Isaac Hayes - Live At The Sahara Tahoe (1973)

Isaac Hayes took his act to the Sahara club at the Lake Tahoe area resort to record this live double album. Like his other LPs of the time, the show is a mix of originals and covers. Usually the songs are one continuous jam, one flowing into another. First up is Shaft that goes into The Come On, a long instrumental featuring Hayes on the keys, and then the covers Light My Fire, Never Can Say Goodbye, and The Look Of Love. Then there’s the slow and moody Ellie’s Love Theme. He then used his rearranging abilities to create a new rendition of Bill Withers’ Use Me. Next is the funky Soul of Do Your Thing and Theme From The Men. By the third side however, Hayes begins falling off a little. He starts off fine with a re-arranged It’s Too Late, but then tries to get into the Blues with Rock Me Baby and Stormy Monday Blues, then a dance track Type Thang, and finally a slow rendition of The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face, none of which really connect. Ike is able to finish strong however with the fourth and final side with the slow build up of Ike’s Rap VI, a cover of Ain’t No Sunshine from Bill Withers, he tests the limits, stretching the tune just past the ten-minute mark and finally Feelin Alright.
The set has a funky lounge lizard charm, but it's too much to bear at once, except for the most devoted of fans.


Side A
A1.  "Theme From Shaft"  (Isaac Hayes)  - 4:43 
A2.  "The Come On"   (Isaac Hayes)  - 4:40 
A3.  "Light My Fire"   (J. Morrison, J. Densmore, R. Manzarek, R. Krieger)  - 3:10 
A4.  "Ike's Rap V"   (Isaac Hayes)  - 4:04 
A5.  "Never Can Say Goodbye"   (Clifton Davis)  - 3:56 
A6.  "Windows Of The World"   (B. Bacharach, H. David)  - 7:44 

Side B
B1.  "The Look Of Love"   (B. Bacharach, H. David)  - 4:14 
B2.  "Ellie's Love Theme"   (Isaac Hayes)  - 3:18 
B3.  "Use Me"   (Bill Withers)  - 5:10 
B4.  "Do Your Thing"   (Isaac Hayes)  - 7:21 
B5.  "Theme From The Men"   (Isaac Hayes)  - 3:27 

Side C
C1.  "It's Too Late"   (Carole King, Toni Stern)  - 5:39 
C2.  "Rock Me Baby"   (B.B. King, Joe Josea)  - 5:30 
C3.  "Stormy Monday Blues"   (Aaron Walker)  - 3:05 
C4.  "Type Thang"   (Isaac Hayes)  - 3:29 
C5.  "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"  (Ewan MacColl)  - 4:52 

Side D
D1.  "Ike's Rap VI"   (Isaac Hayes)  - 6:29 
D2.  "Ain't No Sunshine"   (Bill Withers)  - 10:36 
D3.  "Feelin' Alright"   (Dave Mason)  - 5:32 

Credits
Vocals [Uncredited], Piano, Organ, Tambourine, Producer, Arranged By – Isaac Hayes
Percussion, Congas – Gary Jones
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – William Easley, Calvin Bennett, Tommy Williams
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Ben Cauley, Mickey Gregory, William Taylor
Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar [Alternate] – Anthony Shinault
Keyboards – Lester Snell, Sidney Kirk
Lead Guitar – Charles "Skip" Pitts
Drums – Willie Hall
Backing Vocals [Background Voices By] – Hot Buttered Soul, Ltd.
Baritone Saxophone, Flute – Floyd Newman
Bass – William Murphy
Acoustic Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Sammy Watts
Alto Saxophone, Flute – Emerson Able
MC [Emcee] – Randy Stewart
Orchestrated By, Conductor [Conducted By] – Onzie Horne
Accompanied By – Al Trouti Orchestra, The Memphis Symphony Orchestra
Accompanied By [Rhythm, Woodwinds, Brass] – The Movement
Arranged By [Background Vocals] – Pat Lewis
Art Direction [Graphic Direction], Design – David Hogan, Ron Gorden
Creative Director [Creative Direction] – Larry Shaw, Ron Gorden
Engineer – Dave Purple, Henry Bush, Pete Bishop, William Brown
Engineer [Re-Mix] – D. Purple, H. Bush, I. Hayes, P. Bishop, W. Brown
Engineer [The Isaac Hayes Movement Sound Engineers] – Oscar (Sonny) Smith, Roosevelt (Head) Green
Mastered By – L. Nix, P. Bishop
Photography By – David Rose, Fred Toma, Howard L. Bingham
Supervised By [Creative Supervision] – Isaac Hayes

Notes
Liner Notes – Leonard Feather
Genre: Funk, Rhythm & Blues, Soul
Length: 1:43:10

© 1973 Enterprise Records / Stax Records, Inc.