The beloved Isaac Hayes came from some pretty meager beginnings. As a young boy he dreamed of sleeping in a warm bed, and having a nice square meal, with decent clothes to wear. At the tender age of 11, he even had to get special permission from his school principal to take off days in order to go out to work to help his family in a line of work that was very interesting.

His Odd Job

Isaac Hayes had a job picking cotton. Yep, you read that correctly. Before he became THE Isaac Hayes, ‘the hot buttered soul God’ by way of Memphis, he was a cotton picker. Now, of course many of us can relate to having ancestors who picked cotton, so in that respect it wasn’t odd…but it was a tad odd in Hayes’ case, because the era in which he was picking cotton for a living, it was no longer the ‘most common’ job to have.

Hayes worked in the cotton fields because he had to…however, he was never really focused on picking cotton. in a prior ebony interview he revealed several interesting things about his cotton-picking days, including that he would daydream on the job about this one girl he was crushin’ on, who also happened to be the daughter of the family he was picking cotton for. Hayes said she didn’t really pay him much attention until AFTER she found out he could sing. But check out how Hayes handled the “girl of his dreams” after he started gaining a lil’ singing popularity around his way…

“I remember I had a crush on this chick whose family I used to pick (cotton) for, a black family. She used to pay off to us when we’d bring out cotton as that could to get her attention, since the most successful man is always on top, no matter what social situation he’s operating in. Well, I was hung-up on this chick and so busy day-dreaming that I wasn’t picking much cotton. Then this wine-head friend said, ‘I tell you what you do. You sing. You’ve got a good voice and one of these days you’re gonna be a big man, a big star. The next time you sing at school, when you get to a certain part, you think about his girl and fall down on your knees and sing like you’re talking about her.'”

Isaac followed through to the point where his fame spread out from the school and, as the wino had anticipated, the girl he’d sought came running after him. “I had the pleasure,” Isaac remembers, “of turning to her and then looking the other way…though I was jivin’.” [Ebony Magazine]

After Hayes “looked the other way” he was soon a senior in high school, about to get married and had a baby on the way. So, I guess you can say he didn’t look completely away from the stronghold that the ladies had on him and his newfound fame back then.

Typically, we commend folks for furthering their education, but not in this case…nuh-uh. Words can’t express how grateful we are that Isaac Hayes decided to turn down those college scholarships, because if he wouldn’t have, we probably would have never gotten to experience the greatness of his soulful creations that still feed our souls to this day.

Mr. Hayes is no longer with us, but he will never be forgotten, his music is way too powerful for that to ever happen.

The post Everyday He Was Hustlin’: Isaac Hayes Had Very Odd Job Before Making It Big In Music appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

The beloved Isaac Hayes came from some pretty meager beginnings. As a young boy he dreamed of sleeping in a warm bed, and having a nice square meal, with decent clothes to wear. At the tender age of 11, he even had to get special permission from his school principal to take off days in order to go out to work to help his family in a line of work that happened to be pretty interesting.

Isaac Hayes’ Unexpected Job Was…

Isaac Hayes had a job picking cotton…yep, you read that correctly- before he became THE Isaac Hayes, ‘the hot buttered soul God’ by way of Memphis, he was a cotton picker. Now of course many of us can relate to having ancestors who picked cotton, so in that respect it wasn’t odd, but the reason it’s a lil’ odd in Hayes’ case is because in the era he was picking cotton for a living, it was no longer the most common job to have.
Hayes worked in the cotton fields because he had to, however, he was never really focused on picking cotton. He revealed, in a past interview, several interesting things about his cotton picking days, including that he would daydream on the job about this one girl he was crushin’ on, who also happened to be the daughter of the family he was picking cotton for. He said she didn’t really pay him much attention until AFTER she found out he could sing. But check out how Hayes handled the “girl of his dreams” once he started gaining a lil’ singing popularity around his way:

“I remember I had a crush on this chick whose family I used to pick (cotton) for, a black family.” “She used to pay off to us when we’d bring out cotton, as that could get her attention, since the most successful man is always on top, no matter what social situation he’s operating in. Well, I was hung-up on this chick and so busy day-dreaming that I wasn’t picking much cotton. Then this wine-head friend said, ‘I tell you what you do. You sing. You’ve got a good voice and one of these days you’re gonna be a big man, a big star. The next time you sing at school, when you get to a certain part, you think about his girl and fall down on your knees and sing like you’re talking about her.'”

