. LIFTED. ... to when I was 14 years old in between 8th & 9th grade... I had just moved from my childhood home, and I had no friends in my new school. I felt so out of place. But I had my music when I got home after school, and Isaac Hayes song "Shaft" always lifted my soul. I played that 45 rpm so much on my little record player, I'm surprised I didn't melt the record. 🥲. It was a very special orchestration that made my heart beat strong and my mind feel better. The smile always returned to my face after a hard and lonely day at my new school... "You damn right!" Rest in peace, Mr Hayes. I know the angels love it when you lead the choir - you looked like you were the best band leader! 💐🙏🏽🥰
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! perfection! there is NOTHING like live performance, but to feel every 16th note in my bones from his body language conducting that impeccable orchestra ... brilliant and exciting are too mild a description!
You never quite appreciate a live band session performance until you witness it....especially on TV,,,not a studio. This was really fantastic. Thanks Mr. Hayes and the Letterman band...great job all around. This is a rare piece of musical history....Thanks!!!
I hope people realize how awesome this tune is and the performance is perfect! Lots of music knowledge went in this. The arrangement is just mind blowing! Totally unbelievable how great this is and that Issac Hayes was a genius of the highest order! I have been digging this since it came out.
Really is musical genius on every level! And to think they almost never let it get out there. What a crime that would've been. We don't get anything like this today.
I met Isaac in Los Angeles about 20 years ago. Very nice man, with the deepest speaking voice I've ever heard. Was introduced by a mutual musical friend.
Wow!! I remember this tune way back in the 70's, when as a teenager I used to listen to it on the local FM radio and my thoughts were it was so nice,sweet, fast and unique tune. Love it.
Sensational!! Issac had them sounding like the original soundtrack!! That lead guitar was funky as hell!! When musical artist actually produced music!! Now it’s just studio noise!!
There are so many layers to this song! Strings, brass, wood winds, percussion, guitars, and voices. We loved this song growing up and played it in marching band. We always got psyched up when we played it. Love it!
As of today, April 12. 2021, there were over 1,000 people that went out of their way to give this performance of a national treasure of a song a "thumbs down". WTH is wrong with people?
Takes me back to memories of being a youngster amongst my older sisters while visiting cousins in Needham MA in the latter 1960s. Wicked awesome time of my life!
Just a BRILLIANT performance!! This arrangement is absolutely faithful to the original--and the gentleman playing the "wah-wah" fuzz guitar is SUPERB!! (In fact, the entire orchestra is outstanding!!)
This thing is so vibrant, it's alive. It makes me feel alive. I can't forget the night Isaac Hayes performed one of the nominate songs for the Academy Awards. Damn. The Academy Awards? Unbelievable performance of Shaft. A while later in the telecast.... And the winner for best song goes to SHAFT. What a moment. What a composition. Try and sit still. Try and sit down. No way! Ain't gonna happen. I still have my vinyl. The soundtrack is just gorgeous. Isaac made glorious music.
"Shaft" was the very first tune I ever recorded, in 1972. I was 10 and it was playing on my big, old radio tube radio and I recorded it holding a microphone connected to my cassette recorder :-)
When he performed on stage, you got a full show. He was the main artist to perform at Detroit's Taste Fest, which was free. The area was packed, along with people in upper parking structures witnessing his outstanding performance. He was on stage for nearly two hours, and ended with Shaft, as the audience screamed for him to do before he left the stage. I've never attended a better concert than this, and felt bless to receive it free. He gave his all, as if we had paid to see him. Miss the true Maestro...RIH!
I cried when both Isaac and Bernie Mac passed on back to back days. Then, I went to see Soul Men, and Isaac sang "Never Can Say Goodbye" at the end. Lost it again. Thanks, Mr. Hayes.
Unless you were alive and aware at the time, you'll never understand just how popular this song was when it came out. Cafe Regio was on the B side of the 45 rpm record shaft was. Still have the disc! The band is a collection.of all pro musicians. Faithfully reproduced the original. Isaac Hayes RIP!!!
This is still the coldest theme song of all time...i imagine this tune in my head when I walk into a fancy room....when I know I look good...watch out now!
thank so much for sharing this fabulous video,I brought "shafts " L.P. when it was first released and that was some years ago and never had the opportunity to see him live on film this is the first time, I'm so pleased that I've had the opportunity to view the fabulous Shaft thank you so much for sharing this awesome video 🫶☯️🫶 Andy
Basic training, Lackland AFB, Texas, 1971. On the jukebox, the brothers played Shaft and Someone of my own. Country boys played Easy Lovin' by Freddie Hart. We suburban white boys played Maggie May.
