The days of faceless backup players for the three older singing Isleys were over. In 1969, too, the Brothers added some new blood to the lineup: younger brothers Ernie and Marvin, on Hendrix-inspired guitar and funky, funky bass, respectively, and brother-in-law Chris Jasper on keys. “ Twist & Shout” (Phil Medley, Bert Russell), Twist & Shout, (Sundazed/1962). But the following year, the Isleys moved back to New Jersey, formed their own label, T-Neck Records (initially as a subsidiary of Buddah Records), decided to produce themselves and almost immediately scored the biggest hit of their career - “It’s Your Thing,” still one of the funkiest soul workouts ever committed to vinyl, and which helped define the group’s style in the public’s eye. Still, in late 1967, “This Old Heart of Mine” became a hit all over again in England, and the group even moved there for a period of time to cash in on their unexpected success. Their next singles stalled on the charts, and the group felt overly restricted by the label’s formulaic approach. In 1965, sans Hendrix, the Isleys signed with Tamla/Motown, and a year later, they had a huge pop and R&B hit with a tune written and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland called “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You).” No doubt label kingpin Berry Gordy thought he’d found yet another group he could successfully mold in the Motown image, but it was not to be. The Isleys’ second hit, in 1962, was “Twist and Shout” (later popularized by The Beatles) the next notable event in the band’s history was the addition, in 1964, of a hot young guitarist who went by the name of Jimmy James: This, of course, was Jimi Hendrix, who recorded his first sides with the Isleys and later - after he became famous on his own - would have a tremendous impact on the Isleys’ sound. “ That Lady” (Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley, O’Kelly Isley, Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, Chris Jasper) 3+3 (T Neck 1973) Though not exactly a smash, “Shout” and revenues from the group’s exhausting touring regimen allowed the brothers to move the entire Isley clan to Teaneck in northern New Jersey. They were signed to their first recording contract in 1959, and their maiden efforts for the label, including the moderate hit “Shout,” were produced by then-newcomers Hugo & Luigi, who would become a veritable hit-making machine during the next several years. The first incarnation of this family band sprouted as a gospel group in their native Cincinnati in the mid-’50s, but in 1957, the singing brothers Ronnie, Rudy and O’Kelly (later just Kelly) Isley relocated to New York to be a part of the burgeoning East Coast doo-wop and R&B scene.
1, 2003 by Blair Jackson.īy the time the Isley Brothers scored their 2 million-selling smash hit “That Lady” in the summer of 1973, they’d already been in the music business for nearly two decades. “The mixes,” Margouleff adds, “were four hands on the console: Run the tape, if we made a mistake, leave the 2-track running, back up the multitrack and start it up again to right where we were before we made the mistake, then keep going, then go back and edit the 2-track.”īe sure to check out other Classic Tracks from Mix Magazine. An amazing story of how Ernie’s legendary guitar solo actually came to be. This particular journey takes you from Teaneck, the Jimi Hendrix era and influence, signing with Motown, adding Ernie and Marvin to the recording with Malcolm Cecil & Robert Margouleff (Mi Casa Studios). Hard to believe they’ve been recording for 50 years!
Mix Magazine has a great series titled Classic Tracks, where they chronicle the recording process of great songs of the past.