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"Theme from ''Shaft''," written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in 1971, is the soul and funk-styled theme song to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, ''Shaft''. The theme was released as a single (shortened and edited from the longer album version) two months after the movie's soundtrack by Stax Records' Enterprise label. "Theme from ''Shaft''" went to number two on the Billboard Soul Singles chart and to number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States in November 1971. The song was also well received by adult audiences, reaching number six on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. The following year, "Theme from ''Shaft''" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song,〔 with Hayes becoming the first African American to win that honor (or any Academy Award in a non-acting category), as well as the first recipient of the award to both write and perform the winning song. Since then, the song has appeared in numerous television shows, commercials, and other movies, including the 2000 sequel ''Shaft'', for which Hayes re-recorded the song. In 2004 the original finished at #38 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. ==Composition and history== In 2000, Hayes told National Public Radio that he had only agreed to write and record the ''Shaft'' score after ''Shaft'' producer, Joel Freeman, promised him an audition for the lead role. He never got the chance to audition, but kept his end of the deal anyway.〔NPR, "The NPR 100," December 21, 2000. Radio program. Archived at (). Retrieved September 9, 2006.)〕 Director Gordon Parks also had a hand in composing the theme, describing the character of John Shaft (the "black private dick/who's a sex machine/to all the chicks") to Hayes and explaining that the song had to familiarize the audience with him. Hayes recorded the rhythm parts on the theme first, scored the entire rest of the film, then returned to the theme song.〔 The song begins with a sixteenth-note hi-hat ride pattern, played by Willie Hall, which was drawn from a break on Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness", a Stax record on which Hayes had played.〔 Also featuring heavily in the intro is Charles Pitts' guitar, which uses a wah-wah effect common in 1970s funk; the riff had originally been written for an unfinished Stax song. The synthesized keyboard is played by Hayes. Even on the edited single version, the intro lasts for more than one and-a-half minutes before any vocals are heard. The arrangement was by Hayes and Johnny Allen. The lyrics describe John Shaft's coolness, courage, and sex appeal, and Hayes' lead vocals are punctuated by a trio of female backup singers. At one famous moment, Hayes calls Shaft "a bad mother—" before the backup singers (one of whom is Tony Orlando & Dawn's Telma Hopkins) interrupt the implied profanity with the line "Shut yo' mouth!" Hayes immediately defends himself by replying that he's "only talking about Shaft," with the back-up vocalists replying, "We can dig it." Other well-known passages include "You're damn right!" also uttered by Hayes, and "He's a complicated man/but no one understands him/but his woman/John Shaft." Hayes' utterance of the word "damn" made this the first #1 song on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop singles chart to include a curse word. The song was considered very racy for its time; as late as 1990, censors at the Fox Network thought it too risqué to be sung on ''The Simpsons'' (until it was pointed out that the song had been played on television before). The song was not intended to be a single, but the success of the film and the popularity of the track in nightclubs led to a 45 record of the theme being released on Enterprise Records two months after the soundtrack. Within two months, it hit #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and stayed there a second week.〔 It peaked at #4 in the UK Singles Chart. 〔 The song had an enormous influence on the disco and soul music of the decade.〔 In 1972, Isaac Hayes performed "Theme from ''Shaft''" as part of the Academy Awards ceremony in his trademark chainmail vest, but accepted the award later that night wearing a tuxedo.〔 He dedicated his historic win to his grandmother, Rushia Wade, who joined him onstage to accept the award.〔Bowman, Rob (1997). ''Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records''. New York: Schirmer Trade. p.229-233 ISBN 0-8256-7284-8〕 Following the Academy Awards, Hayes, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and the Stax staff dedicated the win to the black community at an Operation PUSH rally.〔 Later that year, Hayes performed "Theme from ''Shaft''" live at the Wattstax concert in Los Angeles 〔Bowman, Rob and Chuck D (2004). Audio commentary track for ''Wattstax''. Los Angeles: Saul Zaentz Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.〕 Film footage of this performance was recorded for Mel Stuart's documentary film of the concert, but was cut before the film's release due to legal complications with MGM, who would not allow Hayes to perform his ''Shaft'' songs in any other film until 1976. A 2003 remastered version of the ''Wattstax'' film reinstates Hayes' performance of "Theme from ''Shaft''".〔 When John Singleton directed an updated version of ''Shaft'', starring Samuel L. Jackson, in 2000, Hayes re-recorded the theme for the new film. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Theme from Shaft」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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