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)
Twist & Shout
The Isley Brothers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Twist and shout
Come on baby now
Come on and work it on out
Well work it on out, honey
You know you look so good
You know you got me goin' now
Just like I know you would
Well, shake it up baby now
Twist and shout
Come on, come on, come, come on baby now
Come on and work it on out
You know you twist, little girl
You know you twist so fine
Come on and twist a little closer now
And let me know that you're mine, woo
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Yeah, shake it up baby now
Twist and shout, shake it up, work it on out
Well shake it, shake it, shake it, baby
Ooh
The Isley Brothers song "Twist and Shout" is a classic rock and roll song about dancing and having a good time. The first verse is an invitation to the listener to join in the fun and shake it up, twist and shout. The singer encourages the listener to work it on out, and honey, you look so good. The second verse pays homage to the dancing skills of the listener, the little girl who can twist so fine. The singer wants the listener to come closer and let him know that she's his.
The repeated lines of the chorus create a joyful atmosphere, encouraging the listener to shake it up, work it on out, and twist and shout. The song's upbeat tempo and catchy melody make it an irresistible dance tune. The Isley Brothers were known for their energetic live performances, and "Twist and Shout" was a crowd-pleaser.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, shake it up baby now
I want you to shake things up and make things more exciting
Twist and shout
Dance with joy and express your emotions through movement and sound
Come on baby now
Don't be shy or hesitant, let's do this together
Come on and work it on out
Let's keep dancing and having fun until we're exhausted
Well work it on out, honey
Let's keep moving and working together until we reach our goal
You know you look so good
You're beautiful and attractive, and I can't resist you
You know you got me goin' now
You have me under your spell and I can't help but be drawn to you
Just like I know you would
You're living up to my expectations and making me happy
Come on, come on, come, come on baby now
I want you to keep dancing and having fun with me
You know you twist, little girl
You have a unique and attractive way of dancing
You know you twist so fine
Your dance moves are amazing and I can't take my eyes off you
Come on and twist a little closer now
Let's dance closer together and keep enjoying ourselves
And let me know that you're mine, woo
I want to feel more connected with you and know that you feel the same way
Yeah, shake it up baby now
Let's keep the party going and have more fun
Twist and shout, shake it up, work it on out
Let's combine all of our dance moves and energy to make this an unforgettable experience
Well shake it, shake it, shake it, baby
I can't get enough of your dance moves and want to keep dancing with you
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Bert Russell, Phil Medley
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mike8903
@tacticalboi Bert Berns wrote the song and the first recording of it was by "the top notes" produced by Phil Spector. Berns hated Spectors production so Bert produced this version with the Isley Brothers.
@zhou_sei
interesting. and to think, phil was famous for his production style (although now infamous for his insanity)...
thanks for sharing
@cactuspixel
Great tune kids today (Millennials) dont know real music they only like having dreadlocks and not working at all while eating their avacodas,
my wife died in.1981 from gallbladder disease
-Ted Phillips
@zhou_sei
@Keith Sumner sucks about his wife, but ted phillips really sounds like a miserable and out of touch old fart with that there quote.
@cactuspixel
@zhou sei Gravey RRecipe googel
@burtbosma5200
The Top Notes version is appalling, so Berns got that right. This is good, and The Beatles clearly copied the arrangement, but their version makes it so much more exciting as a song, so deserves to be remembered as the standard.
@MuhammadFarukh
Can we appreciate both this version and The Beatles version without insulting either one of them?
@2bobaf
+Muhammad Farrukh Of course we can.
@brendanh792
yeah we can
@vashna3799
Well said, Paul McCartney would be embarrassed to read all these comments.