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Bio From All Music Guide
Still, success eluded the Isleys, and only after they left RCA in 1962 did they again have another hit, this time with their seminal cover of the Topnotes' "Twist and Shout." Like so many of the brothers' early R&B records, "Twist and Shout" earned greater commercial success when later rendered by a white group — in this case, the Beatles; other acts who notched hits by closely following the Isleys' blueprint were the Yardbirds ("Respectable," also covered by the Outsiders), the Human Beinz ("Nobody But Me"), and Lulu ("Shout"). During a 1964 tour, they recruited a young guitarist named Jimmy James to play in their backing band; James — who later shot to fame under his given name, Jimi Hendrix — made his first recordings with the Isleys, including the single "Testify," issued on the brothers' own T-Neck label. They signed to the Motown subsidiary Tamla in 1965, where they joined forces with the famed Holland-Dozier-Holland writing and production team. Their first single, the shimmering "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)," was their finest moment yet, and barely missed the pop Top Ten.
"This Old Heart of Mine" was their only hit on Motown, however, and when the song hit number three in Britain in 1967, the Isleys relocated to England in order to sustain their flagging career; after years of writing their own material, they felt straitjacketed by the Motown assembly-line production formula, and by the time they returned stateside in 1969, they had exited Tamla to resuscitate the T-Bone label. Their next release, the muscular and funky "It's Your Thing," hit Number Two on the U.S. charts in 1969, and became their most successful record. That year, the Isleys also welcomed a number of new members as younger brothers Ernie and Marvin, brother-in-law Chris Jasper and family friend Everett Collins became the trio's new backing unit. Spearheaded by Ernie's hard-edged guitar leads, the group began incorporating more and more rock material into its repertoire as the 1970s dawned, and scored hits with covers of Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With," Eric Burdon & War's "Spill the Wine" and Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay."
In 1973, the Isleys scored a massive hit with their rock-funk fusion cover of their own earlier single "Who's That Lady," retitled "That Lady (Part I); " the album 3 + 3 also proved highly successful, as did 1975's The Heat Is On, which spawned the smash "Fight the Power (Part I)." As the decade wore on, the group again altered its sound to fit into the booming disco market; while their success on pop radio ran dry, they frequently topped the R&B charts with singles like 1977's "The Pride," 1978's "Take Me to the Next Phase (Part 1)," 1979's "I Wanna Be With You (Part 1)," and 1980's "Don't Say Goodnight." While the Isleys' popularity continued into the 1980s, Ernie and Marvin, along with Chris Jasper, defected in 1984 to form their own group, Isley, Jasper, Isley; a year later, they topped the R&B charts with "Caravan of Love." On March 31, 1986, O'Kelly died of a heart attack; Rudolph soon left to join the ministry, but the group reunited in 1990. Although the individual members continued with solo work and side projects, the Isley Brothers forged on in one form or another throughout the decade; in 1996, now consisting of Ronald, Marvin and Ernie, they released the album Mission To Please. Ronald and Ernie hooked up several years later for Eternal (2001), a brand new selection of R&B cuts featuring collaborative efforts with Jill Scott, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and Raphael Saadiq. On that particular release, Ronald also introduced the alter-ego Mr. Biggs. Body Kiss followed in 2003. — Jason Ankeny
Ernie Isley's Bio From All Music Guide
Born March 7, 1952, in Cincinnati, OH, Ernie grew up watching his older brothers Ronald, Rudolph, and O'Kelly have such hits as "Shout," "Twist and Shout," and "This Old Heart of Mine." As a teen, he began learning to play the drums. Around this time, he and his brothers moved to New Jersey. After hearing Jose Feliciano's 1968 classic, "Light My Fire," he picked up the guitar.
While visiting a sister who lived nearby, keyboardist Chris Jasper looked up his former Cincinnati neighbor. Every summer he and Ernie had gotten together and jammed. Another young Isley, Marvin Isley, joined them on bass, and the duo became a trio. The teenagers patterned themselves after the Young-Holt Unlimited and covered jazz, pop, and Motown. While they'd be in the basement rehearsing, the other Isleys would come down and encourage them, suggesting they go into the studio. This led to them recording some demo tracks with Ronald Isley singing lead.
In 1969, the Isleys got a custom label deal with Epic Records. The It's Your Thing album was the first release on the T-Neck (a moniker derived from their homebase of Teaneck, NJ), which included the million-selling title cut. Completing music studies at C.W. Post College in Long Island, NY, Ernie joined the Isley Brothers. He made his debut on their 3+3 LP issued in summer 1973. The album yielded "Who's That Lady" and a cover of Seals & Crofts' "Summer Breeze." That was the beginning of a string of hit albums that spanned 13 years.
