The Chris Moeller Archives

I Can Tell You Who To Sock It To - by Aaron Moeller

I slept most of today after getting back from Chicago early Friday morning. The reason for the road trip was a last minute decision to catch Rock and Roll Hall of Famers and the world’s best and longest serving funk band, The Isley Brothers, who performed at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Indiana on Thursday.

Let me tell you this: These guys, despite 50 years of acclaim and numerous hits, are strangely the best-kept secret in the history of pop music.

The Star Plaza Theatre is in a suburban interstate community, right off I-65 eight miles from Gary, Indiana and this Thursday gig was an added performance due to the high ticket sales for the original Friday show, which is going on as I write this. Thursday night’s show was only about half full. Buying online Wednesday morning, $60 got me a ticket only fifteen or so rows from the stage. The Isleys have had a resurgence of late, due to collaborations with some of hip-hop’s finest, so, contrary to what many of you may guess, I was far from the youngest person in attendance. (I also wasn’t the whitest, but it was close.)

Along with Lil Mann, a teenage kid who was the winner of Chicago Idol, Angela Winbush, a singer/songwriter who wrote tunes for numerous R&B performers in the 80s, was the opening act. Winbush has the extra cache of being the ex-wife of Ronald Isley, the lead singer of the headliners. Winbush’s sultry performance included giving a lap dance to an audience member, before she triumphantly announced her age of 52 to the audience. The sexy, lighthearted performance than turned to a message of hope, faith and forgiveness as she announced she’s a four-year survivor of ovarian cancer and pleaded for women to get yearly checkups. Then she took everybody to church. The closing gospel numbers had everybody on their feet and shouting, and the call-and-response interaction with the audience didn’t fade as the headliners soon took the stage.

Two of the original Isley Brothers have passed away, a couple others have retired to the church, but the two brothers that remain more than succeed in carrying the banner forward. Ronald Isley, the lead singer and one of the most distinct and recognizable vocalists in popular music history, remains the voice of the band. The other remaining Isley is little brother Ernie, who was just eight years old when the Isleys first hit the charts with the original "Shout (Parts 1 & 2)" in the late 1950s. Ernie is the guitar wiz who, with brother Marvin on bass, took over the band’s leadership role in ’69 and ushered in the band’s second phase, moving from successful vocal group to hard-charging funk band, setting the stage for all the Kool and the Gangs, Commodores, and Earth, Wind and Fires that followed in their wake.

The funk on this night started with Ernie Isley on-stage in familiar head rag, open shirt and using his teeth to rip off one of the most familiar guitar licks in rhythm and blues music. Ronald hit the stage in white suit and pimp cane, singing "Who’s That Lady?" The voice has weakened just a bit, but at 65, Ronald still miraculously hits those high notes consistently. He still has a killer falsetto, even though he occasionally backs off certain notes, giving the sense that he’s pacing himself for a long show. The even more familiar opening chords, accompanied by distinctive keyboard and saxophone, brought the greatest funk of them all – "It’s Your Thing".

Then the hits kept coming. "Take Me to the Next Phase" is a 70’s dance floor milestone and kept asses up from their seats, then "Twist and Shout" made its inevitable appearance, but in a throbbing pulse incarnation, as part of a funk jam medley. Three sexy young dancers made various appearances in increasingly skimpier outfits, from flowing see-through dresses to short-skirted disco outfits and afro wigs. While the aural experience stayed consistently fast-paced, rich and full-bodied, the dancers managed to sustain the visual aesthetic of the show. It was like watching that "Lady Marmalade" video from a couple of years ago for a solid hour. There were ballads mixed in too. "Groove with You", "Make Me Say It Again, Girl", and "Harvest for the World" – all from their 70s heydey.

The Isleys’ reputation would be secure by itself if only for having sung the original "Twist and Shout", but let’s not forget their even earlier, equally legendary "Shout (Parts 1 & 2)", as ubiquitous a song as there is in our culture. The dancing girls returned in choir robes and then Ronald kicked in with the famous call to worship, "Welllllllll.... you know you make me want to SHOUT...!!!" The house lights flashed on, the rafters shook and the details of the next five or so minutes after that are still a little fuzzy. Pandemonium.

Somehow things settled back down, however, and when it came time to introduce the band and Ernie in particular, Ronald told the story of the Isleys’ parents wanting young Ernie to go to law school, but he insisted on following his older brothers into the music business. The story served as an intro for two songs that best showcase Ernie’s guitar playing - the space-age slow jam, "Voyage to Atlantis", and the familiar strains of the family take on Seals and Crofts’ "Summer Breeze", which was the highlight of the night. (The Isleys have charted with a number of covers. On this night, they also performed their memorable rendition of Todd Rundgren’s "Hello, It’s Me", but unfortunately, didn’t play Stephen Stills’ "Love the One You’re With", made famous by my solo vocal performances singing along with the car radio.)

Let us always remember that the direct line between the virtuoso guitar playing that extends from Jimi Hendrix to Prince goes through the singular talent of Ernest Isley. In the early 60s, a young Jimi Hendrix was the touring guitar player in the Isley Brothers’ band and even lived in their family home. Any rock and roll aficionado can romantically envision a 12-year-old Ernie Isley learning at the knee of the master and even see the behind-the-head and playing-with-the-teeth style as a lasting homage to Hendrix. (For some reason, Ernie Isley never makes anybody’s list of great rock and roll guitarists. Funk-era guitarists, it seems, don’t get much attention from the sorts of people who make those lists.)

The dancers reappeared after the Ernie Isley-showcase in black tuxedos to match Ronald’s outfit change. This began the portion of the show dedicated to Ronald’s "Mr. Biggs" persona, his gangster alter-ego that originated in R. Kelly videos and favors hip-hop- spiced slow jamz. Number one R&B hits and the frequently sampled "Between the Sheets", "Footsteps in the Dark", "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" and last year’s "Just Came Here to Chill" found Mr. Biggs handing out roses and sweat-stained handkerchiefs to the ladies down front. He introduced "For the Love of You" as his favorite song. Good call. It’s mine, too.

The show concluded with the girls dancing in what are surely the sexiest camouflage outfits in the history of the world for the classic "Fight the Power", the Isleys’ original tune and the blueprint for the landmark rap recording by Public Enemy. The song segued into the band jamming on some familiar James Brown riffs. "We dedicate everything we do to him," Ronald had said from the stage. Brown is, of course, the only other artist who comes close to the Isley Brothers in covering the sheer breadth of black music history... and the Isleys have had considerably more original material and success in the hip-hop era, otherwise known as the last 20 years.

The Isleys, besides being pre-Beatles R&B giants, have been blowing off doors since before JFK was president, through the Black Power/funk generation, through the disco era, through to the present. Among the originators of the "quiet storm" genre, their Body Kiss album of original songs from just three years ago, their first Def Jam label release, debuted at number one on the pop charts.

I kept my Isley Brothers CDs spinning in the car on the late drive home and believe me, put on that music and you won’t have any trouble staying awake either. I arrived back in Cedar Rapids at three in the morning. I was still wide awake at four.

posted by Anonymous @ 10:46 PM