[5][6] Recorded with The Bar-Kays, the album features four lengthy tracks, including a 12-minute version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David cover "Walk On By" and an almost 19-minute long version of Jimmy Webb's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix;" both songs were edited significantly and released as a double A-side single in July 1969.

[7] Produced by Al Bell with Allen Jones and Marvell Thomas, the record was tracked by engineer Terry Manning at the Ardent Studios location on National Street in Memphis.

Isaac Hayes played Hammond organ and sang the vocals live while conducting the tracking band at the same time.

AllMusic ranks Hot Buttered Soul as one of the best records of Hayes's career, perhaps second only to 1971's Black Moses, and said the album pioneered new developments in R&B music for the 1970s.

[18] American punk rock musician Henry Rollins has frequently referred to Hot Buttered Soul as one of his favorite albums.