The Brothers: Isley cover

The Brothers: Isley

Released

The Isley Brothers had a productive 1969, releasing a live album and two studio albums including this, their second post-Motown set. It’s an album of progression, with the band starting to assemble and refine the musical elements that would define their mid-70s peak, beginning to incorporate country and folk rock elements into their raw funk and sentimental soul style. The slow-paced, chugging swamp-funk of “Vacuum Cleaner” and “I Turned You On” further refine their bluesy-piano-riff /chicken-scratch guitar template, “My Little Girl” is the sweetest of soaring funk-soul with joyous horn lines to match, while “Holding On” ups the tempo into almost big-band soul. The album almost feels like the Isleys were working through various different variations and forms of R’n’B, soul and funk in their journey towards nailing their final sound.

Harold Heath

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