that Isaac Hayes has died.
I interviewed Mr. Hayes in early June, and not until just a couple of hours before he called did I learn, for certain, that he had suffered a stroke in January of 2006.
A timeline:
On November 16, 2005, episode 912 of “South Park,” the thinly veiled ambush of Scientology entitled “Trapped in the Closet,” airs (good luck catching a re-rerun; supposedly Tom Cruise has pressured Comedy Central’s parent company into taking it out of rotation).
Months later, Hayes, a Scientologist, quits his role as Chef, presumably over this very episode. Except in an interview with
The Onion’s A.V. Club published January 4, 2006, the R & B legend doesn’t appear to be particularly troubled by the skewering of his religion.
“Well, I talked to (“South Park” creators) Matt (Stone) and Trey (Parker) about that,” Hayes is quoted as saying. “They didn't let me know until it was done. I said, ‘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?’ But I understand what they're doing. I told them to take a couple of Scientology courses, and understand what we do (laughs).”
(Note: a Wikipedia entry on Hayes also quotes from the same interview: “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." But we couldn’t find that particular quote in that particular piece)
Then on March 13th of 2006 a statement, purportedly authorized by Hayes, asked for his release from his contract with the show because of Parker and Stone’s apparent intolerance of religion. Scientology was not specifically cited.
However, two months before that request for a release was made, Isaac Hayes suffered a stroke.
On January 17th, Memphis television station WMC reported that the singer had suffered a stroke and quoted unnamed sources who claimed the episode “was triggered from exhaustion” (which would certainly be the first time I’ve ever heard of exhaustion causing a stroke).
Two months after Hayes’ reported stroke and just one week after his statement asking to be released from his role as Chef, Fox News’ Roger Friedman wrote an article entitled
“Chef’s Quitting Controversy.”The article begins: “Isaac Hayes did not quit ‘South Park.’ My sources say that someone quit it for him.
“I can tell you,” Friedman continues, “that Hayes is in no position to have quit anything. Contrary to news reports, the great writer, singer and musician suffered a stroke on Jan. 17.”
What follows is yet another Scientology conspiracy theory (and hey, we’re believers). Most pointedly, Friedman asks why, in light of Hayes’ relatively recent, pre-stroke defense of the show to the A.V. Club, if the singer was so offended, would he wait four months after “Trapped in the Closet” aired before quitting.
Which is a damn good question.
But wait. There’s more.
One week after Friedman’s piece, and two weeks’ after Hayes purported release request, Hayes’ spokesperson Amy Harnell (still employed by Hayes when I interviewed him incidentally) told MTV News that the Fox report was “definitely not true" and that Hayes' decision to quit “South Park” was "his and his alone."
Harnell also stated that Hayes had not been hospitalized with a stroke as was previously reported, but rather “spent a few days in a hospital because of a high blood-pressure condition with medical complications" (which is a lot closer to the definition of stroke than that exhaustion excuse).
Finally, in October of 2006, just before his first public concert since his hospital stay, Hayes confirmed the stroke his publicist previously denied. After his representatives had warned a San Antonio
Express-News reporter not to ask about Hayes’ health or his “South Park” departure, Hayes brought the subject up himself.
“In January I had a stroke,” Hayes is quoted. “I'm through it now, and I'm almost well."
"The stroke hasn't hurt my singing," he continues. "I've been working on it.”
Just this April Hayes once again introduced the subject in an interview with the Las Vegas
Review-Journal. And this time he went into further detail, explaining that he was struck following a concert.
"I started babbling,” said Hayes. “I was living in the hospital for about two weeks. I was out, man."
Of course, strokes – often fatal – impose a variety of effects. Not uncommon is memory loss and difficulty with speech. And that seems to be the case with Isaac Hayes.
"I was blank,” he told the Vegas paper. “Couldn't remember nothing. But I just kept going, and eventually my memory came back.
"I'm doing better. The stroke is gone now. I'm coming back."
But that same month – that is, just about sixty days ago – Hayes participated in a live morning radio interview with
“The Adam Carolla Show.” And the result was what one might charitably call a trainwreck.
Carolla and his staff also seemed unaware of Hayes’ health condition (does this make me feel better? Maybe just a little bit).
After several awkward pauses and a recognized tendency of Hayes to repeat certain answers, Carolla asked the singer if perhaps he might be guilty of a little “wake and bake.”
At which point Isaac Hayes began discussing a cookbook he had authored three years before.
It was an honor and a privilege to speak with the man, even considering the circumstances. And if you don't yet own a copy of
Hot Buttered Soul, Mr. Hayes' personal recommendation, please take care of that now.
My interview with Isaac Hayes, published for the first time in a special Sunday night edition of the
Voice's
Sound of the City, can be found
here.
RIP, Isaac Hayes.
and in other news, I am currently all of about 200 yards from the Atlantic Ocean and there's plenty of barbecue in the refrigerator. one drawback is that Atlantic Ocean doesn't seem to have Wi-Fi, so in order to gain a connection I must walk into the middle of the street (10th Avenue for those of you interested in New Jersey history), lift one leg (more like a flamingo than a Labrador, thankfully), twist and shout (more like the Beatles than Chubby Checker) while positioning my left index finger towards my left earlobe, elbow out.
