The Isley Brothers

The Isley Brothers
Ronald and Ernie Isley, 1996
General information
origin	Cincinnati
Genre (s)	Soul , funk , rhythm and blues , rock
founding	1954
Founding members
singing	Ronald Isley
singing	Rudolph Isley (until 1989; 2004)
singing	O'Kelly Isley Jr. († 1986)
singing	Vernon Isley († 1955)
Current occupation
singing	Ronald Isley
Guitar , bass , drums	Ernie Isley (1973–1984; since 1991)
former members
bass	Marvin Isley (1973–1984, 1991–1997; † 2010)
Keyboard , guitar, bass, vocals	Chris Jasper (1973-1984)

The Isley Brothers [ 'aɪzliː ] is an American soul / funk band that was formed in the 1950s by the three brothers O'Kelly (* December 25, 1937 - March 31, 1986), Rudolph (* April 1, 1939 ) and Ronald (born May 21, 1941) Isley was founded as a gospel choir in Cincinnati , Ohio . They formed a quartet with their fourth brother, Vernon, until he was killed in a car accident.

Lots of record labels

Isley Brothers - Twist and Shout

In 1956 the trio moved to New York , where they released their first rhythm & blues record on the small label Teenage Records with Angels Cried in January 1957 . Too frequent label changes (Gone Records 1958, RCA Records 1959-60, Atlantic Records 1961, Wand Records 1962-63, United Artists Records 1963-64, T-Neck / Atlantic 1964-65) with corresponding fluctuations in producers , were the big breakthrough certainly not beneficial. Only two songs from this period are worth mentioning. On September 21, 1959, the title Shout Part 1 was published by RCA , which reached number 47 on the pop charts as a crossover . Many performers have that, self-composed by the Isley Brothers song gecovert (including most successful Joey Dee & the Starliters , but Lulu and Cliff Richard ). On June 16, 1962 - now with Wand Records - the Isleys brought out a cover with Twist and Shout , which was originally sung by the unknown "The Top Notes". While the original Top Notes, published in September 1961, did not make it into the charts, the Isleys achieved their best ranking to date (No. 2 R&B charts, No. 17 pop charts). British performers in particular remembered this pop standard ( Brian Poole and the Tremeloes and Beatles ). The Isley Brothers had Bert Berns produce 10 recordings from June 1962 on Wand Records, from June 1963 on United Artists a total of 7 recordings up to the single Who's That Lady , which was released on April 19, 1964 .

The time at Tamla-Motown

In January 1966 the Isleys finally moved to Detroit to the local soul company Tamla-Motown , where their intense shout blues voices were accompanied by violins and largely adapted to the Motown sound . They were produced there by the famous team of authors Holland – Dozier – Holland , responsible for most of the million-sellers of the Supremes and Four Tops . The team, known only as "HDH" in the professional world, wrote This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You) for the Isleys , which came out in February 1966 (# 6 R&B charts, # 12 pop charts). In October of the same year, Motown released an album of the same name, from which two further singles were released ( Take Some Time Out for Love , I Guess I'll Always Love You , both 1966). Another five unsuccessful singles followed until mid-1969, when their second biggest hit followed ( Behind a Painted Smile ). After all, the Isleys stayed loyal to Motown for three years.

Further label changes

In January 1969 they switched to their own label, T-Neck, founded in 1965, which was distributed by Buddah Records until 1972 and then by CBS until 1984 . Here they landed their overall greatest hit with the funky It's Your Thing in February 1969. From 1985 until 1992 they were with Warner Bros. Records and from 1993 finally with Elektra .

In 1972 the band grew by three family members: the brothers Ernest ("Ernie") and Marvin and the cousin Chris Jasper were included. However, these three left the band in 1984 and became known as Isley Jasper Isley ( Caravan of Love from December 1985 is their biggest hit). In 1992 the brothers Ernie and Marvin returned to the Isleys. In the same year the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .

