The Untold Truth of the Isley Brothers | Motown Legends

We tell the story of the iconic successful career of the The Isley Brothers.
They are a legendary R&B and soul group that started in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the late 1950s. The group was founded by four brothers: O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley, Ronald Isley, and Vernon Isley.
The Isley have enjoyed one of the longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the music industry and have spent over the course of nearly a half-century of performing.
#isleybrothers #unsung #motownrecords
Disclaimer:
Information for this video has been compiled from media sources.

[@lexdee523]

The Isley Brothers are unmatched. Ron's voice (and we all know Ron has the voice) could NEVER be duplicated. You hear him blindfolded and automatically know it's him. He was definitely the VOICE of the group. R.I.P to all the Isley brothers we has lost.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Definitely 💯

[@godiva1955]

To this day, I can listen to the isley’s brothers all day long.

[@tamikalee4441]

Me too❤

[@shirleyjones8953]

Me too ❤

[@theresalally1620]

Me too❤

[@michaelmitchell5098]

The Isleys owned every summer from 1973 to 1983 with those albums! Every single summer.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

this is facts

[@Walidx-gq3hz]

They robbed Chris Jasper

[@michaelmitchell5098]

@@Walidx-gq3hz And how!!!🤨!

[@rebasmith2518]

Yes sir 😊

[@APHinchen]

The Isley brothers sound lost its soul after Chris left

[@deanpagon143]

Whispers and Isley Brothers are long standing bands. A test of greatness.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

💯💯💯

[@paulhue86]

but The Whispers are not a band, just a singing group.

[@psackbrown1]

❤

[@darrylpowell8247]

Don't forget Frankie & Maze. Up until 2024 when Frankie started a new band using scale musicians Maze was a force to be reckoned with.

[@jamesnadell1998]

Let us never forget that in addition to their cutting edge, enduring roots music legacy, the Isleys took a young guitar phenom into their home and hearts. They fed him physically and emotionally and he went on to become the single most talented and revolutionary figure in roots music who stood astride the entire music scene from 1967-1970. He was so advanced that we still have not caught up to him. Bless the Isleys for all they did for Jimi Hendrix, The Son of Music. Ernie Isley keeps that legacy alive and is to be respected and appreciated for that and for being a brilliant player in his own right.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Definitely! That part of the story was surprising for us because we didn't know how instrumental he was in helping Jimi's career💯🙌🏾

[@annamartin3489]

Ronald Isley has a great voice and nobody sounds like him. I admire him for never leaving his group to go solo.

[@apprentessjgooden2263]

His older brother O'Kelly Isley sounds just like him, he's on songs you probably would've thought was Ronald singing

[@annamartin3489]

@@apprentessjgooden2263 that may be true but I never knew of him singing solos or a lead part but I know that no other solo artists ever sounded similar to him!

[@apprentessjgooden2263]

@@annamartin3489 O'Kelly sings lead and solo on a few Isley Brothers songs, he sounds exactly like Ronald, or Ronald sounds like him because O'Kelly was the oldest.

[@ashleypetty9704]

You must be super young 😂😂😂😂😂

[@leanester-rn5zh]

@@apprentessjgooden2263 9

[@darlenejohnson1721]

Isley Brothers ruled the 70s ☝️

[@URBANTVOndemand]

facts 🙌🏾

[@dwaynejordan6750]

Isley the Name alone is Nuff said!!!!! Outstanding for Six Decades!!!! GOD is Good 👍👍👍👍👍

[@camshottea]

Facts 🙌🏾💯

[@margaretstockton5281]

Love the Isley brothers they’re always on my playlist

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Same 🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@Mr921kevin]

The BEST R & B GROUP EVER!!!

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Facts!!

[@dowjones702]

They're definitely in my top 5, probably #2. EWF is my #1 but Isley's right there. OHIO PLayers, Kool & The Gang, are among my top 5 Funk/R&B bands.

[@tevonailes-oh5sk]

They need to make an autobiographical movie on them,Like they did with temptations and 5 heartbeats

[@URBANTVOndemand]

We agree!

[@hardingirls12]

The five heartbeats was a fictional group. Sorry to break it to you.

[@rubydawnintl]

@@hardingirls12 based on a real group like Dream Girls.