How can a song sound as good as it did over 50 years ago? God rest his soul.
I was 12 years old when I heard this song for the first time in San Francisco, if I remember 1971, now, 2024 and still a gem
I was 10 and my father took me to the Uptown Theater in Philly -( part of the black music chicken circuit) where he was a usher so I had good seats when the movie first came out. I didnt understand most of the movie but I understood Shaft was a bad mother "shut your mouth".
It's great !
You're the same age as I am.😊
Still gives me chills. You simply have to drop whatever you were doing at the moment and pay tribute to this gone way too soon musical genius.
Un génie
Damn right!
A música do século xx
E muito boa orquestrs parece xe um filmaco de a cao eo intendimento o melhor o es co.plete
@@yvettelaurent3459t
RIP to the original black superhero, the one and only John Shaft, Richard Roundtree :(
I do not think the younger generations can understand the pure genius of Mr. Isaac Hayes and how a gem like 'Shaft' is seldom or never heard on modern radio. I am so thankful that I grew up in the golden age of hi-fi, soul and rock n' roll. Music on airplay was once graced with talent and genius of the kraft and that I am sad to say that what you hear today when you turn on the radio sounds like a mental asylum in the dark ages during a full moon. I am not saying there is not great modern music out there but what the industry portrays as good reflects on how mediocre and low our musical culture has degraded to. 'Shaft' by Isaac Hayes is one masterpiece that will always withstand the test of time as well as many other iconic classics. Thank you Mr. Hayes, and rest in piece.
asista essa arte maravilhosa e cancao
Amen to what he said! Brilliant score. Very underrated movie. Timeless. I still watch it on cable and love the opening scene with this song playing and Richard Roundtree walking the 1970’s gritty Manhattan streets!
Amen brother...!
Agree 100%
Absolutely true n talent for thise musician. Real music
I,am 79 still listening to Isaac Hays and loving it ❤
Idem, idem, tenho 74 anos!!
I'm listening🫵
@@MaryBrown-cn2uume also memphis tn music im from Memphis........Charlie rich......sam sumudio.....booker t & mgs.....thanks
I was 18 when this song came out and now I am 71 still listening 🎶 and loving it RIP Isaac Hayes 🙏
Me too. Born and raised in Memphis. Attended Memphis Music Awards for his Shaft award. The Black Moses!!!!
Well I am 72 and I am STILL listening to this!!!!!!
you have a good taste. he was so fantastic
I am 76. Finnish old lady. Still loving this!❤
A multi-layered, brilliantly conceived tonal masterpiece. One of my favorite songs of all time
Love this!! Isaac Hayes was a musical genius, composer, conductor, singer! This will always be a classic!🎶🎼🎵💖💯
Yes he was. A very great maestro. Husband and I saw the movie in 71.
@@MJ-ho1kt 💯💯👏👏
Still get goosebumps listening to this masterpiece
Wait! Am I 12 again! AM radio... Until I bought the single!!
Wow! That’s live!
Same here 🎶🎵🎼🎤goosebumps in 2023!
@@dianedallas2993 same here!!
This is the right word. "Masterpiece"... 😉👍
Couldn't get the huge smile off my face the entire time. So much respect and appreciation for every single person in that performance. Was that performance perfect? Damn Right!
Brother!
Has been a part of my Playlist for years.
Damn Right? I think you mean.... Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn Riiiight!!! (Shaft!)
Damn right.
@@jojonesjojo8919that's too short.... Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Riiiiiiiggghhhhhhtttttt...... 😁😁😁👍👍👍...... The show was smooth
Fantastic performance! The gentleman playing the Wah-Wah guitar is Charles Pitts. Stax records legend who played on original recording. RIP both of you
didn't know Pitts also did the _South Park_ soundtrack.
Yep great guitar work.
Charles Pitts plays a funky rhythm and wah-wah guitar! This performance was phenomenal! I can’t stop playing it over and over. The instrumentation, rhythms, strings, flute, horns, Hayes’ rhythm section, wow! I can’t say enough! Rest In Music! You blessed us with your gift🎼🎵🎶🎸
Hate him, wish they didn't cut to him at all. Ruined video for me
Damn, thank you. I could not remember his name 😮 and just asked to be reminded. I can still feel that brilliance in my aging bones. ❤
This has to be one of the greatest movie scores of all time!!!
with lyrics? the best.
