![]() This was the kind of magic that Jasper created with the Isley Brothers from 1973’s 3 + 3 to 1983’s Between The Sheets. It may have been Ron Isley’s voice and face that became symbols of the group, but it was Jasper’s creativity that gave them songs like “For The Love Of You” and “Between The Sheets.” In fact, despite the record label credits, Jasper has said that he wrote, produced and played all the instruments on “Between The Sheets,” a song that has since become one of the most sampled tunes in hip-hop history. In fact, Jasper was at times solely responsible for their biggest hits. The brother-in-law of Rudolph Isley, Jasper brought to the group a classic knowledge of music that the brothers had lacked. One of the biggest reasons for the band’s transformation and newfound success in the 1970s was the only member not bearing the Isley’s name: Chris Jasper. Sure, they threw in a few covers of others’ hits along the way, including memorable versions of tunes like Seals and Crofts’ “Summer Breeze,” or Todd Rundgren’s “Hello It’s Me.” But the bulk of their material was their own.Īnd that material began to bear a sound that became uniquely theirs, with rock-sounding electric guitars, hard-hitting rhythm tracks and sophisticated keyboard and synthesizer riffs that were no doubt the work of the three new additions to the group.Īnd suddenly, the band went from having a few big hits in the ‘60s and early ‘70s, to regularly releasing gold and platinum albums and singles and creating a musical legacy that would ultimately land them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992) and earn them a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2014). But more importantly, they became a full-fledged self-contained entity: composing, conducting, producing and singing all their original material. ![]() With the addition of the three younger members, the trio became a superstar sextet. ![]() The Isley Brothers’ first album with all six members, 1973’s 3 + 3, including Chris Jasper (back center). Two younger brothers, Ernie and Marvin, and one brother-in-law, Chris Jasper, were added as official members (after Jasper had contributed to the trio’s 1972 album, Brother, Brother, Brother by writing the ballad “Love Put Me On The Corner”). Then in 1973, something happened that transformed the already popular R&B-funk-rock trio into major megastars twice that size. Between 1969 and ’72, the brothers wrote and produced memorable early Isley hits, including “It’s Your Thing,” “I Turned You On,” “Pop That Thang,” “Lay-Away,” and “Work To Do.” It wasn’t until 1969, when the band left Motown’s Tamla label and its stable of writers and producers including Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier & Brian Holland and Barrett Strong & Norman Whitfield, that the Isleys – at the time a trio of just the older brothers O’Kelly, Rudolph and Ronald – went from on-and-off again, self-contained singer/songwriters to regularly writing and recording their own music. The earlier version of the Isley Brothers, with oldest brothers (from left): O’Kelly, Rudolph and lead singer Ronald. They were clearly a product of their era, a band that bounced from one label to another during the sixties and sang songs written mostly by others while watching those publishing royalties line other people’s pockets. One such band was the Isley Brothers, a group of three brothers who hailed from Cincinnati, OH and later Teaneck, NJ. Most other bands – and musicians in general – relied on the services of in-house songwriters and producers to create their hits. It was a world only three years removed from the 1960s, a decade when self-contained bands – the type that wrote and produced their own music – were not nearly as prevalent (save for a few exceptions like the Beatles, the Stones and Beach Boys). Imagine it’s 1973 in the music industry…an era when bands ruled and when singer-songwriters were getting more and more respect in the biz. So read on to gain more insight into a very intense brother and one of the creative minds behind one of the most legendary groups of all time. ![]() I recently had the pleasure of interviewing him and getting his take on many topics, including his former bands, the music business, his spirituality, his life and music in general.īelieve me, he had a lot to say, and some of it was surprising even to this longtime Isley Brothers fan. Today, September 19, he released his 14th solo album, Share With Me, on his own Gold City Music label, to add to the 15 albums he released as an official member of those aforementioned bands. ![]() Between The Sheets, Chris Jasper, Gold City Records, Interview, Isley Brothers, Isley Jasper Isley, Share With Me, T-Neck RecordsĬhris Jasper is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and former member of the legendary Isley Brothers and, later, Isley, Jasper, Isley. ![]()
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