Theme from Shaft guitarist Charles 'Skip' Pitts dies at 65

[Brian Damage]

Memphis guitar player Charles 'Skip' Pitts has died at 65.
He famously played the distinctive riff on on Isaac Hayes's 1970s soul and funk track, Theme from Shaft.
Tim Sampson, communication director with the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, said Pitts died Tuesday in Memphis after a long struggle with cancer.
Pitts was responsible for the unforgettable wah-wah pedal guitar sound on Hayes' track for the film Shaft.
The '70s Blaxploitation movie remains a memorable moment in American popular culture - mostly due to the enduring popularity of the song.
Pitts' 1971 riff was angry and bristling with menace, capturing a dangerous vibe that transcended the screen and translated to the streets of a tense nation.
He also was responsible the guitar line from The Isley Brothers' It's Your Thing, also a distinctive, influential moment in American music.
Schooled by neighbor Bo Diddley while growing up in Washington, D.C., Pitts first recorded when he was 15 and had a long, historic run in Memphis after moving there to join Hayes.


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