[@lisamonet1516]

@@rubydawnintlthe Five Heartbeats was loosely based on the Temptations & Dream Girls was loosely based on The Supremes.

[@jamespittman1884]

@dawnsurgest114 and the Dells also.

[@wesleymitchellrealtor9919]

They need to do a movie on them

[@genelaue8154]

Why?

[@rachelj110]

​@@genelaue8154They were better than Beetles and those guys have hundreds of movies about them

[@Mimi-zg2bh]

I need to mention how the Isley's breathed new life into Bob Dylan songs and other artists. 🎉🎉🎉🎉 They have been phenomenal in bringing versions of other artists' music a rebirth. ❤

[@URBANTVOndemand]

🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@RonaldWilliams-qh7zc]

Lay Lady Lay all 10 minutes and 23 seconds of it

[@SoCo_11207]

💯

[@leniebabe44]

They could remake a song..❤❤

[@maximusindicusoblivious180]

Thanks for this video. The Isley's are a band that deserves so much as suviors and teachers of how it's done, to everybody from the Beatles to Elvis to Hendrix. Many of you were born because some couples had a Isley Brothers record on.

[@bettycarr6599]

" What you said is true.Made romance real"!!! 💘 Never noticed the feminine look at all"!! Their Music is good"!!

[@kerryeberrie6587]

'Bout time a video was done on the Isleys...thank you!!!

[@URBANTVOndemand]

You're welcome🙌🏾

[@vincentbrown1872]

The Isley Brothers deserve a lot more credit for being the only group that has produced hits that became part of common language and sayings as long as the long-running group producing their own music for over 60 years! Hit songs like " It's Your Thing, Twist and Shout, Love The One You With, and so many others, For The Love of You, and so many others far exceed the work of all other groups including the Beatles. The Soul Train Music Awards dishonored their long history of phenomenal music produced by the Isley Brothers by singling out the songs of Ron instead of the group. Not dissing the Soul Train Awards that were the best one for our music, but that was what happens when young people who don't know about music history make musical decisions. You hear things like " Marvin Gaye's " What's Going On was a hit " instead of What's Going On was " revolutionary "! When it comes to musical art and understanding the impact a song or artist had you really have to be around to know.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Great Point!

[@sheilapalmer224]

You are so sosososo fine

[@sheilapalmer224]

You are so sosososo superb

[@QueenLeesa-mq4zu]

Q

[@mimi7434]

Lol somebody looking mighty sassy in that thumbnail.

[@CoachSherri]

I’m from Teaneck, NJ and grew up with Ronald Isley’s daughter. They are one of many that put Teaneck on the map.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

oh wow!

[@tymiahaigler2279]

yes their mom lived in englewood

[@markwilliams955]

Wow , my Grandmother,aunts and cousins lived in Teaneck down the road from the Isley's Off of Ressler Rd. I would listen to them practicing in their basement. I have everyone of their Albums.

[@CoachSherri]

@@markwilliams955 I grew up a couple blocks over on Voorhees St

[@tinachambers1376]

I love them so much 😊

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Yes they are legends!!!

[@KevinCurtisBarr]

I love the music of this band!

[@sharoncook5883]

Isley brothers a power house, A super group, So much talent, Fantastic voice's, The greatest, The best, The Legend, The IsIey brothers I love the IsIey brothers 🌹🌹❤️❤️

[@jayhooks6031]

A lot of people don't realize that after they became "3+3", Chris Jasper wrote nearly all, if not all of their music.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Right on 🙌🏾

[@uniqueorganicshaircare9880]

Chris Jasper need to get his flowers...

[@APHinchen]

I thought so because once Chris left , they sounded so different

[@dme1016]

He's been their hard-working music guy since he joined. He'd spend hours in studio production, whike the singers would eventually show up in their limos, lay the vocals, & split, while he continued to work.

[@paulhue86]

Chris was a formally trained musician who studied music at a top conservatory.

[@gary8654]

The Isley Brothers, I remember them back in the day. What a band, a tremendous band.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Definitely are 🙌🏾

[@emerycurry29]

Very informative condensed compilation of a tremendously talented group I grew up loving!

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@kayrobbie5840]

Oh that was so sad about their brother Vernon. I like their music. I never knew Jimi Hendrix was the lead guitar with this group for a little while!! Thanks for this info.

