THE ISLEY BROTHERS IT’S OUR THING (1969) REISSUED ON CD
FIRST TIME ON CD IN U.S. FOR THIS LEGENDARY ALBUM
Includes the #1 hit “It’s Your Thing”
Latest release from Iconoclassic Records arrives on June 22, 2010
Iconoclassic Records announces the reissue of The Isley Brothers’ seminal 1969 album IT’S OUR THING. Originally issued as the first album release on The Isley Brothers’ own independent label, T-Neck Records, and distributed by Buddah Records, IT’S OUR THING has amazingly never been individually reissued on CD. That changes on June 22, 2010 as reissue specialist Iconoclassic Records reintroduces this classic into the marketplace.
As young men sliding from gospel into R&B with the concert classic “Shout” in 1959 on RCA Records and later singles on the United Artists and Wand labels, singing brothers Rudolph, O’Kelly and Ronald Isley took their first crack at starting T-Neck in 1964 with the Atlantic Records-distributed “Move Over and Let Me Dance” (a take-off on their ’62 smash “Twist and Shout” featuring their guitarist - then-unknown Jimi Hendrix) and another from ’65 titled “Testify.” Neither song dented the charts. Still believing in themselves, the trio decided to hitch their wagon to the fastest growing game in town, Berry Gordy’s Motown.
The Isley Brothers’ Motown tenure started out with a bang as their first Motown single “This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)” hit the Top 10. But despite producing quality material, the remainder of their three-year term at Motown yielded few hits. Having learned valuable lessons at Motown, the Isleys reactivated T-Neck Records. They had the perfect song to serve as their declaration of independence, the self-penned anthem “It’s Your Thing.”
Initially, Kelly Isley took the song to representatives for Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett to see if they would record it, the reasoning being it might be better to re-launch T-Neck with some publishing money, but the reps weren’t biting. Then he shopped it to a slew of record companies looking for a distribution deal on the Isleys and was turned down right and left. When he got to Buddah Records, 25 year-old President Neil Bogart took one listen to the tight southern slab of Stax-spiked funk and heard a hit. “It’s Your Thing” was one of the fastest rising singles in Buddah’s history, went to #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart for four amazing weeks and was only kept out of the Top Pop slot by the 5th Dimension’s unstoppable “The Age of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.” The RIAA logged it as a gold-seller, Buddah claimed it as selling two million, but CBS (which Buddah sub-contracted for manufacturing to keep up with the heavy demand) confessed to the Isleys years later that they’d pressed up something south of six million!
As the Isleys rushed to put the finishing touches on their own T-Neck label debut album, IT’S OUR THING (T-Neck – 3001), among the first orders of business were similar sounding sequels - “I Know Who You Been Socking It To” and “Somebody’s Been Messin’ (With My Thing).” Of course, they included “It’s Your Thing”’s super slick James Brown-influenced B-side “Don’t Give It Away” and another JBs-esque crowd pleaser titled “Give the Women What They Want.” A lighter shade of soul was represented in “I Must Be Losing My Touch” and “He’s Got Your Love.” And there were a couple of heavy slow jams that gave Ronald a sho-nuff shot to sing the blues. First was the lonesome moan “Save Me,” followed by the gentle romance primer “Love Is What You Make It.” Deepest of all is the song that closed Side 1 of the LP: “Feels Like The World.” Seeming to channel the spirit of the great Bobby Blue Bland, Ronald ruthlessly builds the lowdown vamp to an ever-escalating boil. This song was so strong that they gave it a second shot on the follow-up LP, The Brothers: Isley. As for IT’S OUR THING, the album debuted at the end of April ’69 and climbed to #2 R&B where it sat for two weeks (kept out of #1 by The Temptations’ Cloud Nine) and #22 Pop.
IT’S OUR THING by The Isley Brothers
(Iconoclassic ICON 1011, originally issued 1969 as T-Neck TNS 3001)

Selections:
1. I Know Who You Been Socking It To
2. Somebody’s Been Messin’
3. Save Me
4. I Must Be Losing My Touch
5. Feel Like The World
6. It’s Your Thing
7. Give The Women What They Want
8. Love Is What You Make It
9. Don’t Give It Away
10. He’s Got Your Love
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002HHNMMM/?tag=imwan-20