Walk On By – Isaac Hayes

Have an extra 12 and a half minutes to get into a fabulous soul groove.?? If so, this is the song for you. And if you DON’T have time, I strongly suggest you MAKE TIME.

Although the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song “Walk On By” was a huge hit for Dionne Warwick in 1964, this 1969 “cover” of the song by the incredibly soulful Isaac Hayes, is, “in my humble opinion” the more creative and moving version. It’s not that Dionne Warwick’s version is bad, it isn’t at all; it’s just that it was created as a 60’s Top 40 vocal hit, and Hayes took the song somewhere else entirely.

If you’ve never experienced an Isaac Hayes song, you should know he LOVES to take his time to let the whole arrangement simmer until fully cooked. This song is a fine example of that.

The track starts off a slow, deliberate, 2:11 intro from a full band, complete with a string section, woodwinds, horns, a great backbone drum beat, a really funky fuzz guitar and backup singers.

Then, once thay groove has been fully established, Hayes, dubbed “The Black Moses” by the STAX recording staff,  slips in with his mighty deep, sexy, smooth voice.  The vocal part of the “song” itself only lasts another 4 minutes putting us only half way through the cut…then the fun begins.

For the next 6 minutes the groove just slowly builds and builds and builds and for good measure a screaming Hammond B3 organ joins in the mix to take the song out to the end…less a heatstopping, abrupt stop after which a nice drum solo takes the last lick.

WHEW, what a ride. I LOVE to be able to have the time to do nothing but savor those final 6 minutes. Soul at its VERY best.