[@camshottea]

You're welcome ❤❤❤

[@apprentessjgooden2263]

Actually he wasn't, Ernie taught him how to play

[@gregoryingram7561]

What's even sadder now is when Rudolph Isley died at 84 years of age he was in a civil law dispute suit against his brother Ronald, he literally died not speaking to his brother over money as well as use of the family name, He's received criticism for doing it considering at 84 years of age and failing health, what could money do to help him, he had already lived a glorious life, what he was suing for shouldn't have mattered, loving his brother to his ending day's should have been priority, another issue for me when hearing about it was I always wished that me and my brothers were like them, on their album covers their pictures showed closeness, love for one another as well as when you see them performing on stage, because I haven't spoken to neither of my brothers in over 16 years because of our tremendous differences and lifestyles, just to find out the Isley Brothers had their flaws to, just shocking looking at it from the outside in, what Rudolph should have realized is that he retired in 1989 Ronald continued on traveling and recording making a living for himself and his family, I felt that's what Rudolph should have considered before suing his brother.😮

[@camshottea]

@@gregoryingram7561 Good point! We also have a video up here on the lawsuit.

[@Jerseylance1]

My favorite group AllTime 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@camshottea]

6 decades of hits!!!

[@bieassialaw6832]

The Isley Guys is what I call them and I thank God our ears were blessed to hear their silky smooth songs 🤎🤎🤎🤎

[@URBANTVOndemand]

🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@darlenejohnson1721]

That tied shirt, is giving me 🌈 😊

[@brendathompson2288]

😂😂😂

[@rhoward0006]

Wow 😂

[@darrylpowell8247]

That was the look of that era. Check a few of the big hair rock bands of that time. Everybody looked suss.

[@jeromegold3216]

Great content. They've been my favorite male group since 1969.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Thank you 🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@pmcclaren1]

along with EWF they are the COOLEST CATS ever! '70s were their best decade, as Ernie added his guitar genius along with Ronald's vocals to have some of the greatest R&B & rock ever!!!

[@MikeFisher67]

Awesome video on my favorite group 😎👍

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@pdxfun4888]

Legends with decades of hits

[@crackavelli2978]

Isley Bros are iconic & needs to be honored as such. 💪🏾

[@dontelindsey5846]

I thought they would have sold a lot more records. They are so amazing.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Yes they are 🙌🏾

[@DJPACMANN]

Isley Brothers & One Sister!!!

[@rhoward0006]

Noooooo 😂😂😂😂

[@kerryeberrie6587]

Stop!!!!☺

[@davey6022]

Oh no you didint😂

[@letitiacooper98]

I love them and their music to this very day ❤❤❤❤2023😊❤❤❤❤

[@blakebrown84]

The Isley Brothers are a dynamic group that continues to make great music and nobody can sing like Ronald Isley

[@URBANTVOndemand]

All facts! Thanks for watching!

[@blakebrown84]

Likewise

[@user-kf5uf5xd7h]

I absolutely ❤ them ! ..Oh the childhood memories ❤

[@URBANTVOndemand]

❤️❤️❤️

[@honeybee86-os7yv]

that thumbnail aint right.. ernie idk what he was thinking even in those times

[@camshottea]

Everybody keep saying that 😂😂😂

[@honeybee86-os7yv]

@@camshottea yes he looking a little sweet no lie and even on the other album covers he look a little sweeeeet ... smh

[@blairturner139]

Most those guys back in the day wore sht like that from super tight latex pants to big high top boots

[@honeybee86-os7yv]

@@blairturner139 YES, they did ive seen the cover albums and videos but its also the way he posing he seem more feminine then the other men in his pics.

[@rlee2651]

Call a spade a spade somebody had to get it done to em

[@worldtraveler134]

Rudolph Isley was one fine ass man! ❤😂

[@URBANTVOndemand]

😂😂

[@sheilapalmer224]

You are so sosososo gifted

[@latashawalker6801]

I love me some Isley Brothers

[@carolharris1236]

Ron is my favorite, but Chris was gorgeous! They were all handsome, though, and fiercely talented!

[@leogolive]

Everybody in the thumbnail looks like a player. Except Ernie. He looking like Men On Film.

