The Isley Brothers
The Motown Anthology
Universal/Motown
2 Cd/Digital download
UK Release date: 21st September 2009
Well, this has been a long time coming and finally we see the release
of this superb two CD set from one of the greatest male harmony groups
on the Motown label. Underrated in the USA they may have been but not
the case here in the UK where they were held alongside the 4 Tops,
Temptations, and Detroit Spinners as a major force from within Motown
even though much of their output did not sell as well as the
aforementioned groups, nevertheless, their music was nothing short of
inspiring and was a true reflection of the glory years between
1965-1968. The brothers did not hail from Detroit but from Cincinatti,
Ohio and although they joined Berry Gordy's empire in 1965 they had
already made their mark on the music scene four years earlier after
writing and recording the likes of 'Twist & Shout' a song made more
famous by the Beatles, and cover versions of other hits including their
take on Lloyd Prices' 'Stagger Lee'.
Like so many other black vocal harmony groups the brothers (Rudolph,
O'Kelly, and Ronald) began their singing career in gospel churches
across their home state. Their lucky breal came in 1965 where they
signed to Motown Records and were assigned the masterful songwriting
team of Holland Dozier Holland who were quickly put to work of
producing their first single for the label the wonderful 'This Old
Heart Of Mine' a song that needs no introduction and the rest as they
say is history. The brothers werre extremely lucky at joining the label
after all the initial teething problems of achieving the right hit
making formulae had been ironed out and their output on the USA Tamla
label just brimmed with that classic Motown hit machine sound.
Also, worthy of mention is that they were one of the few groups whose
recordings were nearly all uptempo affairs. Very raw, yet in places
extremely soulful with Ronald Isley's distinctive voice taking you on a
trip of a lifetime and the nation's dancefloor's (UK) ruled for almost
four years. Not only were HDH pumping out the hits for them the group
were lucky to have the legendary Funk Brothers behind them and
dancefloor favourite's such as the glorious 'I Guess I'll Always Love
You' 'Behind A Painted Smile' and 'Take Me In Your Arms' built the guys
a firm and ever increasing following here in the UK with many of their
songs getting plenty of plays on the all-nighter scene. It was by pure
chance around 1972 that their northern soul favourite 'Tell Me It's
Just A Rumour' surfaced in the UK and I remember using an EMI acetate
of poor quality on many of my gigs and the crowds went wild.
Like so many other acts on Motown the group tried their hand on cover
versions of well known Motown hits and these were included on their two
albums 'This Old Heart Of Mine' and 'Soul On The Rocks' and a mid
priced EMI Starline LP which was packed with brilliant covers including
Jackie Wilson's 'Whispers Getting Louder' as well as the likes of
'Nowhere To Run' 'Stop in The Name Of Love' and 'I Hear A Symphony' to
name a couple. There were some cracking 'B' sides to their singles too
and they are all included here worthy of attention. Make sure to check
out 'It's Out Of The Question' 'All Because I Love You' and 'Why When
The Love Is Gone' to see what all the fuss is about and I'm sure you'll
agree they could all have been hit records in their own right.
Onto disc two and it looks like Universal Music have been trawling the
archives for unreleased material and many on this CD are appearing on
CD for the very fitst time, with lesser known songs having appreared
presumeably on vinyl somewhere over the last forty years or so although
our promo CD copies don't
state which songs are newly released for the first time on CD. Opening
with the rip roaring northern soul dancer 'Ain't That Real
Satisfaction' which is guaranteed to tear up the all-nighter
dancelfloors, as indeed will 'Sure Is A Whole Lotta Woman' which is
known to be unreleased. My ear was drawn to the track 'Smile' a mid
paced melodic song sang to Jimmy Ruffin's original backing track 'What
Becomes Of The Broken Hearted' showing some real vocal dexterity from
the group and is a track which will help sell this CD.
There's more cover versions here again with 'Leaving Here' originally a
recording from Eddie Holland, a version of Marvin Gaye's 'How Sweet It
Is' and a delicious take on the 4 Tops' 1965 flip side 'Sad Souvenirs'
and the disc includes stereo versions of their big songs 'I Guess I'll
Always Love You' 'Take Me In Your Arms' and 'All Because I Love You'
before offering a mono version of 'Tell Me It's Just A Rumour'.
Speaking of mono versions I must draw your attention to the mono
version of 'My Love Is Your Love' which IS definately different to the
version we all know and yet makes for superb listening - I heard Keith
Fletcher of BBC Radio Lancashire play it last night - this mono
take will have Motown and soul fans in a frenzy and its what waiting
for these gems from Universal Music is worth waiting for.
The rest of this disc is for you to discover by buying it on release
date - trust me you won't be disappointed. I've also included some
sound clips of the newly released stuff to CD. Miss it at your peril.
Motown50 at its very best.
Rating 10/10
Windows Media Audio Samples;
My Love Is Your
Love (Mono )
Sure
Is A Whole Lotta Woman
Smile
You've
Got So Much To Shout About