Damn Right lol
And Superfly.
Most definitely! One the greatest songs of the 20th Century!
And you know it!
R.I.P Isaac. This one composition assures you a place in history forever.
still a great song after 50 years. Cool rendition with the full orchestra.
A Masterpiece, I don't think I've ever heard a song played so close to the original track, simply BRILLIANT!
I agree, Sterling, they put their foot in that groove.
Back in the day everything was recorded live. Very little over dub tracking and music charts were read. This was still the Big Band Era, aka the Soul Orchestra.
Love it love it love it! What a maestro and what musicians!
That was so awesome! Thank God for letting me grow up in the 70's! Glorious decade!
Ladies and Gentleman.. this is a band! real instruments combined with talent
Loved 🥰 Give him his props ❤🎉
Very true
yeaaaaahh!!!¤¤¤¤
YEEHAA! Damn right!
EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I. HEAR. THIS. MASTERPIECE. I. AM. LIFTED. ... to when I was 14 years old in between 8th & 9th grade... I had just moved from my childhood home, and I had no friends in my new school. I felt so out of place. But I had my music when I got home after school, and Isaac Hayes song "Shaft" always lifted my soul. I played that 45 rpm so much on my little record player, I'm surprised I didn't melt the record. 🥲. It was a very special orchestration that made my heart beat strong and my mind feel better. The smile always returned to my face after a hard and lonely day at my new school... "You damn right!"
Rest in peace, Mr Hayes. I know the angels love it when you lead the choir - you looked like you were the best band leader! 💐🙏🏽🥰
Excellent live performance! Never gets old.
I had the privilege of
following
Isaac Hayes
musical journey
Rest in peace
One of the best compositions in music history 🎶💜
Thank you David Letterman for fully embracing and celebrating live musical performance.
I'm glad he's passed away
Honestly Dave and his team don't get enough credit for this
That's what you call live music
Pure class 👏👌
By far the best live version. How it should be. Wonderful...
Give me the chills ---- such powerful anticipation of the first big punch. When cool was cool.
Great Description!
Hello how are you doing, my name is Eric Moore how is the weather over there today
Perfectly said 👏
You SO right, man!!!
Who's the black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks? -->Shaft. You're damn right
Isaac Hayes. The coolest musical genius
to ever grace this planet.
Hello how are you doing, my name is Eric Moore how is the weather over there today
He will be sadly missed by millions of fans who are always there to support him
What a performance. What a band. WOW!
And the musicians were all loving it too ❤
This song will never age, great performance!
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! perfection! there is NOTHING like live performance, but to feel every 16th note in my bones from his body language conducting that impeccable orchestra ... brilliant and exciting are too mild a description!
Unforgettable man, this theme will be immortal forever.
Yep Man!, you're right...
@@rolivelaz7345 A bad mother...........
More so now that Richard Roundtree has passed..RIH
Perfect in every note...This was our soundtrack in the 70's ...
I love his voice and this song. RIP Issac.🙏🏽
I never get tired of this classic.
You never quite appreciate a live band session performance until you witness it....especially on TV,,,not a studio. This was really fantastic. Thanks Mr. Hayes and the Letterman band...great job all around. This is a rare piece of musical history....Thanks!!!
I hope people realize how awesome this tune is and the performance is perfect! Lots of music knowledge went in this. The arrangement is just mind blowing! Totally unbelievable how great this is and that Issac Hayes was a genius of the highest order! I have been digging this since it came out.
First heard this in Athens Greece 1972, loved it then and still do. Great music
@@billpierce5775 Wow all the way in Greese huh 👍
Really is musical genius on every level! And to think they almost never let it get out there. What a crime that would've been. We don't get anything like this today.
underrated yet truly a masterpiece. I triple-dog dare High-School and College music departments to replicate THIS classic , vocals included!
Still as good today in 2024!!!
I can't come to grips with how outrageously cool this is. And yes. I can dig it to the MAX!!! RIP Issac. You are the groove master of all time.
many musical chapters in just one outstanding song.
THIS,....ladies and gentlemen, is the very DEFINITION of 'badass 🎻🎻🎻🎺🎺🎺🎸🎸🎸
I agree 100%!!
