T-Neck/Sony
The Isleys sometimes get overlooked in the discussion of great '60s/'70s R&B acts. That's just wrong. (By the way, the band is the only one that I know of that scored at least one hit in the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s.) Harvest For the World (1976) deftly blends all the group's benchmarks: the breezy feel of the utopian-themed title track; a couple of grinding funk tracks laced with Ernie Isley's post-Hendrix guitar and the requisite set of ballads featuring Ronald Isley's exquisite falsetto.
This article appears in Apr 11-17, 2007.