Discography

→ Main article : The Isley Brothers / Discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B
1962	Twist & shout wall 653	-	-	-	-	US61 (... weeks) US	-	First published: 1962 Producer: Bert Berns
1966	This Old Heart of Mine Tamla 269	-	-	-	UK23 (9 weeks) UK	US140 (5 weeks) US	R&B15 (6 weeks) R&B	First published: June 1966 Producers: Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier
1969	It's Our Thing T-Neck 3001	-	-	-	-	US22 (18 weeks) US	R&B2 (24 weeks) R&B	First published: April 1969 Producer: The Isley Brothers
	The Brothers: Isley T-Neck 3002	-	-	-	-	US180 (3 weeks) US	R&B20 (7 weeks) R&B	First published: October 1969 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1971	Givin 'It Back T-Neck 3008	-	-	-	-	US71 (25 weeks) US	R&B13 (24 weeks) R&B	First published: September 1971 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1972	Brother, Brother, Brother T-Neck 3009	-	-	-	-	US29 (33 weeks) US	R&B5 (26 weeks) R&B	First published: June 1972 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1973	3 + 3 T-Neck 32453	-	-	-	UK- silver UK	US8th platinum (37 weeks)US	R&B2 (38 weeks) R&B	First published: August 1973 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1974	Live It Up T-Neck 33070	-	-	-	-	US14th gold (28 weeks)US	R&B1 (29 weeks) R&B	First published: August 1974 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1975	The Heat Is On T-Neck 33536	-	-	-	-	US1 × 2 Double platinum (40 weeks)US	R&B1 (25 weeks) R&B	First published: June 1975 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1976	Harvest for the World T-Neck 33809	-	-	-	UK50 (5 weeks) UK	US9 platinum (26 weeks)US	R&B1 (27 weeks) R&B	First published: May 1976 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1977	Go for Your Guns T-Neck 34432	-	-	-	UK46 (2 weeks) UK	US6th × 2 Double platinum (34 weeks)US	R&B1 (33 weeks) R&B	First published: April 1977 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1978	Showdown T-Neck 34930	-	-	-	UK50 (1 week) UK	US4th platinum (21 weeks)US	R&B1 (24 weeks) R&B	First published: April 1978 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1979	Winner Takes All T-Neck 36077 (2)	-	-	-	-	US14th gold (20 weeks)US	R&B3 (30 weeks) R&B	First release: June 1979 Double album Producer: The Isley Brothers
1980	Go All the Way T-Neck 36305	-	-	-	-	US8th platinum (22 weeks)US	R&B1 (27 weeks) R&B	First published: April 1980 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1981	Grand Slam T-Neck 37080	-	-	-	-	US28 gold (17 weeks)US	R&B3 (24 weeks) R&B	First published: March 1981 Producer: The Isley Brothers
	Inside You T-Neck 37533	-	-	-	-	US45 (13 weeks) US	R&B8 (23 weeks) R&B	First published: October 1981 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1982	The Real Deal T-Neck 38047	-	-	-	-	US87 (12 weeks) US	R&B9 (18 weeks) R&B	First published: August 1982 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1983	Between the Sheets T-Neck 38674	-	-	-	-	US19th platinum (23 weeks)US	R&B1 (31 weeks) R&B	First published: April 1983 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1985	Masterpiece Warner 25347	-	-	-	-	US140 (12 weeks) US	R&B19 (27 weeks) R&B	First published: April 29, 1985 Producer: The Isley Brothers
1987	Smooth Sailin ' Warner 25586	-	-	-	-	US64 (17 weeks) US	R&B5 (24 weeks) R&B	First published: March 14, 1987 Producers: Ronald Isley, Angela Winbush
1989	Spend the Night Warner 25940	-	-	-	-	US89 (13 weeks) US	R&B4 (37 weeks) R&B	First release: October 5th, 1989 feat. Ronald Isley Producers: Ronald Isley, Angela Winbush
1992	Tracks of Life Warner 26620	-	-	-	-	US140 (3 weeks) US	R&B19 (18 weeks) R&B	First release: May 26, 1992 feat. Ronald Isley Producers: Ronald Isley, Angela Winbush
1996	Mission to Please Island 524214	-	-	-	-	US31 platinum (45 weeks)US	R&B2 (71 weeks) R&B	First published: May 14, 1996 feat. Ronald Isley Producers: Ronald Isley, Angela Winbush
2001	Eternal Dreamworks Records 450 291-2	-	-	-	-	US3 platinum (29 weeks)US	R&B1 (42 weeks) R&B	First release: August 7, 2001 feat. Ronald Isley aka Mr. Biggs Producers: Ronald Isley, Raphael Saadiq , R. Kelly , Angela Winbush, Steve Huff, Andre Harris Vidal Davis, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis
2003	Body Kiss Dreamworks Records 450 409-2	-	-	-	-	US1 gold (23 weeks)US	R&B1 (45 weeks) R&B	First release: May 6, 2003 feat. Ronald Isley aka Mr. Biggs Producer: R. Kelly
2004	Taken to the Next Phase Sony 512 909 2	-	-	-	-	US135 (1 week) US	R&B26 (4 weeks) R&B	First published: August 24, 2004 Executive Producer: Rene Arsenault, Tom Sarig
2006	Baby Makin 'Music Island Def Jam B0004812-01	-	-	-	-	US5 (18 weeks) US	R&B1 (24 weeks) R&B	First release: May 9, 2006 feat. Ronald Isley aka Mr. Biggs Producers: Tim & Bob, Ronald Isley, Troy Taylor, R. Kelly, Gordon Chambers, Manuel Seal, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox
2007	I'll Be Home for Christmas Def Soul B0009913-2	-	-	-	-	-	R&B38 (6 weeks) R&B	First release: October 9, 2007 feat. Ronald Isley
2017	Power of Peace Legacy 88985448512	DE28 (3 weeks) DE	AT60 (1 week) AT	CH60 (3 weeks) CH	-	US64 (1 week) US	R&B32 (1 week) R&B	First published: July 28, 2017 with Santana

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More studio albums

• 1959: Shout! ( RCA Victor 2156)
• 1963: Twisting and Shouting ( United Artists 3313)
• 1967: Soul on the Rocks ( Tamla 275)
• 1969: Behind a Painted Smile (Tamla Motown 11112)
• 1970: Get into Something (T-Neck 3006)
• 2009: Here We Go Again (DVD + CD; Charly Films F1050SF)

swell

1. ↑ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Isley Brothers in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
2. ↑ Chart sources: Singles DE CH UK US
3. ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .

Web links

• The Isley Brothers at Allmusic (English)
• The Isley Brothers at Discogs (English)