[@rhoward0006]

Y'all so wrong 😂

[@trueempiretv4751]

Giving me Raz B and crew vibes 😂 Ronald your still my boi 😮😅

[@URBANTVOndemand]

🤣🤣🤣

[@sheilapalmer224]

I love your voice

[@keiththomas111]

Can't say nothing about Ernie dressing he was the musical genius on all the 70's records along with the master keyboardist Chris Jasper

[@patoni860]

You ain't old enough to remember that harvest for the world was there first really superhit...

[@ednhouston835]

Damn 😮 Dude sweeter than a Chick-O-Stick

[@sheilapalmer224]

You are so sosososo underrated

[@bobbie143bc]

I know the shirt tie was the style back then but Ernie took it wayyyy too far LMBO 😂😂😂😂😂

[@URBANTVOndemand]

lol 😂

[@DK-wr5wx]

It was a style for women not men, maybe cut off shirts but not tied up. We know what Ernie was and is

[@oliviapearson7856]

That hand on the hip said it all😂

[@DK-wr5wx]

@@oliviapearson7856 LOL

[@ElderHarryLJackson]

@@DK-wr5wx Notwithstanding, anybody who can play a guitar like that can wear whatever the hell he wants to...😎

[@edwesby5752]

Great Video, BUT I still cannot tell which brother is which and who the others are on their Teaneck Years album, which I love .. Especially "Take Me to The Next Phase". I can listen to that one over and over and its a great tune to play as you put the petal to the metal on the road.

[@sheilapalmer224]

You are so sosososo amazing

[@sheilapalmer224]

This is a master piece

[@aubreywhaley7729]

Pops and Ronald look so much alike

[@niecyj.1782]

sho do! I always said John Witherspoon and Ron are long lost brothers.

[@slicfangas3283]

She forgot voyage to atlanta by xplicit that sampled Voyage to Atlantis and had Ron on the remix

[@phillipbrown7655]

The Beatles would be nowhere if they didn’t record “Twist and Shout” which paid them more in royalties than any other song they wrote. That wasn’t mentioned. PB

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Good point

[@keiththomas111]

#703 This is what music is about making music that stands the test of time

[@URBANTVOndemand]

❤️❤️

[@paulhue86]

How do you tell the story of the Isley Brothers without giving equal billing to the man behind "The Isley Sound": Chris Jasper? He is barely mentioned, yet he's as important as Ron & Ernie.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

He was mentioned in the story and thanks for watching

[@dianeshea4192]

RIP Rudolph Isley. Just found out that he passed away. Gone at the age of 84 from unknown reasons.

[@LebarronBell]

There was a lot of hits by the Isley back I. Day

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Facts 💯

[@1MChantye]

No that I am older, still loving the music of the Isley Brothers, looking at the fellow on the picture/thumbnail of the guy with the girly looking shirt and his hip twisted up, is giving what its giving, oh my. Funny looking at it back then and now.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

😭😭

[@brittanymosley3649]

A series of their bio is needed. A movie not enough.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Agree 💯

[@ronaldterry2234]

We gonna fight the power

[@URBANTVOndemand]

yes indeed🙌🏾

[@ef3371]

No mention of Chris Jasper writing their most beautiful songs yet sharing the credit with the rest of the band - Harvest for the World, Highways of My Life, Summer Breeze, etc...

[@johnbrown4949]

Yo, bruh look suspect

[@nancyconyers5802]

I sang and danced to their many summer songs.

[@Mr921kevin]

THE usa NEED THIS GROUP BACK in 2024.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Agree🙌🏾

[@Dalija1979]

His Waistline is SNATCHED in that picture!!!! And he know it!!!😅😅

[@camshottea]

Absolutely snatched!!!

[@farshimelt]

We use to have a joke about getting stoned, sitting on the couch, watching cartoons, and listening to the Isley Brothers.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@keithclayton5255]

Pictures are not in chronological order!

[@idcook]

‘It’s your thing’ - used to indicate a person’s right to do as they please despite others disagreements - has since remained in use throughout the nation. Often expressed mimicking the original song.

[@didi33333]

🙌🙌🙌🙌

[@lyndiablack9098]

Write Me, was one of their early hits.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

💯💯

[@jahleillewis1743]

The thumbnail is crazy 😂😂😂😂😂

[@Reddberry41510]

They Also Won An American Music Award In 2003

[@aimee-lynndonovan6077]

Really ! They spoke to me in Teaneck N J in the 70s. I was walking down my street , minding my own business!🙄I basically brushed them off.😜anyway I’ll finish watching the video. Maybe they were recording at Sylvia s studio in Englewood N J.

