The Isley Brothers are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, the group has enjoyed one of the "longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music".
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and shortly became the biggest selling Motown single up to that time.
"That's the Way Love Is" is a 1967 Tamla (Motown) single recorded by The Isley Brothers and produced by Norman Whitfield.
T-Neck Records was a record label founded by members of the R&B/soul group The Isley Brothers in 1964, which became notable for distributing the first nationally-released recordings of Jimi Hendrix, their guitarist, and which later became a successful label after the Isleys began releasing their own works after years of recording for other labels, scoring hits such as "It's Your Thing" (1969) and "That Lady" (1973).
Marva Whitney was an American funk singer commonly referred to by her honorary title, Soul Sister #1. Whitney was considered by many funk enthusiasts to be one of the "rawest" and "brassiest" music divas.
"Stubborn Kind of Fellow" is a 1962 song recorded by Marvin Gaye for the Tamla label. Co-written by Gaye and produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" became Gaye's first hit single, reaching the top 10 of the R&B chart and the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1962.
O'Kelly "Kelly" Isley Jr. was an American singer and one of the founding members of the family group the Isley Brothers.
"This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" is a Holland–Dozier–Holland song that was a hit for American musical group the Isley Brothers in January 1966 during their brief tenure on Motown's Tamla label. Featuring Ronald Isley on lead vocal, "This Old Heart of Mine" peaked at number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100, and at number six on the Billboard R&B Singles chart.
"For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965.
This Old Heart of Mine is the fourth studio album released by The Isley Brothers in 1966, on the Tamla (Motown) label. The album, their first with the seminal Detroit-based music label, yielded the Isleys' biggest hit in their early period with the title track, "This Old Heart of Mine ". Other charted singles including "Take Some Time Out for Love" and "I Guess I'll Always Love You".
The Brothers: Isley is the seventh album released by The Isley Brothers on their own T-Neck label on October 18, 1969. After years with other labels and fresh off the success of the It's Our Thing (1969) album, which included the hit title track, "It's Your Thing", the Isley Brothers celebrated their newfound independence by releasing another new album that year with this LP. The album yielded the Billboard Top 40 pop hit, "I Turned You On" and subsequent charters, "Was It Good to You?" and "Black Berries". It was also their second full venture into funk music, a genre they would dominate in the coming years. The album was remastered and expanded for inclusion in the 2015 released CD box set The RCA Victor & T-Neck Album Masters (1959–1983).
It's Our Thing is the sixth album released by The Isley Brothers on their own T-Neck Records imprint in April 1969. Fully emancipated from three and a half years in Motown Records and encouraged by their international success in the United Kingdom, the Isleys composed this album in the style of Sly & the Family Stone/James Brown funk that was dominating the music industry at the time but with their own flair as explained in their smash "It's Your Thing". Other hits off the album though it didn't chart included "I Know Who You Been Socking It To" and "Give the Women What They Want". This album was also the Isleys' first Top 40 record reaching #22 on the pop albums chart. Curiously, despite its importance in the career of the seminal group, this album was not released in CD format until 2008. The album was remastered and expanded for inclusion in the 2015 released CD box set "The RCA Victor & T-Neck Album Masters, 1959-1983". Although not featured on the album's cover, It's Our Thing marks the first Isley Brothers album to feature Ernie Isley on bass guitar.
"I Turned You On" is a 1969 funk song by The Isley Brothers, released on their T-Neck imprint. The single was almost as big a hit as their predecessor, "It's Your Thing", reaching number six on the R&B chart and number twenty-three on the pop chart.
"Keep On Doin'" is a song recorded by The Isley Brothers, who released the song from their 1970 album, Get into Something. Though the track's chart performance was modest at best, it would later inspire the funk instrumental, "The Grunt", recorded by James Brown's backing band at the time, The J.B.'s.
"Footsteps in the Dark" is a 1977 slow jam recorded by The Isley Brothers as an album track featured on the group's album Go for Your Guns. It was the B-side to "Groove with You", which reached number 16 on the R&B singles chart. The song is noted for its unique guitar timbre which can be heard on other Isley Brother tracks such as "Voyage to Atlantis", as well as marking Ron Isley's growing transition into singing more ballads compared to the band's earlier funk approach.
"Put Yourself in My Place" is a song written by the Motown team of Holland–Dozier–Holland and recorded by at least four Motown recording acts during the sixties: The Elgins in 1965, The Supremes, Chris Clark and The Isley Brothers in 1966.
Hot Dog is an album by jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson recorded for the Blue Note label in 1969 and featuring Donaldson with Ed Williams, Charles Earland, Melvin Sparks, and Leo Morris. The album features Donaldson using the varitone amplification system for his saxophone.
Twisting and Shouting is the third album released by The Isley Brothers in 1963, credited as The Famous Isley Brothers, on the United Artists label. Their third album after Twist & Shout one year prior, the album was released with none of the songs making the singles chart, and preceded a three-year gap before the brothers' next album, This Old Heart of Mine (1966), which would see them move to Berry Gordy's Motown label. In 1991, the album was reissued on CD with extra tracks and retitled The Complete United Artists Sessions.
A Pocket Full of Miracles (TS306) is a 1970 album by Motown Records R&B group The Miracles, issued on its Tamla subsidiary label, one of three albums the group released that year. This album charted at #56 on the Billboard pop albums chart, and reached the top ten of the magazine's R&B albums chart, peaking at #10. It was released on September 30 of that year. Hit singles on the album included "Point It Out" and the topical Ashford & Simpson written-and-produced song "Who's Gonna Take the Blame", a sad, dark song about a girl that is turned out as a prostitute. Also included is the charting flip side "Darling Dear", B-side of "Point It Out", which reached #100 on the Billboard pop chart, and spawned a cover version by The Jackson Five.
For Record Store Day, April 16, 2016, the 7" single that followed Golden's 1969 debut, Motor-Cycle was reissued on High Moon Records with the participation of Warner Bros. Records and Rhino Records. The reissue, like the 1969 version, is a mash-up- funk cover of The Isley Brothers', It's Your Thing and "Sock it To Me Baby" written by the album's producer Bob Crewe. "Annabelle With Bells ," on the B-side, is a soulful, girl-group inspired song written by Golden. The reissue contains a picture sleeve with new cover art, a previously unreleased photo of Golden, and remastered audio. "Annabelle With Bells ," did not appear on the 1969 LP due to time constraints in a pre-digital world, and is exclusively available on the single.
