The Isley Brothers featuring Ron Isley

Ron Isley/The Isley Brothers

“We’re at a point in our career where I feel we’re doing our very best work. We try to outdo ourselves with each record, but this time, we’re really out for blood. It’s like the Isley Brothers Super Bowl.”

In addition to the compositions written by Ron and Ernie Isley, “Eternal” boasts an impressive roster of guest producers, writers and performers: R. Kelly, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Lucy Pearl/former Tony! Toni! Tone! vocalist Raphael Saadiq and hot newcomer Steve Huff. Keeping it in the family, Isley’s wife, Angela Winbush, has lent her songwriting, production and vocal skills as well.

“We chose these collaborators because we admire them enormously, and they already have a firm grasp of the Isley Brothers flavor,” Isley continues. “We’ve got a lot of faith in these folks. In the case of Jimmy and Terry, I’d always wondered what it would be like to work with them. We’d talked about it over the years and knew it’d be great to do an album together, but the timing and the inspiration had to be there at the same time. It finally happened with this record.”

Isley is quick to mention brother Ernie’s involvement as well. “He’ll definitely have a lot of guitar solos; every time Ernie has solos, like on ‘Who’s That Lady’ or ‘Summer Breeze,’ they turn out to be hits!” Recorded in Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles, the new Isley’s offering will also unveil a reinterpretation of the Chicago classic “If You Leave Me Now,” which Isley considers “a masterpiece.”

After the release of the Isley Brothers’ double-platinum “Mission To Please” in 1996, Ron Isley contributed to projects by a variety of artists, including Quincy Jones, Nas and Kelly Price. He likewise has appeared as his alter ego, Mr. Biggs, in the video for R. Kelly’s “Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)” from 1995’s “R. Kelly” and recorded a 12-inch with Lil’ Kim, 112 and Winbush called “Float On” for the Bad Boy label. The Isley Brothers’ extensive catalog, meanwhile, has been sampled and covered by such luminaries as The Notorious B.I.G., Ice Cube, Ja Rule, Aaliyah, Da Brat and many, many others.

Born in Cincinnati and raised amid gospel music, the Isley Brothers began performing together in the ’50s. They first made waves in 1959 with “Shout” but fully broke through in 1962 with the Top 20 hit “Twist And Shout” (later made hugely famous by the Beatles). Their renown was cemented with the indelible “It’s Your Thing,” which topped the R&B charts and rose to No. 2 on the Top 40, earning gold certification in the process. 1973’s “That Lady (Part I),” a No. 6 chart entry, also shone gold, as did 1975’s “Fight The Power (Part I),” an R&B No. 1 and Top 40 No. 4. In 1990 Ron Isley remade the brothers’ “This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You),” a No. 12 chart entry in 1966, with Rod Stewart, scoring a No. 10 in 1990.

All told, the Isley Brothers have spent more than 40 years recording and performing and have 23 gold, platinum and multiplatinum records to their name. “The Heat Is On” (1975), “Go For Your Guns” (1977) and “Volume I of Greatest Hits” (1984) are among the latter.

Updating time-honored elements of R&B, pop and rock with fresh sounds is a promise Isley believes he can keep on keeping. “Our catalog is the foundation of Hip Hop,” he declares, reaffirming the Isleys’ status (alongside such stalwarts as James Brown, George Clinton and Sly Stone) as one of the most-sampled and influential acts in history. “Now we’re going to build on that foundation. We have the drive, desire and seasoning; it’s the right time, place and mood. This is going to be a very special album and it’s got the feel of our biggest records.”

Isley clearly relishes the group’s surging vitality and eyes-on-the-prize attitude, pointing out: “The Beatles got their break imitating us; a guitarist named Jimmy Hendrix did his first recordings with us; Elton John played keyboards on a European tour for us; in January of ’92 The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame came calling for us. We’ve never been satisfied as ‘oldies but goodies.’ We’re way more contemporary and competitive than that.”