I loved Isaac Hayes and everything he did. A wonderful human being.
So is Richard Roundtrees performance in the 1971 original. Damn!!!
baddest-@ss tune ever written for TV
@@lastwhtknight3002 yesss
Wow
Richard Roundtree passed away at 81 -RIP - what an icon and this song is a phenomenal tribute to him.
OMG!!! Wonderful to watch this after so many years. Brilliant Musicians and Performers. Love the guitar. ♥️♥️♥️
Ì love the fact you have good taste
It's Charles Pitt baby
Organically power-laden beautifully directed masterpiece! If there's a Grammy for most enduring opus, this is it!
You’re daaam right ! Man , I’m glad I grew up with this music . This rendition is bad ass
You don't have enough of damn right!
I met Isaac in Los Angeles about 20 years ago. Very nice man, with the deepest speaking voice I've ever heard. Was introduced by a mutual musical friend.
LIAR
@@mikehollingworth2262 🤣
I just love how that flute "sneaks" its way into the groove!!! Such a Beautiful Medley of Instruments!!!
Perfect. Great flutist
Wow!! I remember this tune way back in the 70's, when as a teenager I used to listen to it on the local FM radio and my thoughts were it was so nice,sweet, fast and unique tune. Love it.
Watched the Marine Corps drum and bugle corps perform this awesome song at Parris Island SC in 1973. They did it justice.
When you hear the drum, you know exactly what this song is. Goosebumps 🌟🎵🌟💜
Sensational!! Issac had them sounding like the original soundtrack!! That lead guitar was funky as hell!! When musical artist actually produced music!! Now it’s just studio noise!!
Isaac Hayes,the sound of an era !
This is pure emotional bliss.Mr.Hayes R.I.P...
God, the '70's were the best....
Tektoniks Architects hell yes they were
If you weren’t drafted.
@@kennethmoore3783 This^
ABSOLUTELY!!
We to be alive
There are so many layers to this song! Strings, brass, wood winds, percussion, guitars, and voices. We loved this song growing up and played it in marching band. We always got psyched up when we played it. Love it!
Peopke Knew how to make music.
Absolutely. That’s what makes it so classic.
Exceptional piece of music.
Even after decades this classic is just as powerful as ever !!!! Never tire of it !!!!
CHILLS!!!!!!!!!!! 🤩 They don't make music like this anymore.
The entire soundtrack is brilliant.
Live music, instruments, lyrics and vocals. Music will never be this good again.
Fabulous!!
This Was Isaac Hayes Biggest Score...That "Lead Guitar Player" Is A BAD MOTHER...2024❤🎶🎸
It's charlie.pitt. baby
@@gordonlewis9377 SHUT! YA MOUTH..."I CAN DIG IT"💥
@@lifewithtessarose9439 I can dig it too
❤The best!!! Isaac was so talented. Can you dig it? RIP
Shut yo mouth
TRUE CLASSIC FROM A LEGEND NOW AND FOREVER MORE 🫡🫡🫡
The best of the best, can’t stop watching this extraordinary performance. The theme is unbelievably warm, deep of all emotions. Thank you
From the moment I heard it in the 70s, I've considered it my favorite.... Until 2023.
As of today, April 12. 2021, there were over 1,000 people that went out of their way to give this performance of a national treasure of a song a "thumbs down". WTH is wrong with people?
Dumbasses!
These people are.probably hillbilly don't have a clue..
I will never get tired of watching the various performances of this with Issac Hayes.
Musique réaliser en 48 heures magnifique un grand artiste
Of all the videos in the world this is my number one!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds from my childhood.. my momma loved sir issac Hayes.. he was a musical genius ..I loved the theme from shaft
America gave us a lot of pearls.
This is a great one.
Thanks a lot.
Love this , Isaac's conducting is absolutely on point ! Right on
Sitting back Thanking God , I was alive
when all this smooth cool music
came out how do you feel when
you hear it ♥.
Absolutely. Music had a slow death at the end of the 80's and died soon after.
Takes me back to memories of being a youngster amongst my older sisters while visiting cousins in Needham MA in the latter 1960s. Wicked awesome time of my life!
I saw the movie, bought the album, still sounds as good as it did back in the 70s....just a awesome tune. RIP Issac Hayes.
