Theme from Shaft

"Theme from Shaft" was recorded in 1971 at Stax Recording Studios in Memphis for Gordon Parks's film Shaft. Isaac Hayes produced, arranged, sang and played keyboards, with Charles Pitts and Michael Toles on guitars, James Alexander on bass, Willie Hall on drums, Gary Jones on percussion and Johnny Allen contributing orchestral arrangements. Released as a single in 1971, the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the defining musical statement of the Shaft soundtrack. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song as well as Grammy Awards for instrumental arrangement and engineering. The recording became one of the most enduring themes in American film music, with its wah-wah guitar, orchestration and spoken-sung vocal repeatedly referenced, covered and sampled. It remains closely associated with 1970s Black cinema and the broader cultural impact of the Shaft franchise.