Track Listing

1. Never Can Say Goodbye
2. Close To You
3. Nothing Takes The Place Of You
4. Man's Temptation
5. Part Time Love
6. Ike's Rap (4)
7. Brand New Me
8. Going In Circles
9. Never Gonna Give You Up
10. Ike's Rap
11. Help Me Love
12. Need To Belong
13. Good Love
14. Ike's Rap (3)
15. Your Love Is So Doggone Good
16. For The Good Times
17. I'll Never Fall In Love Again

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79238 in Music
• Released on: 1990-08-28
• Number of discs: 2

CD Description
Isaac Hayes is nothing if not ambitious, and this double-disc collection is a case in point. Released the same year as the breakthrough SHAFT soundtrack, 1971's BLACK MOSES melds Hayes's superior skills as an architect of progressive soul sounds with his talent as a song interpreter. Except for hissmooth, boudoir-savvy "raps"--there are three within the set, acting as intros to songs about love and devotion--Hayes's own songwriting energies take a backseat to tunes by some of the preeminent pop songwriters of the '70s.
Clifton Davis's magnificent "Never Can Say Goodbye" is given loving--and arguably definitive--treatment here. In its rich majesty,Hayes's reading of Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times" provides an intriguing counterpart to Al Green's spare 1972 version of the same tune. Two Bacharach-David songs, "I'llNever Fall in Love Again" and "Close to You", sound not at all misplaced beside two Curtis Mayfield numbers. That's because Hayes (and his collaborator Johnny Allen) re-imagined the songs into new versions via lush, orchestral charts, so that each tune bears the team's stamp indelibly. Though full of covers, BLACK MOSES is an Isaac Hayes record through and through, and in its continuity and smarts, one of his finest.

Customer Reviews

Two Discs Full of Soul - Awesome!
I can't recommend this album highly enough. Two CD's and not a minute of it filler. From the opening "Never can say goodbye" to the closing "I'll never fall in love again", every song is a classic, with Ike's unmistakable voice and superb arrangements. Totally awesome. Total quality.

A Bona Fide Classic
This album is a classic of 70s soul and shows that Isaac Hayes really deserves to be up their with the other greats of the decade.

Highlights include Never Gonna Give You Up and the mesmerising Ike's Rap III. The arrangement is incredible and Ike's voice is on top form throughout.

Even though some of the songs stretch to over 9 minutes they definitely don't outstay their welcome and this album is certainly a must for any soul fan.

An absolutely towering double album.
Undoubtedly one of the truly great Isaac Hayes albums, on which his capacity as an arranger reached its full flowering. Comprised almost exclusively of cover versions, "Black Moses" is a quite majestic achievement.

Not a single duff track in sight, in spite of the original double LP's generous playing time. Every track is a highlight, but my personal favourites would be his sumptuous nine-minute reading of "Close To You" -(yes, the song rendered famous by The Carpenters)- and the sensual "Your Love Is So Doggone Good". The original side four of the LP ("Part-Time Love" through "Going In Circles") is also quite breathtaking.

The one shame with the two-cd edition is that the album was not restored to its "correct" vinyl sequence. Disc one comprises the original sides one and four of the double LP, as the product was presented. Disc two is the original sides two and three of the LP. Purchasers may, therefore, wish to stop disc one after "Man's Temptation", and switch to disc two. In that way, they would be able to enjoy "Black Moses" in its proper running sequence.