js The Isley Brothers are the longest running RnB/rock act in the world, having started in the mid 1950s and still going, albeit with only two brothers left, Ronnie and Ernie, but those two have always been the most important members anyway. The band started with three Isley brothers up front singing, but when younger brothers Ernie and Marvin joined, plus cousin Chris Jaspers, they had a full band. Their early music centered around gospel flavored rock-n-roll and they scored a major hit with “Shout”, a popular song to this day. Moving into the late 60s and early 70s they got into James Brown influenced proto funk and also eclectic rock and pop cover songs. Its this late 60s and early 70s version of the band that is featured on “The Best … Isley Brothers”, a compilation on the Buddah label that came out in 1976. There are also many other best of Isleys albums out there covering other episodes of their career.

This is an excellent compilation, and represents their early forays into funk with songs like, “Its Your Thang” and “Pop that Thang”. They certainly had a thang for thangs. The many cover tunes in a variety of pop, rock and RnB modes are also excellent. Few bands can transform someone else’s hit the way the Isleys do as they present very creative versions of “Fire and Rain”, “Ohio”, “Lay Lady Lay” and many more. The salient feature of the Isleys is their ensemble vocal power, led by Ronnie Isley, one of the best romantic crooners in RnB history. As the band moved into the mid 70s, they developed a strong rock-funk sound as featured on the hit, “Fight the Power”, and Ernie stepped up as a blazing Hendrix influenced guitarist, but to hear all that you will need to seek out their later compilations.