''Masterpiece'' is the 23rd album released by
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...
on
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
on April 29, 1985. For the first time since 1973, the Isley Brothers were a trio composed of the original members
O'Kelly
O'Kelly is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Aloysius O'Kelly (1853–1936), Irish painter, brother of James Joseph O'Kelly
* Auguste O'Kelly (1829–1900), music publisher in Paris
* Christopher O'Kelly (1895–1922), Canadi ...
,
Rudolph and
Ronald Isley
Ronald Isley (; born May 21, 1941) is an American recording artist, songwriter, record producer, and occasional actor. Isley is the lead singer and founding member of the family music group The Isley Brothers.
Early life
Born in 1941 to Sally ...
. It was the last album with O'Kelly Isley; he died a year after the album's release from a heart attack. The fall of 1985 also saw the elder Isleys release ''Masterpiece''.
[A Touch of Classic Soul 2: The Late 1970s Marc Taylor - 2001 - Page 173
They got off to a good start with "Colder Are My Nights" reaching number 12 on the R&B charts. The brothers followed with "May I?", a pleading love song that was mildly successful in the spring of 1986. However, any joy from the album was negated when Kelly Isley died of a heart attack on March 31, 1986 at age 48.] The album is dedicated to their late brother Vernon Isley and their parents Sally & O'Kelly Isley Sr. The album liner notes were written by Elaine Isley.
Track listing
Personnel
;The Isley Brothers
*
Ronald Isley
Ronald Isley (; born May 21, 1941) is an American recording artist, songwriter, record producer, and occasional actor. Isley is the lead singer and founding member of the family music group The Isley Brothers.
Early life
Born in 1941 to Sally ...
– lead vocals; harmony vocals on "
If Leaving Me Is Easy"
*
O'Kelly Isley, Jr.
O'Kelly "Kelly" Isley Jr. (December 25, 1937 – March 31, 1986) was an American singer and one of the founding members of the family group the Isley Brothers.
Biography
The eldest of the Isley Brothers, Kelly started singing with his brothe ...
– harmony and background vocals; lead vocals on "If Leaving Me Is Easy"
*
Rudolph Isley
Rudolph Bernard Isley (born April 1, 1939 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American singer-songwriter and is one of the founding members of The Isley Brothers.
Life and career
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Rudy began singing in church at a youn ...
– harmony and background vocals
;with
*
Paul Jackson Jr.,
Dann Huff
Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Co ...
,
David T. Walker – guitar
*Robbie Buchanan – keyboards
*
Randy Kerber
Randy Kerber (born September 25, 1958) is an American composer, orchestrator and keyboard player, who has had a prolific career in the world of cinema.SeRandy Kerberat the IMDb
Kerber was born in Encino, California. He began his first national t ...
– acoustic piano
*
Ernie Watts
Ernest James Watts (born October 23, 1945) is an American jazz and rhythm and blues saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's ...
, Gary Herbig – saxophone
*
Neil Stubenhaus
Neil Stubenhaus is an American bass guitarist.
Career
He started his musical training playing drums and switched to bass guitar at the age of 12. He studied at the Berklee College of Music where he graduated in 1975. After graduation, he was rec ...
,
Freddie Washington – bass guitar
*
John Robinson,
Ed Greene
Ed Greene is an American drummer and session musician.
In 1971 he recorded with Donald Byrd (''Ethiopian Knights'', 1972), together with Thurman Green, Harold Land, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Sample, Bobbye Porter Hall, David T. Walker, and Wilton ...
– drums
*
Paulinho da Costa – percussion
*Bill Green, Gary Herbig – flute
*
Plas Johnson
Plas John Johnson Jr. (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and baritone sax ...
– tenor saxophone
*
Chuck Findley
Charles B. Findley (born December 13, 1947 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical abilities ...
, Gary Grant, Bill Green – trumpet
*
George Bohanon
George Roland Bohanon, Jr. (born August 7, 1937) is a jazz trombonist and session musician from Detroit, Michigan.
In the early 1960s, he participated in Detroit's Workshop Jazz ensemble, with Johnny Griffith (musician), Johnny Griffith, Paula Gr ...
,
Slyde Hyde – trombone
*
Jerry Hey
Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', ''Rock with You'', ...
– horn
;Technical personnel & arrangements
*Produced by The Isley Brothers (
Ronald
Ronald is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse ''Rögnvaldr'',#H2, Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 234; #H1, Hanks; Hodges (2003) § Ronald. or possibly from Old English ''Regenweald''. In some cases ''Ronald'' is an Anglicised ...
,
Rudolph and
O'Kelly Isley
O'Kelly "Kelly" Isley Jr. (December 25, 1937 – March 31, 1986) was an American singer and one of the founding members of the family group the Isley Brothers.
Biography
The eldest of the Isley Brothers, Kelly started singing with his brothe ...
)
*Arranger, conductor:
Gene Page
Eugene Edgar Page Jr. (September 13, 1939 – August 24, 1998) was an American conductor, composer, arranger and record producer, most active from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s.
His sound can be heard in the arrangements he did for Jeffer ...
*Concertmaster:
Harry Bluestone
Harry Bluestone (30 September 1907 – 22 December 1992) was a composer and violinist who composed music for TV and film. He was prolific and worked mainly on composing with Emil Cadkin. Earlier on, he was a violinist and freelanced on radi ...
*Engineer: Michael Mancini
*Additional engineers: Bill Spungin, Russell Schmidt
*Assistant engineers: Dean Burt, Joe Travers
*Mixed by The Isley Brothers
*Mastered by
Brian Gardner
Brian Knapp Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, is an American mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk and dance- ...
*Art direction by Jeri McManus
*Photography by
George Holz
George Holz was born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (aka “the Secret City”), graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and assisted for Helmut Newton, whom he credits with guiding his career. As a fledgling photographer ...
*Design by Mary Ann Dibs
Chart performance
The album charted at #140 in the US
''Billboard'' 200 while only charting at #19 on the
R&B album chart. "Colder Are My Nights" peaked at #12 on the
R&B chart
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...
s, while "May I?" charted at #42 in 1986.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
External links
The Isley Brothers - ''Masterpiece'' (1985) album releases & creditsat
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
The Isley Brothers - ''Masterpiece'' (1985) album credits & user reviews
{{Authority control
1985 albums
The Isley Brothers albums
Albums arranged by Gene Page
Warner Records albums