In 1984, the group split and Jasper and the younger Isleys, Ernie and Marvin, formed the trio, Isley/Jasper/Isley. They got a custom deal with CBS Associated Labels with their first release, the self-produced Broadway's Next to Sunset Boulevard. It yielded the number 14 R&B hit "Look the Other Way," which was in a light rock vein akin to the Police's "Every Breath You Take." Other cuts became popular radio-aired LP tracks: the steppers tracks "Serve You Right" and "I Can't Get Over Losing You." The title track of their next LP, Caravan of Love, parked in the number one R&B spot for three weeks and garnered airplay on pop and gospel stations. It was similar in theme and tone to Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions' "People Get Ready." The follow-up, "Insatiable Woman," another steppers favorite, also climbed the R&B charts. Ernie sang lead on the whimsical "If You Believe in Love." The final Isley/Jasper/Isley album was Different Drummer, which yielded two Top 20 R&B hits, "8th Wonder of the World" and "Givin' You Back the Love." A willowy ballad, "Blue Rose," with lead vocals by the guitarist, was a radio-aired LP track.
Soon afterwards, the group disbanded. Ernie recorded a 1990 Elektra LP, High Wire, that was a fine display of amazing guitar skills. In the late '90s, he reunited with Ronald Isley and they began touring as the Isley Brothers, performing a memorable outdoor concert televised on The Oprah Winfrey Show. They also scored a platinum-plus selling album with Mission To Please. Ernie also appeared on a self-titled album by R. Kelly. — Ed Hogan
Chris Jasper's Bio From All Music Guide
In January 1992, Jasper, along with the rest of the Isley Brothers, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. At an early age, Jasper began tickling the ivories. At age eight, his mother encouraged him to take piano lessons after she heard him play Motown tunes by ear. After high school, he went to study to study at Julliard. The Isley Brothers and Jasper grew up on the same block in their native Cincinnati. In 1959, the group scored their first big hit, "Shout," later covered by the Beatles, and moved to New York. More hits followed, including "Twist and Shout" and "This Ol' Heart of Mine" on Motown.
While visiting a sister who lived east, Jasper struck up a friendship with one of the younger Isleys, Ernie. Every summer he and Jasper would get together and jam. Ernie started on drums before moving to guitar. Another young Isley, Marvin, would bring along his bass and joined the duo. The teenagers patterned themselves after the Young-Holt Unlimited and covered jazz, pop, and Motown. While they'd be rehearsing, the other Isleys would walk through and suggest they'd go into the studio. They cut some demo tracks with Ronald Isley singing lead.
In 1969, the Isleys got a manufacturing and distribution (custom label) deal with Epic Records. The It's Your Thing album was the first release on T-Neck (a moniker derived from their home base of Teaneck, NJ). Jasper, as principal songwriter/keyboardist, guitarist/drummer Ernie, and bassist Marvin came aboard the following year. The new expanded group's premier project was the Giving It Back album that featured a smoking version of Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With." The winning combination worked for the next 13 years and included such albums as 3 + 3, Who's That Lady, a sanguine cover of Seals & Crofts' "Summer Breeze," "If You Were There" (covered by Wham on Make It Big), Live It Up, The Heat Is On, Harvest for the World, the double-album Winner Take All, Go for Your Guns, and Showdown. During this time, Jasper had an opportunity to work with synthesizer pioneer Malcolm Cecil, who was a key influence through Stevie Wonder and his innovative album, Music of My Mind.
In 1984, the group split and Jasper and the younger Isleys, Ernie and Marvin, formed Isley/Jasper/Isley with their first release, Broadway's Next to Sunset Boulevard. The next album, Caravan of Love, featured the number one out-of-the-box title hit that enjoyed airplay on pop, urban, and gospel stations and was covered by the English group the Housemartins, taking the tune to number one international pop status. The final Isley/Jasper/Isley album was Different Drummer, and after the group disbanded, Jasper formed Gold City Records distributed by CBS.
Superbad — not the James Brown standard — was the title of and the first single from Jasper's first solo album, topping the urban charts. The next album, Time Bomb, included the hit ballad "The First Time." He also had success with singer Liz Hogue who charted with "Dream Lover" from the Vicious & Fresh album and Chaka Khan's "Make It Last" from her CK album. Taking Gold City independent, Jasper released Praise the Eternal, a sparking collection of contemporary gospel music and a self-titled debut by contemporary gospel trio Outfront.
