Ultimate Isley Brothers (CD - 2000)

The Isley Brothers: Ronald Isley (vocals); Chris Jasper (vocals, piano, Clavinet, ARP synthesizer, tambourine, percussion); Ernie Isley (acoustic, electric & 12-string guitars, bass, drums, congas, timbales, maracas, percussion, background vocals); Marvin Isley (bass, woodblocks, percussion, cowbell, background vocals); Rudolph Isley, O'Kelly Isley (background vocals).

Additional personnel: Charles "Skip" Pitts, Chester Woodard (guitar); John Mosley (flute); Truman Thomas, Milton Westley (organ); George Moreland (drums, percussion); Karl Potter, Buck Clarke, Gary Jones, Rocky (congas).

Producers include: Bert Berns.

Compilation producers: Leo Sacks, Marvin Isley.

Recorded between 1959 & 1985.

Includes liner notes by Elvis Mitchell.

Personnel: Malcolm Cecil, Robert Margouleff (programming).

Recording information: A & R Studios, NY; Bearsville Sound Studios, Bearsville, NY; Bell Sound, NY; E.A.R.S., East Orange, NJ; Kendum Recorders, Burbank, CA; Media Sound, NY; Record Plant, Hollywood, CA.

Arrangers: Chris Jasper; Ernie Isley; George Patterson; Marvin Isley.

In effect, The Ultimate Isley Brothers is the definitive single-disc compilation of the Isleys' T-Neck years -- when they reinvented themselves for the '70s as a jam-happy funk-rock outfit. Still, there are a few extras -- the Isley/Jasper/Isley hit "Caravan of Love," which fits this material pretty well, and the old-school Isley classics "Shout (Pts. 1 & 2)" and "Twist and Shout," which don't. Yes, it's nice to have this all on one disc, but the latter two hits are just sort of tossed into the middle of the track listing (and if you're going to license those, why leave off the group's other absolutely necessary early single, the Motown hit "This Old Heart of Mine"?). That flaw aside, though, the focus of the collection is really on the group's terrific funk phase; it's clear by the end of the disc that the Isleys were equally capable of delivering smoking funk workouts, socially conscious anthems, and slick, romantic ballads. It's the best introduction to the group that's currently available, and its consistently high-quality material demonstrates why they've been able to sustain a career for so long. ~ Steve Huey

The Isley Brothers have had such a long and varied career that trying to sum up their highlights in a best-of package is bound to fall short of the mark. That hasn't, of course, kept people from trying to do so, in both single-disc and multi-disc sets. Although every song on this 17-song, single-disc anthology was a hit, it severely short-changes their vital (and extensive) pre-1970 output. The pre-"It's Your Thing" era is represented by just two tracks, "Twist and Shout" and "Shout," omitting not just bona fide hits like "This Old Heart of Mine," but great cuts like "Nobody But Me" and "Testify." As a survey of their 1970s and early-'80s hits, this does a more reasonable job. But still, few would agree that their cover of Seals & Crofts' "Summer Breeze," for instance, is among their best 17 songs, even if it did make number ten on the R&B listings in 1973. One good thing this collection does manage to do is include their cool 1971 cover of "Spill the Wine," which somehow did not make it onto the three-CD 1999 box set, It's Your Thing: The Story of the Isley Brothers. Other than "Spill the Wine," every song here appears on that box set, which is a recommended alternative if you can cough up a little more dough. Or better yet, try to find Rhino's two-volume, three-CD Story series, which not only has better selection and packaging than the Epic/Legacy collections, but sensibly divides the pre-"It's Your Thing" era and the post-"It's Your Thing" era into separate installments. ~ Richie Unterberger

As a single-disc sampler of this pioneering soul group's work, THE ULTIMATE ISLEY BROTHERS is hard to beat. Just about everything here is priceless, from the early R&B classics like "Shout" to their later excursions into Sly Stone-influenced funk ("It's Your Thing"). One of the Isleys' signature songs, the iconic "Twist and Shout" is a transcendent, visceral experience that would bear even greater impact a couple of years laters as part of the Beatles' initial onslaught. Brilliant cover versions of seemingly unlikely material including Eric Burdon's "Spill the Wine" (Ronald Isley's vocal shreds the original) and Seals and Crofts's "Summer Breeze" further illustrate the band's potent versatility. minimize