Isley Brothers Givin' It Back

The central premise of Givin’ It Back is explained in the album art: The Isley Brothers trio were photographed in sepia in front of a backwoods cabin, having traded extravagant costumes for simple clothes (likely the only time Ronald Isley has been photographed in a T-shirt) and each holding an acoustic guitar (none of the trio plays guitar on the recording). They are posing as the white singer-songwriters of the era, the ones who had no trouble getting record deals or their songs played on the radio. After years of having their songs performed by more successful white acts, the Isley Brothers elected to “give it back”, covering songs by CSNY, James Taylor, Bob Dylan and War (which, at that point, had a white lead singer in Eric Burdon). It worked, spawning their first major hit—an ever-so-slightly groovier take on Stephen Stills’ “Love the One You’re With”—since 1969’s “It’s Your Thing”. The album also introduced the musical line-up that would take them through the next decade, with younger Isleys Ernie and Marvin as well as Rudolph’s brother-in-law Chris Jasper joining them in the studio (although they would not officially join the band for another couple of years). Also in the booth was an early-career Bill Withers, who can be heard playing guitar on his composition “Cold Bologna”. The album’s opener and its most experimental track bears the influence of these new additions, as the band combines the Kent State protest track “Ohio” with Jimi Hendrix’s “Machine Gun” to explosive, evocative effect (and an over nine-minute runtime). Ernie’s soaring guitar is introduced for the first time, adding a new signature dimension to the band’s sound as they combined for a formidable entry into the canon of Vietnam-era protest music. The band stretches out even more on their hypnotic 10-minute version of “Lay Lady Lay”; “Fire and Rain” is given an almost psychedelic framing. There is no question the Isley Brothers were chasing the hits of their white contemporaries—if this is what it takes to be heard, they seemed to say with this album, we’ll do it. One listen, though, is all it takes to hear that they did them their own way.