Deep Inside marks Jasper's return to R&B/pop music. A collection that includes the best of the old and the new. Against sheen '90s FM digital synth patches, you hear classic talk box generated vocoder lines and squishy Moog bass. There's a strong Marvin Gaye influence and in homage, Jasper updates "What's Going On."
There has been a flood of Isley Brothers covers. The lion's share of which is done by rappers. Hip-hop has been good to Jasper's song catalog. Rapper/Sony artist Da Brat had a Top Five Billboard Hot 100 hit with "Funkadafied," which includes a sample from the Isleys' "Between the Sheets" (from the album of the same name). Ice Cube used "Footsteps in ihe Dark" (from Go for Your Guns) as the basis for his hit "It's been a Good Day." Hornman Gene Dunlap covered "Groove With You" (from Showdown). R. Kelly (whose productions carry Jasper-influenced lead line and patches) produced a hit cover of "At Your Best You Are Love" (from Harvest for the World) by singer Aaliyah. — Ed Hogan
O'Kelly Isley's Bio from All Music Guide
Ronald Isley's Bio from All Music Guide
Official Site: Def Jam
For More Information: Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
The Isley Brothers - Mission To Please
The Isley Brothers - Body Kiss
The Isley Brothers - The Essential Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers - I'll Be Home For Christmas
Body + Soul Christmas
DJ Finesse - Platinum Slow Jams 15
DJ Whoo Kid - Westside Reloaded
Foxy Brown - Broken Silence (Ron Isley)
Friday
Ja Rule - Venni Vetti Vecci (Ronald Isley)
Janet Jackson - Discipline (Ernie Isley)
R. Kelly - Down Low (Nobody Has To Know) (Single)
R. Kelly
R. Kelly - The Hits & Unreleased Vol. 1 (Ronald Isley)
R. Kelly - Chocolate Factory (Ron Isley)
Krayzie Bone - Too Raw For Retail (Ronald Isley)
Life
Mobb Deep - Infamy (Ron Isley)
Nas - Remix, Unreleased & Demos (Ron Isley)
Nas - Nastradamus (Ron Isley)
Nas - The Prophecy
Nas - The Prophecy E.P. Volume 2 (Vinyl Promo)
Next Friday
Papoose - The 1.5 Million Dollar Man
Quincy Jones - Q's Jook Joint (Ronald Isley)
Soul Train Christmas Starfest
Sounds Of The Season: The R&B Collection
Swizz Beatz Presents G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories (Ron Isley)
2Pac - Better Dayz (Ron Isley)
2Pac - Loyal To The Game (Ron Isley)
2Pac - Loyal To The Game (Bonus Tracks Promo) (Ron Isley)
Warren G - Take A Look Over Your Shoulder (Reality) (Ronald Isley)
Warren G - Smokin' Me Out (Single) (Ronald Isley)
Welcome To Tha Chuuch Vol.8: Preach Tabarnacal!
Wu-Tang Clan - Iron Flag (Ron Isley)
Wu-Tang Clan - Protect Ya Neck (Thug Radio Mixtape) (Ron Isley)
First formed in the early '50s, the Isley Brothers enjoyed one of the longest, most influential and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music — over the course of nearly a half century of performing, the group's distinguished history spanned not only two generations of Isley siblings but also massive cultural shifts which heralded their music's transformation from gritty R&B to Motown soul to blistering funk. The first generation of Isley siblings was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they were encouraged to begin a singing career by their father, himself a professional vocalist, and their mother, a church pianist who provided musical accompaniment at their early performances. Initially a gospel quartet, the group was comprised of Ronald, Rudolph, O'Kelly and Vernon Isley; after Vernon's 1955 death in a bicycling accident, tenor Ronald was tapped as the remaining trio's lead vocalist. In 1957, the brothers went to New York City to record a string of failed doo-wop singles; while performing a spirited reading of the song "Lonely Teardrops" in Washington, D.C. two years later, they interjected the line "You know you make me want to shout," which inspired frenzied audience feedback. An RCA executive in the audience saw the concert, and when he signed the Isleys soon after, he instructed that their first single be constructed around their crowd-pleasing catch-phrase; while the call-and-response classic "Shout" failed to reach the pop Top 40 on its initial release, it eventually became a frequently-covered classic.
Guitarist/drummer/singer/songwriter Ernie Isley infused the Isley Brothers with a Jimi Hendrix-like virtuosity that took the veteran R&B group into a more rockin' direction, earning 11 gold and five platinum albums. Later as a member of Isley/Jasper/Isley, he sang lead on the R&B hit "Look the Other Way," and scored a number one R&B hit with "Caravan of Love." Much of his work can be heard on The Ultimate Isley Brothers, issued by Sony Music Entertainment on October 17, 2000.
