The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began in 1954 as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley.
Together with a fourth brother, Vernon, the group performed gospel music until Vernon's death in 1955. After moving to New York City in the late 1950s, the group had their first successes during these early years, and rose to prominence in 1959 with their fourth single, "Shout", written by the three brothers, which became their first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and sold over a million copies. In the 1960s, the group recorded songs for a variety of labels, including the top 20 single "Twist and Shout" and the Motown single "This Old Heart of Mine ", before recording and releasing the Grammy Award-winning hit "It's Your Thing" on their own label, T-Neck Records.
The inclusion of younger brothers Ernie Isley and Marvin Isley, and Rudolph's brother-in-law Chris Jasper, in 1973 turned the original vocal trio into a complete band and led to the group's reaching the height of their success. For the next full decade, they recorded a string of top-selling albums including 3 + 3, Between the Sheets, and The Heat Is On, with the latter peaking at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. The six-member band splintered in 1983, with Ernie, Marvin, and Chris Jasper forming the short-lived spinoff group Isley-Jasper-Isley. The oldest member, O'Kelly, died in 1986. Afterwards Rudolph and Ronald released a pair of albums as a duo before Rudolph retired to a life in the Christian ministry in 1989. After multiple lineup changes, the remaining duo of Ronald and Ernie achieved mainstream success with the albums Mission to Please, Eternal and Body Kiss. Eternal spawned the top 20 hit "Contagious"., the Isley Brothers continue to perform under the lineup of Ronald and Ernie.
The Isley Brothers have sold over 18 million units in the United States alone. With their first major hit charting in 1959, and their last one in 2001, they are among the few groups ever to have hit the Billboard Hot 100 with new music in six different decades and the only act in musical history to have achieved this accomplishment in consecutive decades, doing so from the 1950s until the 2000s. The group's long R&B chart span landed them a Guinness World Record. Sixteen of their albums charted in the Top 40 and thirteen of those albums have been certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum by the RIAA. The brothers have been honored by several musical institutions, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which inducted them in 1992. Five years later, they were added to Hollywood's Rockwalk, and in 2003 they were inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. They received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
Career
Origins and initial recordings
The Isley Brothers originally came from Cincinnati, Ohio, and were raised in the city's Lincoln Heights suburb, settling in the satellite town of Blue Ash when they were teenagers. Their father, O'Kelly Isley Sr., a former United States Navy sailor and vaudeville performer from Durham, North Carolina, and their mother Sallye, from Georgia, guided the elder four Isley boys in their singing in church. The brothers began performing together in 1954, patterning themselves after groups such as Billy Ward and His Dominoes and The Dixie Hummingbirds. Eventually, they landed a spot on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour, where they won the competition. With Ronald singing lead vocals, the quartet soon began touring all over the eastern US, performing in a variety of churches. When Vernon was eleven, he was killed by a car that struck him as he was riding his bike in his neighborhood. Devastated, the remaining trio disbanded.Eventually persuaded to regroup, the brothers decided to record popular music and left Cincinnati for New York in 1957 with their parents' blessings. The group got in touch with Richard Barrett, who soon had them in contact with a variety of New York record producers. They eventually had their first recorded songs produced by George Goldner, including "Angels Cried" and "The Cow Jumped Over the Moon" for the Teenage, Cindy, and Mark X imprints. The songs were only regional hits, however. By 1959, the group had landed a recording deal with RCA Victor. Later that year, the group recorded their first composition together, "Shout", mixing their brand of gospel vocals and doo-wop harmonies, a song derived from a Washington, D.C., club performance in which the brothers had covered Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops". The original version of the song peaked at number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 and never reached the R&B chart. Nevertheless, it sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.
Follow-up recordings on RCA Victor failed to chart and the brothers were dropped by the label in 1961 and were later signed by Scepter Records. In 1962, the Isley Brothers scored their first top-40 hit with the Bert Berns song "Twist and Shout", which reached number 17 on the Hot 100 and number 2 on the R&B chart, staying on the charts for 19 weeks. The song had been produced by Berns for the brothers to teach then-struggling producer Phil Spector how to produce a hit.
