It's hard to believe that the first published biography of Isley Brother only appeared in 2024. This is a musical group started during the earliest days of rock music and remains active today. They have had an amazing 52 singles reach the Billboard Top 200 through six decades. Joel Whitburn ranked them the 79th best-selling artists of all time.
This absence of a book devoted the Isely Brothers has been filled Darrell M. McNeill's 3+3 - the 184th volume of the Bloomsbury's 33 1/3 series, a series of miniature books each devoted to a different record album.
The focal point of the book is the Isley Brother's 1973 album 3+3, a platinum album (more than a million copies sold) positioned at the center of their career. The record marked the group officially including the three original Isely's -- O'Kelly, Rudolph and Ronald with their two younger siblings Ernie and Marvin and in-law Chris Jasper.
3+3 included the gold record single "That Lady" plus two other successful singles "What It Comes Down To" and a cover of Seals and Crofts "Summer Breeze." McNeill discusses the albums songs in detail, providing biographical background and musical insights.
McNeill's book traces the entire arc of the Isley Brother's professional career -- their hit songs as well as the periods where they recorded for small labels in obscurity. His lively, informative writing makes the reader want to seek out tracks from throughout their discography.
The author is a fitting advocate for their music as the director of operations for the Black Rock Coalition. He devotes many pages explaining the Isely Brothers' importance and relevance within the larger history of rock music condemning the critical neglect they have suffered.Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums. 1955-2016 (Record Research Inc.), [2018]
Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles.1955-2015 (Record Research, 2016).
McNeill, Darrell M., 3+3 (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024).
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