NEW ON CD
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Isley Brothers’ lead
singer is doing well
after suffering a stroke
When Rick James passed away Friday, unbeknownst to a lot of people, we could've lost another R&B brother that very same day.
The fabulous Ronald Isley, silky lead singer of the Isley Brothers, suffered a stroke while walking in London during the act's tour there. Thankfully, the 63-year-old is reportedly resting back at his St. Louis home and on the road to a swift recovery.
Isley's profile was upped recently when he did a well-received duet album with the equally legendary Burt Bacharach. But for those of us who remember the Brothers during their halcyon decade of 1973-83, a just-released compilation from Columbia Records' "Essential" series is a timely reminder of how adept Isley was (and still is) in voice, evolving from early gospel shouter to later sensual singer supreme.
The compilation marks the third time in five years the record label has packaged the Isley Brothers in retrospective form, and this two-disc set is arguably the best of the lot.
While the set documents the brothers' big hits on their very own T-Neck label during its 10-year run, also included are their breakout earlier hits, such as their seminal sanctified single from 1959, "Shout," '62's "Twist and Shout," their lone Motown classic, 1965's "This Old Heart of Mine," '69's "It's Your Thing," and the rarely anthologized "Move Over and Let Me Dance," which includes fleet guitar work by Jimi Hendrix, who was in the brothers' band briefly. Hendrix's influence would carry on when younger brother Ernie joined his older brothers in 1973. You couldn't have asked for a more spectacular intro than his own searing guitar work that snakes around that year's breakout hit "That Lady," a revision of an earlier Isley Brothers hit.
For 10 years afterwards, they were one of the top black acts around, with more big hits like "Live It Up," "Fight the Power," the Sly Stone-ified funk throwdown of "Take Me to the Next Phase" and the smooth groove classic "Between the Sheets."
It was on the latter that women would melt within the range of Ronald Isley's loving voice. And there's more on this "Essential" set that would be the perfect soundtrack for that romantic evening: a deliciously erotic cover of the Seals and Crofts' '70s hit "Summer Breeze," "Make Me Say It Again Girl," "Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time for Love)" and "I Wanna Be With You."
The brothers' disciple R. Kelly makes a couple of appearances to wrap up this welcome anthology with his production work on 1996's "Mission to Please You" and his own "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" that features both Ronald and Ernie as special guests.
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