[@bernardshropshire1814]

So who is that with that shirt knot and they hand on they hips??😂😂😂

[@camshottea]

Ernie!

[@veronicadixon7844]

Love all the brothers and their music but Chris Jasper did it for me IJI Caravan of Love my favorite

[@URBANTVOndemand]

❤️❤️

[@GoneBallistik658]

After leaving Motown, The Isley Brothers would have gone back to Cincinnati, but they knew how conservative Cincinnati was. So, they relocated to Teaneck instead, and of course the rest is history.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@GoneBallistik658]

@@URBANTVOndemand not trying to insult your intelligence, but Buddha Records, it's pronounced "BOO-dah". Not "BUH-dah".

[@camshottea]

@@GoneBallistik658ok

[@NDC2018]

Sadly the background music spoiled all the hard work put into this video. Couldn't listen to the end😢

[@URBANTVOndemand]

ok

[@darlenejohnson1721]

Ron still doing concerts🤔 Time to retire Bruh😘

[@keiththomas111]

He got a young wife and kids gotta make the dough 🤨

[@neal6473]

Ron Isley help made you a less give that man some respect 🤨.

[@BrowniethaDawg]

Why as long as it's still money to make and people that gonna pay why should he retire. See that's the difference between people like you who do what you do to get paid. And people like Godfather Ron isley who do what he get paid to do youngblood.

[@falanajerido875]

Great presentations. But your voice need enthusiasn

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Thanks for the feedback 🙌🏾

[@cherokeegotti4903]

Omg😂😂😂😂😂 0:31 she was digging wasn’t she?🫠

[@SanchoJohnson-sz7wt]

Checked comments to see if anyone noticed the blouse bro had on

[@camshottea]

😂😂😂

[@BlessedandHighlyFavored4]

You have to be brave man to wear a shirt tied the way his friend did…

[@constancemwalagho335]

They are better the than better whisper s

[@beccasmith723]

That outfit with the crop top....wow

[@qu3ll679]

Shirt is real hoochie daddyish

[@URBANTVOndemand]

lol

[@KiKi-bs6lm]

We know what it was with Ernie. Show some respect y'all.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@dw8024]

What was it with Ernie

[@cdh2og957]

Who did the guitar riff on "Voyage to Atlantis "? Was that Jimi Hendrix?

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Ernie Isley! We also did a video on him! Check it out it's on our channel as well.

[@cdh2og957]

@@URBANTVOndemand Okay, thank you so much. I'm enjoying your videos. Liked and subscribed 👏 👍

[@travislatigue4957]

I had no idea Jimi Hendrix played with them..omg 😱

[@URBANTVOndemand]

🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@cinnamonspice4389]

That whole first side of the 1983 between the sheets album is dangerous in the bedroom bebe choosy lover and so on. Hot to trot

[@dannydaniel8975]

Earnie l dont know about that shirt, brah.

[@URBANTVOndemand]

😂😂

[@camshottea]

lol

[@mercury4metal]

I'm sorry, I tried to finish this video, but that damn drum machine in the background made it impossible! 🤣🥁

[@URBANTVOndemand]

Thanks for the feedback we will take that into consideration when on future ones 🙌🏾

[@atsylor5549]

Did Vernon the brother that died sound better than Ron Isley? I never heard any of their older music just the classic when the Isley Brothers became The Isley Brothers

[@Imissyoulou]

Look up Write Me. It was my favorite, Your Old Lady and Shout, were great songs also.

[@dme1016]

Wazzup with that shirt, Ernie? You get it from Victoria's Secret? Or maybe, VICTOR'S Secret.....?

[@URBANTVOndemand]

lol

[@walkerpantera]

Pleeeease turn down, or better yet off, this distracting, completely unrelated music. 🤮

[@camshottea]

We have been turning it down on the newer videos 😭. Thanks for the feedback 🙏🏽

[@Anthony-to7cp]

​@@camshotteaHello

[@keep-grindin-up]

Hand on hip and looking like.... never mind 🤦🏿‍♂️

[@URBANTVOndemand]

lol

[@ifallthehippies]

That thumbnail??????What ???????