Moving their entire operations to New Jersey, the brothers continued to struggle with recordings, and formed T-Neck Records in 1964.
In February or March 1964, at the recommendation of a former associate of Joe Tex, Ronnie Isley granted guitarist Jimi Hendrix an audition that led to an offer to become the guitarist with the Isley Brothers' backing band, the I.B. Specials, which he readily accepted. In March, Hendrix recorded the two-part single "Testify" with the Isley Brothers. Released in June, it failed to chart. Hendrix toured with the Isleys during much of 1964, but near the end of October, after growing tired of playing the same set every night, he left the band., Hendrix then briefly rejoined the Isley Brothers, recording a second single with them, "Move Over and Let Me Dance" backed with "Have You Ever Been Disappointed"; the single was recorded for and released by T-Neck and distributed by Atlantic Records. Later that year, Hendrix joined a New York-based R&B band, Curtis Knight and the Squires, after meeting Knight in the lobby of a hotel where both men were staying, before eventually launching a successful solo career.
After both songs failed to chart and Hendrix left the Isleys for good in 1965, the brothers signed with Motown Records. Early the following year, the group released their second Top-40 hit single, "This Old Heart of Mine ". While the Isley Brothers' recordings with Motown were more successful than their earlier works, they struggled to score a follow-up Top-40 hit with the label. They left Motown in 1968.
Major success
Resurrecting their T-Neck label that year, the brothers signed a distribution deal with Buddah Records and issued "It's Your Thing" in February 1969. The song, which featured the first appearance of Ernie Isley on bass, became their biggest success to date, reaching number 2 on the Hot 100 and number 1 on the R&B chart. The song's parent album, It's Our Thing, reached number 22 on the Pop LP chart, and "It's Your Thing" became the group's second million-seller and won them a Grammy Award. The release of "It's Your Thing" brought record label conflicts between the Isleys and Motown, as Motown argued that the group had recorded the song while still under their Motown contract. A 1975 court decision found in the Isleys' favor.In June 1969, the brothers independently recorded their concert at Yankee Stadium which featured an array of artists. The live album Live at Yankee Stadium was released later that year. They also filmed the concert which was released as a documentary titled It's Your Thing in theaters in August 1970.
By 1971, the younger Isley brothers Ernie and Marvin and their brother-in-law Chris Jasper started to add to the band's music, first performing on the Isleys' Givin' It Back. The album featured reinterpretations of rock songs mixing them with funk and gospel elements. The new members played an even bigger role in the 1972 album, Brother, Brother, Brother. Both albums yielded Top 40 hits, including "Love the One You're With" and "Pop That Thang". By the end of their Buddah tenure in 1973, the brothers had signed a distribution deal with Epic Records and made Ernie, Marvin, and Chris official members. In 1973, the Isleys released 3 + 3, which included the Top 10 hit single "That Lady" and a UK Top 10 cover of "Summer Breeze". Incorporating hard rock and folk-rock as well as funk and soulful balladry, the album became their breakthrough hit, eventually selling over two million copies.
The following year, the album Live It Up also reached platinum. In 1975, the brothers made one of their most successful recordings, The Heat Is On, which featured the hits "Fight the Power" and "For the Love of You", and became their first album to reach number 1 on the Pop LP chart, going double-platinum at two million copies sold. The brothers would have more hit albums, including Harvest for the World, Go for Your Guns, and Showdown, all of which went platinum, and yielded several Top 40 pop and R&B singles and popular radio cuts. By 1979, with the release of Winner Takes All, the brothers had incorporated disco and quiet storm music into their work. The Isley Brothers' final album under their six-member lineup, Between the Sheets, sold more than two million copies.
By then, financial struggles, creative difficulties, and other issues affected the group. Shortly after the success of Between the Sheets, Ernie, Marvin, and Chris left the Isley Brothers and formed Isley-Jasper-Isley. They later recorded the hit "Caravan of Love".