Quad LP/Tape Poll Hayes, Isaac: Shaft - Music From the Soundtrack [SQ/Q8]

[steelydave]

Isaac Hayes genre-defining masterwork, Shaft - Music From the Soundtrack was originally released in stereo in August 1971, and re-released in quad in September 1973 as part of the initial batch of titles in Stax's short-lived foray into quad. By far the artist and label's best-selling album, it topped the Billboard pop charts, the Billboard R&B charts and the Billboard Jazz charts, while the single Theme from Shaft topped the singles tally as well. It would also go on to win three Grammy awards and an Academy award for Best Original Song, making Hayes the first African-American to win an Oscar in a non-acting category.

Interestingly, the music on this release isn't the same music found in the film - Hayes recorded the score for the first time for MGM (the studio who put the film out) and then re-recorded the music a second time for Stax/Enterprise at their studios for release on LP. The original film cues (which sound kind of tentative compared to the fully realized LP versions) were eventually released on CD in 2008 by Film Score Monthly as part of a compilation of all the music from the Shaft trilogy called Shaft Anthology: His Big Score and More!.

The quad LP version of this release was just a stereo sleeve with a big red 'SQ' sticker with the new catalog number applied to the front and spine of the jacket, whereas the quad 8-track release came in a custom cardboard slipcase (pictured below) that held the two tapes.



Enterprise EQS 2-5002 [SQ 2xLP] Enterprise EQ8 2-5002 [2 x Q8]
Discogs links: LP / Q8
Wiki page for the album: Shaft - Music From the Soundtrack

Quad mix by Henry Bush (with Don Young and Al Lawrence)

Album 1 - Side 1

1. "Theme from Shaft" (Vocal Version)
2. "Bumpy's Lament"
3. "Walk from Regio's"
4. "Ellie's Love Theme"
5. "Shaft's Cab Ride"

Album 1 - Side 2

1. "Cafe Regio's"
2. "Early Sunday Morning"
3. "Be Yourself"
4. "A Friend's Place"

Album 2 - Side 1

1. "Soulsville" (Vocal Version)
2. "No Name Bar"
3. "Bumpy's Blues"
4. "Shaft Strikes Again"

Album 2 - Side 2

1. "Do Your Thing" (Vocal Version)
2. "The End Theme"

 

[Quad Linda]

Music is stellar. Mix is great. Sybellence is awful on the high hat. Ortofon, Shure or AT all have that. Personally, 2ch SACD is a better experience. Admittedly, SQ is how I've heard it in Quad. No, I won't part with it, though.

Title track is as good as a track can get!

7