ALBUM: The Isley Brothers ‘The RCA Victor and T-Neck Album Masters (1959-1983)’

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Hendrix was once their side man. You might deem them lucky to have had a player of his calibre in their line up but, in fact, it was he who was lucky to have been a part of them.

Arriving on the musical landscape in 1959 with the Shout LP, the three brothers Isley embarked upon what would be a very successful and idiosyncratic career that cut a deep groove through a dense pack of soul, funk and r’n’b artists across the golden course of 20 years. Those were heady days when one could barely move for the bodily press of musical genius all around.

Those twenty years, one might add, were the zenith of black popular music, and the Isleys’ music – along with Marvin’s, Aretha’s, Stevie’s, Richie Haven’s, James Brown’s et al – became part of the rich, cultural backdrop of the Civil Rights struggle. And as the struggle itself got shot down with MLK’s and Malcolm X’s assassinations, so died the music also. But while it was alive and kicking, it was glorious.

Born and raised in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, The Isley Brothers – O’Kelly, Rudolph, Ronald (and a fourth brother, Vernon, who died a couple of years after their first incarnation) – began performing as a gospel-based vocal group in 1954, but their richest artistic period came as the 1960s drew to a close when they began to record in a more considered way for their own T-Neck label.

It was then that they made a different kind of music that amalgamated soul, folk, rock and funk into an aural nectar. The times were changing and the brothers embraced them. They grew into a wider group of freer minds with records like 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) and Go For Your Guns (1977), which showcased a heaven-sent ability to write, produce and arrange. From this clutch of albums came classic songs like ‘Brother, Brother’, ‘Work To Do’, ‘Harvest For The World’, ‘For the Love of You’, ‘Brown Eyed Girl’, ‘Fight The Power’ and ‘That Lady’. They had transformed from a 1950s doo-wop/gospel vocal group into a powerhouse of rock’n’soul.

This collection – The Isley Brothers: The RCA Victor and T-Neck Album Masters (1959-1983) – features newly remastered versions of The Isley Brothers’ 21 albums released for both labels and also includes 84 rare and previously unreleased bonus tracks. Also released here for the first time in its entirety is Wild In Woodstock: The Isley Brothers Live At Bearsville Sound Studio 1980. The whole package is a must for anyone young enough to have just discovered this marvellously fleet-of-foot band.

Of course, if you have the time, money and inclination, you can trawl the record shops of the world looking for original vinyl (as I once did), but if you want it all here and right now, look no further. And after you’ve listened to this? Go back to discover the wealth of gems they made at Motown before they decided to truly flex their songwriting muscles…

The RCA Victor and T-Neck Album Masters (1959-1983) is out now via Sony Music.

Jason Holmes
@JasonAHolmes