The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers | |
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Background information | |
Also known as | The Isley Brothers featuring Ronald Isley AKA "Mr. Biggs" The Isleys |
Origin | Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
Genres | |
Discography | The Isley Brothers discography |
Years active | 1954–present |
Labels | |
Members | |
Past members |
|
Website | officialisleybrothers |
The Isley Brothers (/ˈaɪzli/ EYEZ-lee) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s.[1][2][3][4][5] With a career spanning over seven decades, the group has enjoyed one of the "longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music".[6]
Together with a fourth brother, Vernon, the group performed gospel music until Vernon's death a few years after its formation. After moving to
The inclusion of younger brothers
The Isley Brothers have sold over 18 million units in the United States alone.
Career
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2024) |
Origins and initial recordings
The Isley Brothers originally came from Cincinnati, Ohio, and were raised in the city's
Eventually persuaded to regroup, with Ronnie assuming the lead vocal position, the brothers decided to record popular music and left Cincinnati for New York in 1957 with their parents' blessings.
Follow-up recordings on RCA failed to chart and the brothers left the label in 1961, and later signed with 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.[15] The song had been produced by Berns for the brothers to teach then-struggling producer Phil Spector how to produce a hit.[16][17]
Moving their entire operations to New Jersey,[18] the brothers continued to struggle with recordings, and formed T-Neck Records in 1964.[19]
During that period,
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.[20]
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.[21]
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
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".
Later years
This section needs additional citations for verification. (March 2020) |
In 1985, the original Isleys trio of O'Kelly, Rudy, and Ronnie signed with
Ron put the group on a brief hiatus in 1990 while he recorded solo material. In 1991, Ron revived the group; Ernie Isley and brother Marvin returned to the fold. that year they released the album, Tracks of Life. Five years later, Ron Isley gained popularity as video villain Frank Biggs (or Mr. Biggs) in the music video for R. Kelly's hit "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)", which included the Isley Brothers as featured artists. The success of the song and its video helped the brothers' 1996 album Mission to Please reach platinum status.
That same year, Marvin Isley's career ended after a bout with diabetes forced him to have both of his legs amputated. Ron and Ernie have carried on as a duo from then on. In 2001, the duo released their best-selling album in years with the
In 2007, the Isleys' career was interrupted by Ron Isley's three-year prison sentence for tax evasion.[24] He was released in 2010. In June of that year, youngest brother Marvin Isley died in Chicago after his longtime bout with diabetes.[25][26] During the group's hiatus, Ernie toured as part of the Experience Hendrix concert festival, while Ron Isley released his first solo album, Mr. I, in 2010. A year later, Ron and Ernie reunited and have since performed on the road.
In 1993, The Isley Brothers song "Footsteps in the Dark" was sampled by hip-hop artist Ice Cube for the hit single "It Was a Good Day".[27]
In 1994, The Isley Brothers song "Between the Sheets" was sampled by The Notorious B.I.G. for his hit single "Big Poppa". That same year, R&B singer Aaliyah included a cover version of "(At Your Best) You Are Love" on her debut album. "Luxurious", the fifth single from No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani's 2004 multi-platinum solo debut Love. Angel. Music. Baby. also benefited from a prominent sample of "Between the Sheets".
After the break-up of Isley-Jasper-Isley in 1987, Chris Jasper continued as a solo artist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, forming his own independent record label, Gold City Records. He has since released 14 solo albums, including 4 gospel albums. He released the #1 R&B hit "Superbad" in 1988, a song which emphasized the importance of education, a theme Jasper continues to emphasize in many of the songs he has written since his days with the Isleys. In January 2013, Jasper released Inspired: By Love, By Life, By the Spirit, a compilation of love songs as well as socially conscious and spiritual tracks. In May 2014, Jasper released The One, reminiscent of the soulful R&B and funk music he wrote for the Isleys. In 2016, Jasper released Share With Me, which included a cover of the Billy Preston hit, "You Are So Beautiful" and a track called "America", a tribute to the nation and a call to come together. In April 2018, Jasper pre-released a double-A single "The Love That You Give/It's a Miracle" from his 15th solo album Dance With You, scheduled for a July 2018 release.
Jasper, who earned a law degree in 2004, has continued to write, record, and perform all the music on his solo albums and produce artists for his Gold City label, including Liz Hogue, Out Front, and Brothaz By Choice. The most recent addition to the Gold City label is Jasper's son, Michael Jasper, a songwriter, recording artist and screenplay writer, who earned his law degree in 2018. In 1989, Chris Jasper wrote, produced and performed on "Make It Last" for
In 2017, Ernie and Ronnie Isley collaborated with guitarist Carlos Santana and released Power of Peace, released on July 28 by Sony Music's Legacy Recordings. In 2019, Ron and Ernie Isley received the National R&B Music Society's[31] Lifetime Achievement Award and Proclamations[28] from the City of Atlantic City, while on stage in Atlantic City, NJ. In 2021 the brothers participated in a Verzuz with fellow R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire hosted by Steve Harvey, to celebrate both bands contributions to R&B & Pop music and African American culture.
On September 30, 2022, the Isley Brothers released a new album, titled Make Me Say It Again, Girl.
Musical style and influences
Influenced by gospel and doo-wop music, the group experimented with different musical styles over the course of their career, starting out in rock and roll[32][33] before shifting their sound to soul music, then funk and funk rock. The group has also performed rhythm and blues[6] and pop ballads.
