Together with a fourth brother, Vernon, the group performed gospel music until Vernon's death a few years after its formation. After moving to the New York City area in the late 1950s, the group had their first successes during these early years, first coming to prominence in 1959 with their fourth single, "Shout", written by the three brothers. Initially a modest charted single, the song eventually sold over a million copies. In the 1960s, the group recorded songs for a variety of labels, including the top 20 single "Twist and Shout" and the Motown single "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)", before recording and issuing the Grammy Award-winning hit "It's Your Thing" on their own label, T-Neck Records.
Influenced by gospel and doo-wop music, the group began experimenting with different musical styles incorporating elements of rock and funk as well as pop balladry. The inclusion of younger brothers Ernie Isley (lead guitar, drums) and Marvin Isley (bass guitar), and Rudolph's brother-in-law Chris Jasper (keyboards, synthesizers), in 1973 turned the original vocal trio into a complete band and reached the height of their success. For the next full decade, they recorded a string of top-selling albums from 3 + 3 to Between the Sheets, including the number one album The Heat Is On.
The six-member band splintered in 1983, with Ernie, Marvin, and Chris Jasper forming the short-lived spinoff group Isley-Jasper-Isley. The oldest member, O'Kelly, died in 1986 and Rudolph and Ronald released a pair of albums as a duo before Rudolph retired to a life in the Christian ministry in 1989. Ronald reconvened the group two years later in 1991 with Ernie and Marvin; five years later, in 1996, Marvin Isley left the group due to complications of diabetes. The remaining duo of Ronald and Ernie achieved mainstream success with the albums Mission to Please (1996), Eternal (2001) and Body Kiss (2003). Eternal spawned the top twenty hit "Contagious". As of 2019, the Isley Brothers continue to perform under the lineup of Ronald and Ernie.
The Isley Brothers have sold over 18 million units in the United States alone. They have had several hit songs including four Top 10 singles on the United States Billboard chart. With their first major hit charting in 1959 ("Shout"), and their last one in 2001 ("Contagious"), they are among the few groups ever to have hit the Billboard Hot 100 with new music in five different decades. Sixteen of their albums charted in the Top 40 and thirteen of those albums have been certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum by the RIAA. The brothers have been honored by several musical institutions, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which inducted them in 1992. Five years later, they were added to Hollywood's Rockwalk, and in 2003 they were inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. They received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Isley_Brothers
Studio albums
Shout! (1959)
Twist & Shout (1962)
Twisting and Shouting (1963)
This Old Heart of Mine (1966)
Soul on the Rocks (1967)
It's Our Thing (1969)
The Brothers: Isley (1969)
Get into Something (1970)
Givin' It Back (1971)
Brother, Brother, Brother (1972)
3 + 3 (1973)
Live It Up (1974)
The Heat Is On (1975)
Harvest for the World (1976)
Go for Your Guns (1977)
Showdown (1978)
Winner Takes All (1979)
Go All the Way (1980)
Grand Slam (1981)
Inside You (1981)
The Real Deal (1982)
Between the Sheets (1983)
Masterpiece (1985)
Smooth Sailin' (1987)
Spend the Night (1989)
Tracks of Life (1992)
Mission to Please (1996)
Eternal (2001)
Body Kiss (2003)
Baby Makin' Music (2006)
Power of Peace (2017)
Spill The Wine
The Isley Brothers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
One hot summer day
When I thought I'd lay
Myself down to rest
In a big field
Of tall grass
I lay there in the sun and I
As I fell asleep
I dreamed that I was in a Hollywood movie
And that I was the star
Of the movie
This really blew my mind (my mind)
But there I was
Oh yeah I was
I was taken to the place (taken to the place)
The hall of the mountain king (hall of the mountain king)
I stood high upon the mountaintop
Naked to the world
In front of me (in front of me)
Was every kind of girl
There was long ones, tall ones
Short ones, brown ones
Black ones, round ones
Big crazy ones
Out of the middle
Came a lady
She whispered in my ear
Somethin' crazy
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
I thought to myself
What could this mean?
Am I going crazy
Or is it just a dream?
Now wait a minute
I know I'm lying
In a field of grass somewhere
It was all in my head
But then I heard
Somebody say
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
I could feel hot flames
Of fire roaring at my back
As she disappeared
But soon she returned
In her hand was a bottle of wine
And in the other, a glass
Good god
She poured some of that wine
From the bottle into the glass
And she raised it to her lip
And before she drank it, she said
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill, spill, spill that wine
Come on, take that pearl
Come on and spill that wine
Come on and take that pearl
Spill that wine!
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill, spill, spill
Spill, spill, spill that wine
Come on and spill that wine
Come on, take that pearl
Come on and spill that wine
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Come on and spill that wine
Take that pearl
Come on spill that wine
Take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Come on and spill it
Come on and spill it
The Isley Brothers’ “Spill The Wine” is an interesting song that invites interpretation. The song begins with the singer lying down in a field of tall grass, enjoying the sun on his face. As he falls asleep, he has a dream that he is the star of a Hollywood movie. He’s taken to the “hall of the mountain king” and is surrounded by women of all shapes and sizes. Suddenly, a lady appears and whispers in his ear the phrase “Spill the wine; take that pearl” before disappearing.
