As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

The Isley Brothers

Jason Ankeny summarizes the group nicely in his AllMusic.com write-up: “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.”

 

A short history of the band in 8 songs:

Shout – a raw classic that sold a million copies, despite getting no higher than #47 on the Hot 100 and never reaching Billboard’s R&B chart at all. (Joey Dee took it to #6 in 1962 – go figure.)

This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) – a Holland-Dozier-Holland song that ranks as one of their best (for both HDH and the Isleys)

It’s Your Thing – an appropriate title for this post-Motown hit on their own T-Neck label

That Lady – the one where Hendrix-influenced guitarist Ernie Isley really lets loose. (Hendrix himself toured and recorded with the group in 1964.)

Summer Breeze – the Isleys also had a way with covers. The 1992 edition of the Rolling Stone Album Guide [RSAG ‘92] noted that “resuscitating [this Seals & Crofts song] qualifies as a miracle.”

Fight The Power – similar sentiments as Public Enemy, but 14 years earlier

Harvest For The World

Dress me up for battle, when all I want is peace

Those of us who pay the price, come home with the least

And nation after nation, turning into beast

Oh, when will there be a harvest for the world?

Between The Sheets – one in a series of singles that RSAG ’92 characterizes as “love-me-all-over slow numbers”. Imagine Barry White doing ballads, and you get the picture.

 

Favorite Songs:

Harvest For The World

This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)

That Lady

For The Love Of You

Shout

 

Caravan Of Love (Isley, Jasper, Isley)

Livin' In The Life

Work To Do

Your Old Lady

Voyage To Atlantis

 

It’s Your Thing

If You Were There

Lay-Away

Fight The Power

I Guess I’ll Always Love You

 

Twist And Shout

Behind A Painted Smile

Summer Breeze

Footsteps In The Dark

Respectable

 

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