Marvin Isley, Isley Brothers, dies age 56

[Steve Sanderson]

From my friends at Hollywoodmemoir.com

Marvin Isley (August 18, 1953 – June 6, 2010) was one of the members of the family music group, The Isley Brothers and a bass guitarist. Marvin Isley the youngest of the brothers grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, and graduated from Dwight Morrow High School in 1972.

Death of Marvin Isley
Marvin Isley died on June 6, 2010, from complication of diabetes at the Seasons Hospice within Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, at the age of 56.

[Anotherwpgguy]

I was alone on the highway driving southbound on a break from "my summer job" this afternoon. In the wilds of the north, a satellite radio is a god send.

I frequently listen to "Sirius XM Channel 53, Soul Town" ...... and on came "The Isley Brothers, This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)." I cranked the volume up, and sang along the same way I used to do in the CFUN, CKLW, and other control rooms when that song was aired. I always liked that tune because of the vocal interplay abetween the lwad a backup singers, nd the strong horn section. It also had a perfect 1.5 second drum roll on the intro to use for layunders exiting fast acapella jingles.

My throat was hoarse when I finished belting out that song, and my satellite receiver has replay capability, so I listened to it again at glass vibrating sound level.

While that song was recorded before the Marvin Isley era, you can be sure he played it hundreds and hundreds of times while on tour, and people in the audience no doubt went wild right from the opening 5 seconds of the intro.

Bye for now folks ... Anotherwpgguy

[jon]

I, like you, really love "This Old Heart of Mine". And I presume you are not talking the 1990 version with Rod Stewart fronting.

But, if you read almost anything that reviews the Isley's entire career, it makes it sound like the Motown years, when that song was originally recorded, were unproductive, etc. The truth is that the Isley Brothers scored hits on pretty much every label they were on. Including Bubbling Under, they had 57 Billboard Hot 100 single hits. On a huge number of labels: RCA, Wand, Atlantic, Tamla, Veep, T-Neck (the majority), Island, DreamWorks, Def Soul, Warner, Jive, Elektra and Def Jam.

There are a lot of Isley Brothers recordings that I really like. Weirdest thing for me though is that I am pretty sure I never heard "Twist and Shout" until The Beatles did it, but I do remember CFUN playing the followup, "Twistin' with Linda".

[jon]

By the way, if anyone is interested, I have a couple of copies of Sony's Collections series Isley CD, factory sealed, that you can have for the $2.63 I paid for each of them, plus postage.

Original released on vinyl in 1984. The CD came out in 2005. Cuts are:
1. It's Your Thing
2. Fight the Power, Pt. 1 & 2
3. The The Heat is On, Pt. 1 & 2
4. That Lady, Pt. 1 & 2
5. Summer Breeze
6. Who Loves You Better
7. The The Pride, Pt. 1 & 2
8. Freedom
9. Caravan of Love
10. All In My Lover's Eyes

[BossRadio]

Not sure who was wailing on it,and far too lazy to wiki it...but IMHO, "That Lady" had one of the hottest R/B guitar lines of the decade.What a band..and anyone who saw them open for the Stones at Totonto's SARS Fest (including Mick, who picked em) must certainly agree that they nailed the performance.