The singer becomes confused as to whether he’s dreaming or going crazy. However, he’s jolted awake by someone saying “Spill the wine; take that pearl”. He feels hot flames behind him and the lady reappears, with a bottle of wine in one hand and a glass in the other. The phrase she whispered to him earlier is repeated, encouraging him to spill the wine and take that pearl. The song ends with a repetition of this phrase and an invitation to spill the wine.
One interpretation of the song is that the dream and the phrase “Spill the wine; take that pearl” are representative of the singer’s sexual desires. The “hall of the mountain king” could be viewed as a metaphor for a sexual fantasyland, with the women representing the many different desires he has. The wine and the pearl could signify a woman's sexual release, and the woman encouraging him to spill the wine and take the pearl represents a woman encouraging the singer to fulfill his sexual desires.
Another interpretation of the song is that it’s a psychedelic experience, with the dream and the phrase “Spill the wine; take that pearl” being representative of an experience with drugs. The “hall of the mountain king” could be interpreted as a visual hallucination and the repetition of the phrase could indicate the experience intensifying.
Line by Line Meaning
I was once out strolling
I was walking one day
One hot summer day
It was a hot summer day
When I thought I'd lay
I decided to lie down
Myself down to rest
To take a nap
In a big field
In a large open area
Of tall grass
With grass that was high
I lay there in the sun and I
I was lying there in the sun
Felt it caressin' my face
Feeling the warmth of the sun on my face
As I fell asleep
As I drifted off to sleep
I dreamed that I was in a Hollywood movie
I had a dream that I was in a movie
And that I was the star
And I was the main character
Of the movie
In the movie
This really blew my mind (my mind)
This was surprising to me
But there I was
Yet, there I was
Oh yeah I was
Yes, I was there
I was taken to the place (taken to the place)
Transported to a location
The hall of the mountain king (hall of the mountain king)
An imaginary location
I stood high upon the mountaintop
I was on the top of a mountain
Naked to the world
Exposed, unguarded
In front of me (in front of me)
Located before me
Was every kind of girl
Girls of various types were present
There was long ones, tall ones
Girls with lengthy features or height
Short ones, brown ones
Shorter or brown-skinned girls were present
Black ones, round ones
Black and curvy girls were there
Big crazy ones
Girls who were larger or wilder
Out of the middle
Emerging from the center
Came a lady
A woman appeared
She whispered in my ear
She spoke quietly into my ear
Somethin' crazy
Something strange or unexpected
Spill the wine; take that pearl
Use the wine and enjoy the moment
I thought to myself
I had a thought
What could this mean?
What is the significance of this?
Am I going crazy
Is my sanity slipping?
Or is it just a dream?
Or is this just a figment of my imagination?
Now wait a minute
Hold on for a second
I know I'm lying
I am aware it's not true
In a field of grass somewhere
I'm lying in a field
It was all in my head
It was just my imagination
But then I heard
But then something caught my attention
Somebody say
Someone spoke
I could feel hot flames
I felt a burning sensation
Of fire roaring at my back
A blaze was behind me
As she disappeared
As she vanished
But soon she returned
But then she came back
In her hand was a bottle of wine
She was holding a wine bottle
And in the other, a glass
In her other hand, there was a glass
Good god
My goodness
She poured some of that wine
She poured some of the wine
From the bottle into the glass
From the bottle, she put some in the glass
And she raised it to her lip
She lifted the glass to her mouth
And before she drank it, she said
Before drinking, she spoke
Spill, spill, spill that wine
Let's party and enjoy this moment
Come on, take that pearl
Let's make the most of it
Come on and spill that wine
Let's enjoy this wine together
Come on and take that pearl
Let's make the most of the moment
Spill that wine!
Let's enjoy this wine!
Come on and spill it
Let's not waste this wine
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Charles Miller, Harold Brown, Howard Scott, LeRoy Jordan, Morris Dickerson, Thomas Allen, Lee Levitin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Richard Grayson
I never tire of this song. It's like a mantra.
Back in the 1970s, in Brooklyn, New York, we'd cut classes from Eastern District HS to play ball, get lit, play bongos, guitars, hang w the girls at the park near the Williamsburg Bridge. It was a great time.
Isleys bring it all back.
The Godblogger
Love how the Isleys weren't afraid to spread their wings
Daniel Burns
this song went to #14 on the R&B charts in 1971!!!
CM
This song aside, you can always tell an Isley Bros song by that guitar. 👍
Richard Grayson
Love this version also.
Donna E Turner
These guys are the Best!
Steve Shiery
Love the Isley Brothers.
Beaute AnDa Beast
I didn't know they are the original singers. Wow these men were gifted from Above nothing lesser. They were made for this time and space as I see it. Smh smh amazing facts I did not after 40 years wow. These super Brothas😊
Eugene Carrozza
best version of this song , vocals are outstanding
Jarod Guidotti
@norakat they murdered it in every way