Any serious list of highly influential keyboardists in the soul/pop/funk field would have to include the Isley Brothers' Chris Jasper. Jasper can be heard laying down adept acoustic piano, organ, funky clavinet, and Moog/Arp synthesizer lines on such seminal '70s hits as "Who's That Lady," "Fight the Power," "For the Love of You" (covered by Whitney Houston on her multi-platinum Whitney album), and "Who Loves You Better" over a catalog that includes 11 gold and four platinum albums. Most are still in print.
A longtime member of the Isley Brothers, singer and songwriter O'Kelly Isley performed with his influential family group for close to four decades, a period spanning not only two generations of siblings but also massive cultural shifts which heralded their music's transformation from gritty R&B to Motown soul to blistering funk. Born in Cincinnati, OH on Christmas Day, 1937 as a teen O'Kelly joined siblings Rudolph, Ronald and Vernon to form the earliest incarnation of the group; after Vernon's 1955 death in a bicycling accident, Ronald was tapped as the remaining trio's lead vocalist. Early singles stiffed, but "Shout" — their 1959 debut for RCA — sold a million copies, despite failing to crack the Top 40. Only after the Isleys left RCA for the Wand label did they again have another hit, this time with their seminal 1962 cover of the Topnotes' "Twist and Shout." After recording for their own T-Neck label, they signed to the Motown subsidiary Tamla in 1965, joining forces with the famed Holland-Dozier-Holland writing and production team. The Isleys' first single, the shimmering "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)," was their finest moment yet, and barely missed the pop Top Ten; still, the group felt straitjacketed by the Motown assembly-line production formula, and in 1969 they exited Tamla to resuscitate the T-Bone label. Their next release, the muscular and funky "It's Your Thing," hit Number Two on the U.S. charts in 1969, and became their most successful record. In 1973, the Isleys scored a massive hit with their rock-funk fusion cover of their own earlier single "Who's That Lady," retitled "That Lady (Part I); " the album 3 + 3 also proved highly successful, as did 1975's The Heat Is On, which spawned the smash "Fight the Power (Part I)." As the decade wore on, the group again altered its sound to fit into the booming disco market; while their success on pop radio ran dry, they frequently topped the R&B charts with singles like 1977's "The Pride," 1978's "Take Me to the Next Phase (Part 1)," 1979's "I Wanna Be With You (Part 1)," and 1980's "Don't Say Goodnight." O'Kelly Isley died of a heart attack on March 31, 1986, although the Isley Brothers continued on in his absence. — Jason Ankeny
The longtime lead vocalist for the Isley Brothers, Ronald Isley helmed the influential family group for close to a half century, a period spanning not only two generations of siblings but also massive cultural shifts which heralded their music's transformation from gritty R&B to Motown soul to blistering funk. Born in Cincinnati, OH on May 21, 1941, as a pre-teen he joined siblings Rudolph, O'Kelly and Vernon to form the earliest incarnation of the group; after Vernon's 1955 death in a bicycling accident, Ronald was tapped as the remaining trio's lead vocalist. Early singles stiffed, but "Shout" — their 1959 debut for RCA — sold a million copies, despite failing to crack the Top 40. Only after the Isleys left RCA for the Wand label did they again have another hit, this time with their seminal 1962 cover of the Topnotes' "Twist and Shout." After recording for their own T-Neck label, they signed to the Motown subsidiary Tamla in 1965, joining forces with the famed Holland-Dozier-Holland writing and production team. The Isleys' first single, the shimmering "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)," was their finest moment yet, and barely missed the pop Top Ten; still, the group felt straitjacketed by the Motown assembly-line production formula, and in 1969 they exited Tamla to resuscitate the T-Bone label. Their next release, the muscular and funky "It's Your Thing," hit Number Two on the U.S. charts in 1969, and became their most successful record. In 1973, the Isleys scored a massive hit with their rock-funk fusion cover of their own earlier single "Who's That Lady," retitled "That Lady (Part I); " the album 3 + 3 also proved highly successful, as did 1975's The Heat Is On, which spawned the smash "Fight the Power (Part I)." As the decade wore on, the group again altered its sound to fit into the booming disco market; while their success on pop radio ran dry, they frequently topped the R&B charts with singles like 1977's "The Pride," 1978's "Take Me to the Next Phase (Part 1)," 1979's "I Wanna Be With You (Part 1)," and 1980's "Don't Say Goodnight." In 1986, O'Kelly Isley died of a heart attack, and brother Rudolph left to join the ministry soon after; Ronald forged on, however, teaming with younger siblings Ernie and Marvin for albums including 1996's Mission To Please. — Jason Ankeny
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