The Isley Brothers "3+3" 1973*****

Here I am at the second stop of my vacation, the island of Sifnos. In addition to its lovely beaches the island is renown in Greece for two other things: handmade earthenware and cooking. Potters' wheels work overtime to make everything from clay toys to cooking vessels to plant pots. Some are ornate, but mostly it's glazed red clay with simple designs. Not too different actually from the 3-thousand year old household items one can see at small Greek museums. Ideal for the (electric or, better yet, wood) oven: a lot of Sifnian dishes owe their tastiness to the slow and even cooking ensured by the use of the local pots. Try the lamb or goat mastelo, chickpeas revithada or giouvetsi - the latter is not a typical Sifnian dish, but it's best baked in this type of earthenware. Interesting tidbit, Sifnos is also home to Nikolaos Tselementes, Greece's most influential chef and writer of the first ever Greek cookbook. Such was his success that his name has become a synonym for the word cookbook. I remember that a popular book at the shady places I'd visit as a youngster was "O Tselementes tou Anarchikou", a connection I'm sure the old chef wouldn't be too proud of. Nowadays I'm more prone to read stuff like 1001 Records You Must Hear Before You Die...

...which introduced me to this CD. I know I'm only supposed to listen them all, not buy them, but if I find one for a good price I often indulge. I thought I knew what this was about: those silky sweet soul songs they made in the 70's, what did they call it, the Philly Sound? Too rich for my taste, I preferred their early 60's R&B like "Twist And Shout" or "Nobody But Me", a song initially ignored which later became a garage rock classic. When I slipped the CD in the stereo, there was instant recognition. Oh yeah "That Lady", their big hit, I've heard it before. But no... I must have been thinking of either the single version or the 1960's one which was modelled on The Impressions' sound. I would have remembered that face melting electric guitar which puts most white rock guitarists to shame. Who was that? Apparently younger brother Ernie Isley (then 21) appeared for the first time as a fully formed badass guitarist of the Hendrix school. Hendrix had incidentally played guitar for the Isleys before he became famous, appearing in a couple of singles and touring the club circuit with them circa 1964. Back then, the band consisted of the three vocalists (O'Kelly Jr., Rudolph, and Ronald Isley). On this album they're joined by younger brothers Ernie and Marvin Isley on  guitar and bass, and brother-in-law Chris Jasper on keyboards - hence the "3+3" title. Amazingly they're all real brothers, unlike The Walker Brothers or The Ramones. Well this version of "That Lady" does have the sweet silky vocals and funk beat I associate with Philly Soul, but also a hint of Latin, and fantastic guitar melding Santana and Hendrix influences. "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" is an emotive blues ballad originally written by folkie James Taylor. Appropriating white folk and pop music and making it their own is a trick the Isleys would often employ - I call it doing a reverse Elvis Presley. Here they repeat it with funkyfied versions of "Sunshine Go Away Today" (orig. Jonathan Edwards) and "Listen to the Music" (by The Doobie Brothers). Ernie shines throughout the album but Chris Jasper's keyboards are an equally important addition. He uses a lot of analogue synthesizers giving the record a feel similar to the classic Stevie Wonder LP's of the era."Summer Breeze" was a big hit for Californian duo Seals and Crofts, but The Isleys' version wins hands down: vocals, instrumentation, solos, you name it, they just kick ass... Their original compositions are also very strong: you could say mid-tempo single "What It Comes Down To" and "If You Were There" have a pre-disco sound, but they're way better than that implies. Ballads "You Walk Your Way" and "The Highways of My Life" feature luscious vocal harmonies, the latter being a great showcase for Jasper who adds a long piano intro and a crucial synthesizer solo. Not a weak song in the bunch! The CD adds a live version of "That Lady". Shorter and sped-up, with Latin percussion and up-front guitar from the beginning, it sounds more like Santana than like any funk artist I can name. I rarely get surprised and amazed by new findings any more, but this one unexpectedly shot up to my All-Time-Top 5 Soul albums list. I just can't believe it took me so long to discover it.

***** for That Lady Parts 1 & 2, Sunshine (Go Away Today), Summer Breeze

**** for Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight, Listen to the Music, What It Comes Down, The Highways of My Life, That Lady (Live)

*** for If You Were There, You  Walk Your Way