Isaac followed through to the point where his fame spread out from the school and, as the wino had anticipated, the girl he’d sought came running after him. “I had the pleasure,” Isaac remembers, “of turning to her and then looking the other way…though I was jivin’.” [Ebony Magazine]

After Hayes “looked the other way” he was soon a senior in high school who was about to get married and had a baby on the way. I guess you can say he didn’t look completely away from the stronghold that the ladies had on him and his newfound fame back then. Hayes took care of his responsibilities, but missed opportunities to take advantage of the seven college scholarships he was offered for his excellence in music. So he did the next best thing – he hustled his way through life by doing music gigs all around town. Fortunately for us soul music lovers, Hayes never stopped grinding and eventually earned a nice spot at the top of Stax Records’ roster…the rest is history.

The post Before Singing, Isaac Hayes Had A Job That Made Us Do A Double Take appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

The beloved Isaac Hayes came from some pretty meager beginnings. As a young boy he dreamed of sleeping in a warm bed, and having a nice square meal, with decent clothes to wear. At the tender age of 11, he even had to get special permission from his school principal to take off days in order to go out to work to help his family in a line of work that was very interesting.

The interesting thing in this is that Isaac Hayes had a job picking cotton…yep, you read that correctly, before he became THE Isaac Hayes, ‘the hot buttered soul God’ by way of Memphis, he was a cotton picker. Now of course many of us can relate to having ancestors who picked cotton, so in that respect it wasn’t odd, but the reason it’s a lil’ odd in Hayes’ case is because in the era he was picking cotton for a living, it was no longer the most common job to have.

Hayes worked in the cotton fields because he had, but he was never really focused on picking cotton. He revealed, in a past interview, several interesting things about his cotton picking days including that he would daydream on the job about this one girl he was crushin’ on, who also happened to be the daughter of the family he was picking cotton for. He said she didn’t really pay him much attention until AFTER she found out he could sing. But check out how Hayes said he handled the “girl of his dreams” after he started gaining a lil’ singing popularity around his way…

TURN THE PAGE>>>

The post U Will NOT Believe What Isaac Hayes ODD REAL LIFE Job Was BEFORE Singing! appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

As Old Schooler’s, we may not realize it but we have an even stronger connection to actress, Sanaa Lathan, than we may think, because we have a strong connection to the work of her Dad. Sanaa Lathan’s dad, Stan Lathan is a heavyweight in the entertainment world, but he’s more known behind the scenes, rather than in front of the camera.

Stan has directed many episodes of Sanford & Son, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, Cagney & Lacey, Frank’s Place, Roc and others. He also directed the 1984 film, Beat Street. He partnered with Russell Simmons to produce Def Comedy Jams and the list goes on and on. He has also has directed the pilots for many sitcoms, including Martin, Real Husbands of Hollywood, Moesha, The Parkers, The Steve Harvey Show, Amen, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, The Soul Man, and many more.  Remember 1984 film, Beat Street? Yep, Stan directed that one too and his list of credits goes on and on.

Here’s the thing, there was a very popular 70’s model whom, if you love Old School soul music, you are very familiar with. This model recently revealed that she was madly in love with Sanaa’s dad and that she knew Sanaa well when she was a little girl. Check out who she is after the jump…

The post Wait ‘Til U See The Popular 70s Model Sanaa Lathan’s Daddy Dated! appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

This woman is from Ghana, Africa and she is also the wife of a world renowned soul artist. Her husband first made his mark more than 5 decades ago and he is responsible for creating some of the most CLASSIC soul hits ever!

Turn the page to see who…

The post She’s Much Younger than Her Soul ICON Husband, Wait ‘Til U See Who! appeared first on I Love Old School Music.