Charles "Skip" Pitts, the Stax Records guitarist whose distinctive "wah-wah" playing on Isaac Hayes' classic Theme From Shaft made an indelible impression on pop culture, died Tuesday. He was 65.
Pitts also played the guitar on the Isley Brothers hit It's Your Thing, another song with a famous guitar line that has been sampled by hip-hop artists and used in countless advertisements, TV shows and sporting events.
Pitts had been battling cancer before his death, according to The Commercial Appeal of Memphis.
Pitts was a native of Washington. He began his career in the 1960s playing with the Coasters, the Isley Brothers and many other acts, but it was his longtime collaboration with Hayes and the influential Memphis soul record label Stax that cemented his fame as a top session musician.
