The Isley Brothers - "I Hear a Symphony" (1966 Tamla)
w Holland–Dozier–Holland; from This Old Heart of Mine, Tamla – 269
Founding Isley Brother Rudolph Isley died last week, and though there was apparently some discord between the brothers in his last days the group are remembered as one of the all-time legendary musical groups. There's "It's Your Thing", their ubiquitous Funk standard, and of course their Motown hit "This Old Heart of Mine", on the shortlist for greatest record of all time...and going back further, showstopper/closer "Shout", "Nobody But Me" - made famous as a cover by The Human Beinz - and "Twist & Shout", itself a cover of an original by a group called The Top Notes and later famously covered by The Beatles.
But they also made some pretty fine covers of some bigger songs along the way, like this one of the Supremes' "I Hear a Symphony". Coming off This Old Heart of Mine the album on Tamla/Motown (and written by the label's monster songwriting team of Lamont Dozier and Brian and Eddie Holland), it's a little more deliberate than the original, really turning up the soulfulness and putting it a cut above to my taste.
Last year the latest iteration of the Isleys, founding brother Ronald and younger brother Ernie, released Make Me Say It Again, Girl, a superstar collaboration involving such big names as Beyoncé, Snoop Dogg, and Earth, Wind & Fire (sans brother Rudolph, who retired from the group in 1989 and subsequent to the album's release began a legal battle over the rights to the Isley Brothers name...). Seems like a good bet. And for even more Isley Brothers...
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