Can you dig it....The musicians really seem to enjoy being of that performance music🎶🎺🎸
When I was young and this song came
on the radio, the line "you say this man Shaft is a bad ....."
the word mother was censored.
Just a BRILLIANT performance!! This arrangement is absolutely faithful to the original--and the gentleman playing the "wah-wah" fuzz guitar is SUPERB!! (In fact, the entire orchestra is outstanding!!)
+nyterpfan What's really great is that you can see he's really conducting that orchestra! The guy had bucketloads of talent!
Pulsar Stargrave they don't need him...
That is Skip Pitts himself. The only way-wah man - ever
Right nyterpfan
Same congrats here!! RIP I Hayes.
This thing is so vibrant, it's alive. It makes me feel alive. I can't forget the night Isaac Hayes performed one of the nominate songs for the Academy Awards. Damn. The Academy Awards? Unbelievable performance of Shaft. A while later in the telecast.... And the winner for best song goes to SHAFT. What a moment. What a composition. Try and sit still. Try and sit down. No way! Ain't gonna happen. I still have my vinyl. The soundtrack is just gorgeous. Isaac made glorious music.
I saw this live on Letterman. Still gives chills.
"Shaft" was the very first tune I ever recorded, in 1972. I was 10 and it was playing on my big, old radio tube radio and I recorded it holding a microphone connected to my cassette recorder :-)
Kalle Blomqvist
Me too!!
Enjoyed it for yrs!
Thanks for the cool image.
And now you just go to youtube and even have video as a bonus.
Haha...we've forgotten how creative we were back in the day trying to record on cassette our favorites on the radio. Thanks for that wonderful memory.
And silently willing the DJ to shut up so we could get the whole song.
When he performed on stage, you got a full show. He was the main artist to perform at Detroit's Taste Fest, which was free. The area was packed, along with people in upper parking structures witnessing his outstanding performance. He was on stage for nearly two hours, and ended with Shaft, as the audience screamed for him to do before he left the stage. I've never attended a better concert than this, and felt bless to receive it free. He gave his all, as if we had paid to see him. Miss the true Maestro...RIH!
The soundtrack was as important to one of my all time favorite movies...Shaft!
I cried when both Isaac and Bernie Mac passed on back to back days. Then, I went to see Soul Men, and Isaac sang "Never Can Say Goodbye" at the end. Lost it again.
Thanks, Mr. Hayes.
Isaac Hayes The Coolest ! 🎙️😎 RIP ✝️
Some music is simply much more exciting than other music. This was exciting. We used to hear it every time we turned on the radio. I miss those days.
Unless you were alive and aware at the time, you'll never understand just how popular this song was when it came out. Cafe Regio was on the B side of the 45 rpm record shaft was. Still have the disc!
The band is a collection.of all pro musicians. Faithfully reproduced the original. Isaac Hayes RIP!!!
Those were the best days...happy I hit them in my prime...
Nunca había visto un vídeo de este músico, tremendo! Una orquesta muy loca, muy diferentes a otras orquestas
I love how everyone in the background playing the instruments and the back up singers are dancing and getting into it.
fantastic musicianship at work here, love the way Isaac conducts it all
This song will always resenate! Hayes was so ahead of time..it's crazy!
This is still the coldest theme song of all time...i imagine this tune in my head when I walk into a fancy room....when I know I look good...watch out now!
thank so much for sharing this fabulous video,I brought "shafts " L.P. when it was first released and that was some years ago and never had the opportunity to see him live on film this is the first time, I'm so pleased that I've had the opportunity to view the fabulous Shaft thank you so much for sharing this awesome video 🫶☯️🫶 Andy
RIP Richard Roundtree...The original Shaft!
truely fantastic . never tire of listening to this . one on my top 10 ❤
I’m 67 and bought this as a single when it came out. This is a wonderful live version so true to the original. Brilliant!
We had the soundtrack LP & listened to it often. Nothing like Isaac Hayes & "Shaft"!
Basic training, Lackland AFB, Texas, 1971. On the jukebox, the brothers played Shaft and Someone of my own. Country boys played Easy Lovin' by Freddie Hart. We suburban white boys played Maggie May.
Hey.. it's all good music 🎶 😊
My brother was there in the 70's. He might have been the one playing Shaft.. and Jimi Hendrix.
Isso é música de verdade! Grande Isaac!
In high school electronics class we had to create a radio program. My group used this for our opening theme song. We were so cool. 😎