5 Isley Brothers’ Songs from When They Were a Rock Group

5 Isley Brothers’ Songs from When They Were a Rock Group by Mark Anthony Neal | NewBlackMan (in Exile)
“Shout”—(1959)
The Isley Brothers’ breakthrough single was “Twist and Shout,” recorded in 1962 and covered a year later by The Beatles.  But it’s the “shout” in “Twist and Shout” that highlights The Isley's roots in the Rock revolution.  Released  in 1959, “Shout”—clocking in at more than four-minutes (rare for that era)—takes Rock & Roll (back) to Church and folk weren’t ready.

“Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)”—(1968)
The Isley’s few years over at Motown, produced a few hits, notably “This Old Heart of Mine,” but was marked by the “white people on the cover of the album” controversy that Robert Townsend would later recreate in The Five Heartbeats(1991).  “Take Me in Your Arms” was a HDH track that gave some of the first glimpses of what the Isley’s would fully realize during the 3+3 era.
“Keep on Doin’”—(1970)
The Isley’s landed their own imprint—T-Neck Records—in 1969 and began to push the boundaries of their sound in ways that could not be simply categorized.  Get Into Something was their third release on their imprint and features some classic Doo-Wop ballads (“I Need You So” and “I Got to Find Me One”), but the title track and “Keep On Doin’” sound like mantras for their mash of Rock and Funk in the 1970s.
“Ohio/Machine Gun”—(1972)
Givin’ it Back signals the Isley's explicit practice of covering Rock acts, after so many covered their songs.  Stephen Stills (“Love the One You’re With”), Bob Dylan (“Lay Lady Lay”) and James Taylor, with a fire-and-brimstone cover of “Fire and Rain,” with a cover of Bill Withers “Cold Bologna”–with Withers on guitar—included for good measure.  The gem though their “Ohio/Machine Gun” suite in which the Ohio bred brothers acknowledge their roots and the political realities of the day (two years before “Fight the Power”) covering  Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s tribute to the students murdered by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State in 1970 and the passing of their musical comrade Jimi Hendrix, who was part of their band in the 1960s and an influence on Ernie Isley.
“Summer Breeze”—(1973)

3+3 fully articulated the Isley Brothers' sound of the 1970s, and for much of the decade it represented the outer-boundaries of Black pop, until audiences were lulled to sleep—literally—by sweet nothings in their ear from Brother Ronald. The lead single “That Lady”—originally recorded in the early 1960s—is now part of pop music lore from that period and they make another run at James Taylor (“Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight”), but their cover of Seals and Croft’s “Summer Breeze”? Just #someothashit.