Their finest five minutes of this seamy era, however, came with Footsteps in the Dark, Kelly and Rudy arranging gossamer harmonies over a midnight funk, as Ron crooned an uneasy lyric on maintaining "a love that lasted for so long" amid the constant temptation of infidelity, the "footsteps in the dark". Footsteps in the Dark (Parts 1 & 2)Īs funk waned and disco rose to prominence, the Isleys departed the dancefloor for the bedroom with dulcet baby-making soundtracks like Inside You, Go All the Way and Between the Sheets. A sad exhale over the post-hippy landscape, Harvest foregrounded one of Ron's deftest vocals, as he wondered whatever happened to all that peace and love, locating a heady note of hope, uplift and redemption within the downcast introspection. Even finer was this understated 1976 gem, a top 10 hit in the UK. Having emphatically conquered funk, soul and R&B, the Isleys then turned their hand to soft-pop, their 1974 cover of Seals & Croft's MOR classic Summer Breeze one of their most enduring hits. The late Adam Yauch would later rhyme over a loop of Ernie's erotic soloing for his showcase on the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique, A Year and a Day. The lead track from 1973's 3+3 fused both sides of the Isley coin, Ron singing a paean to his dream woman, while Ernie fired off a mind-blowing heavy-fuzz solo that seemed to last the entire track, reimagining Hendrix's pyrotechnics for the smooth-funk age. That Lady (Parts 1 & 2)Īs the 1970s wore on, the Isleys scored an unbroken run of hit singles and albums, juggling heavy funk with angelic, sultry balladry. Sadly, it's not available on YouTube or Spotify – so you'll have to settle for the still pretty marvellous studio version on our playlist. Love the One You're WithĪnother rock hit turned to soulful gold in the Isleys' hands, the Brothers subtly undermine the message of Stephen Stills' hoary free-love anthem when introducing it on their marvellous, criminally overlooked 1973 LP The Isleys Live: "Look girls," says Ron, after noting his wife is in the audience, "when you can't be with the one you love … just wait?" The ecstatic riot that follows leaves the Stills original in firmly the dust. Reading on mobile? Listen to these tracks on Spotify here 6. Best of all was this molten medley of two contemporary protest songs, Neil Young's Ohio and Jimi Hendrix's Machine Gun, which married Ron's wracked, mournful gospel moan to Ernie's fiery guitar excursions, the younger Isley proving himself a worthy successor to the recently deceased Hendrix. Ohio/Machine GunĪt the height of their funk success, the Isleys changed direction again with 1971's Givin' It Back and 1972's Brother, Brother, Brother LPs, covering hits and deep cuts by rock artists, including long, languid takes on Dylan's Lay Lady Lay and Carole King's It's Too Late, and a rousing reading of James Taylor's Fire and Rain. 1969's It's Your Thing and the attendant It's Our Thing LP were their biggest smashes, but this seven-and-a-half minute epic from 1970 – with its chicken-scratch guitars, steroidal horns and instrumental breakdowns – is the one hip-hop's crate-diggers sought out. They also changed musical direction, coining a muscular funk – influenced by Sly Stone, James Brown, and the Temptations' work with Norman Whitfield – that proved as irresistible to record buyers as it did to dancefloors. Instead, they formed their own record label, T-Neck, and welcomed aboard younger brothers Ernie and Marvin on guitar and bass, and brother-in-law Chris Jasper on keyboards.
Released from their Motown contract in 1968, the Isleys wasted little time moping. But what a hit – a magical synthesis of Motown's deft pop orchestrations and Ron's earthy, unvarnished vocal that reached No 12 on Billboard's pop charts and remains an unimpeachable joy today. But even with the cream of Motown behind them, chart success proved elusive for the Brothers indeed, this Holland/Dozier/Holland gem was their only hit for Motown.
The Isleys signed to Motown in 1965, at a time when Berry Gordy's mellifluous pop factory was churning out new soul superstars every other week. One of only a handful of tracks Hendrix cut with the Isleys, 1964's Testify is a furious, entertaining romp enlivened by Jimi's guitar breaks and Ron Isley's gift for mimicry, as he tries to convince us that Ray Charles, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Jackie Wilson and even the Beatles joined the Brothers in the studio for this track. They remained an enduring concert attraction, however, thanks in part to their energetic new guitarist, a former paratrooper from Seattle named Jimi Hendrix. The Isleys struggled to follow Shout even a top 40 hit with Twist & Shout in 1962 – a year before the Fabs got their hands on it – couldn't keep them in the charts for long.
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