Ron Isley/The Isley Brothers

“We’re at a point in our career where I feel we’re doing our very best work. We try to outdo ourselves with each record, but this time, we’re really out for blood. It’s like the Isley Brothers Super Bowl.”

In addition to the compositions written by Ron and Ernie Isley, “Eternal” boasts an impressive roster of guest producers, writers and performers: R. Kelly, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Lucy Pearl/former Tony! Toni! Tone! vocalist Raphael Saadiq and hot newcomer Steve Huff. Keeping it in the family, Isley’s wife, Angela Winbush, has lent her songwriting, production and vocal skills as well.

“We chose these collaborators because we admire them enormously, and they already have a firm grasp of the Isley Brothers flavor,” Isley continues. “We’ve got a lot of faith in these folks. In the case of Jimmy and Terry, I’d always wondered what it would be like to work with them. We’d talked about it over the years and knew it’d be great to do an album together, but the timing and the inspiration had to be there at the same time. It finally happened with this record.”

Isley is quick to mention brother Ernie’s involvement as well. “He’ll definitely have a lot of guitar solos; every time Ernie has solos, like on ‘Who’s That Lady’ or ‘Summer Breeze,’ they turn out to be hits!” Recorded in Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles, the new Isley’s offering will also unveil a reinterpretation of the Chicago classic “If You Leave Me Now,” which Isley considers “a masterpiece.”

After the release of the Isley Brothers’ double-platinum “Mission To Please” in 1996, Ron Isley contributed to projects by a variety of artists, including Quincy Jones, Nas and Kelly Price. He likewise has appeared as his alter ego, Mr. Biggs, in the video for R. Kelly’s “Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)” from 1995’s “R. Kelly” and recorded a 12-inch with Lil’ Kim, 112 and Winbush called “Float On” for the Bad Boy label. The Isley Brothers’ extensive catalog, meanwhile, has been sampled and covered by such luminaries as The Notorious B.I.G., Ice Cube, Ja Rule, Aaliyah, Da Brat and many, many others.

Born in Cincinnati and raised amid gospel music, the Isley Brothers began performing together in the ’50s. They first made waves in 1959 with “Shout” but fully broke through in 1962 with the Top 20 hit “Twist And Shout” (later made hugely famous by the Beatles). Their renown was cemented with the indelible “It’s Your Thing,” which topped the R&B charts and rose to No. 2 on the Top 40, earning gold certification in the process. 1973’s “That Lady (Part I),” a No. 6 chart entry, also shone gold, as did 1975’s “Fight The Power (Part I),” an R&B No. 1 and Top 40 No. 4. In 1990 Ron Isley remade the brothers’ “This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You),” a No. 12 chart entry in 1966, with Rod Stewart, scoring a No. 10 in 1990.

All told, the Isley Brothers have spent more than 40 years recording and performing and have 23 gold, platinum and multiplatinum records to their name. “The Heat Is On” (1975), “Go For Your Guns” (1977) and “Volume I of Greatest Hits” (1984) are among the latter.

Updating time-honored elements of R&B, pop and rock with fresh sounds is a promise Isley believes he can keep on keeping. “Our catalog is the foundation of Hip Hop,” he declares, reaffirming the Isleys’ status (alongside such stalwarts as James Brown, George Clinton and Sly Stone) as one of the most-sampled and influential acts in history. “Now we’re going to build on that foundation. We have the drive, desire and seasoning; it’s the right time, place and mood. This is going to be a very special album and it’s got the feel of our biggest records.”

Isley clearly relishes the group’s surging vitality and eyes-on-the-prize attitude, pointing out: “The Beatles got their break imitating us; a guitarist named Jimmy Hendrix did his first recordings with us; Elton John played keyboards on a European tour for us; in January of ’92 The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame came calling for us. We’ve never been satisfied as ‘oldies but goodies.’ We’re way more contemporary and competitive than that.”