Awards and nominations
The Isley Brothers were inducted
Grammy Awards
The Isley Brothers have won two Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.[10] Two of their songs are inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[34]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1970 | "It's Your Thing" | Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | Won |
2002 | "Contagious" | Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal | Nominated |
2004 | "Busted" | Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal | Nominated |
2004 | Body Kiss | Best R&B Album | Nominated |
2014 | Isley Brothers | Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award | Won |
Grammy Hall of Fame
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1999 | "Shout" | Hall of Fame (Single) | Inducted |
2010 | "Twist and Shout" | Hall of Fame (Single) | Inducted |
Members
- Current members
- Ronald Isley – lead vocals (1955–present), backing vocals (1954–1955)
- Ernie Isley – guitars, bass, drums, percussion (1969–1984, 1991–present)
- Former members
- Vernon Isley – lead vocals (1954–1955; his death)
- Rudolph Isley – backing vocals (1954–1989, 2004; died 2023)
- O'Kelly Isley Jr. – backing vocals (1954–1986; his death)
- Marvin Isley – bass (1969–1970, 1971–1984, 1991–1997; died 2010)
- Chris Jasper – keyboards, backing vocals, conducted string arrangements, guitars[citation needed], bass[citation needed], percussion (1969, 1971–1984)
Timeline
Discography
- Studio albums
- Shout!(1959)
- Twist & Shout (1962)
- Twisting and Shouting (1963)
- This Old Heart of Mine (1966)
- Soul on the Rocks (1967)
- It's Our Thing (1969)
- The Brothers: Isley (1969)
- Get into Something (1970)
- Givin' It Back (1971)
- Brother, Brother, Brother (1972)
- 3 + 3 (1973)
- Live It Up(1974)
- The Heat Is On (1975)
- Harvest for the World (1976)
- Go for Your Guns (1977)
- Showdown(1978)
- Winner Takes All (1979)
- Go All the Way(1980)
- Grand Slam(1981)
- Inside You (1981)
- The Real Deal (1982)
- Between the Sheets(1983)
- Masterpiece(1985)
- Smooth Sailin'(1987)
- Spend the Night(1989)
- Tracks of Life (1992)
- Mission to Please (1996)
- Eternal(2001)
- Body Kiss (2003)
- Baby Makin' Music (2006)
- Power of Peace (2017)
- Make Me Say It Again, Girl (2022)
References
- ISBN 978-0-313-34044-4.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (January 2002). "POP REVIEW; Two Brothers Who Are Carrying On the Family Act". The New York Times. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- ISBN 9780816650194.
- ^ Moses Sumney. "Alex Isley Has Her Own Thing". L.A. Weekly.
- ^ "A Playful Encounter With the Isley Brothers". Los Angeles Times. May 6, 1997.
- ^ a b Ankeny, Jason. "The Isley Brothers - Music Biography on Allmusic.com". Allmusic. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
- ^ "Gold & Platinum". RIAA.
- ^ a b "The Isley Brothers". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 1992. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
- ^ a b "The Isley Brothers". The Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
- ^ a b "Isley Brothers". Recording Academy Grammy Awards.
- ^ a b c Gulla 2008, p. 193.
- ^ Gulla 2008, p. 193–194.
- ^ a b Gulla 2008, p. 194.
- ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ Gulla 2008, p. 195.
- ^ David Edwards and Mike Callahan, The Atlantic Records Story, February 1990, Bsnpubs.com
- ^ "Bert Berns: Songwriter, Producer and Label Chief". Bertberns.com.
- ^ Wilner, Paul. "Isley Brothers: A Family Affair", The New York Times, March 13, 1977. Accessed September 18, 2011. "WHEN Sallye Isley moved her brood of children from Cincinnati to Englewood in the summer of 1959, she was participating in a show-business phenomenon.... While their older brothers toured America, the younger Isley boys enrolled successively in Englewood Junior High and Dwight Morrow High School.... Right now, the brothers reside near enough to each other to keep in close touch. Ronald lives in Teaneck, Kelly Jr. in Alpine, Rudolph in Haworth and Ernie in Englewood."
- ^ Gulla 2008, p. 196.
- ^ Gulla 2008, p. 199.
- ^ "Isley Bros. Show Lists Film Dates" (PDF). Billboard. August 15, 1970. p. 30.
- ^ "O'Kelly Isley, 48, Of The Isley Bros. Dies In N.J". Jet. April 21, 1986. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
- ^ Associated Press. "O'KELLY ISLEY", The New York Times, April 3, 1986. Accessed October 8, 2007. "He was 48 years old and lived in Alpine. Born Dec. 25, 1937, Mr. Isley grew up in Cincinnati and began his musical career singing gospel with his brothers, who performed with their mother accompanying them on piano."
- ^ "Singer Ronald Isley gets 3 years in prison". Today.com. September 12, 2006. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ^ "Marvin Isley of Isley Bros. dies at 56". CNN. June 7, 2010. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
- ^ "Isley Brothers bassist dies at 56". BBC News. June 8, 2010.
- ^ Hyden, Steven (October 25, 2011). "Ice Cube, "It Was A Good Day"". The A.V. Club.
- ^ a b "Past Honorees". rnbmusicsociety1.
- ^ "Classic Soul | The National R&B Music Society". rnbmusicsociety1.
- ^ "Productions". rnbmusicsociety1.
- ^ "Classic Soul | The National R&B Music Society". rnbmusicsociety1.
- AllMusic. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
- ^ Porter, James (July 17, 2019). "Why haven't the Isley Brothers conquered the rock market?". Chicago Reader.
- ^ "Grammy Hall of Fame". Recording Academy Grammy Awards.
External links
- The Isley Brothers at AllMusic
- The Isley Brothers' channel on YouTube / VEVO
- "The Isley Brothers". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- The Isley Brothers at the Vocal Group Hall of Fame
- The Isley Brothers discography at Discogs
- Official Website of Chris Jasper
- Gold City Records
- The Isley Brothers at IMDb