The Look of Love

Recorded in summer 1970 for ...To Be Continued, with Isaac Hayes arranging and producing an extended version of the Burt Bacharach and Hal David song. The recording used Hayes on vocals and keyboards with The Bar-Kays, Hot Buttered Soul Unlimited, the Memphis Horns, and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Released by Enterprise in 1970, The Look of Love continued Hayes's run of expansive pop and soul reinterpretations after Hot Buttered Soul and The Isaac Hayes Movement. The edited single reached number 79 on the Billboard Hot 100, while ...To Be Continued topped the Billboard R&B and jazz album charts. Hayes's version remains one of his defining long-form cover arrangements and a major example of his orchestral soul style. Its lush break and slow-burning groove later made it a recurring source for hip-hop and R&B sampling.