NOw..Prince is my dawg..but EI is the real deal, having taught Mr. Jimi Hendrix a thing or two. EI's guitar makes my drawers wet and i'm a dude!!! Voyage to Atlantis....In my lover's eyes...man that guitar SINGS on those songs. Not to mention he can play with his teeth
Prince's solo on the RRHOF was great, but I think EI coulda taken him to school.

comments?

Yeah...Ernie Isley is the truth....talk about another artist that's underrated and underappreciated. Just listen to 'Summer Breeze' and 'Who's That Lady.'....OMG...he is awesome. I saw the Isely Bros a few years ago and Ernie to' it up. As much as I love P, I think that Ernie has an edge on him...

earnie is great guitar player.i think he is maybe better then prince in tehnical way but prince is using more imagination in his solos.

paging ellisdee...

meltwithu said:

Nope, no way. Fact I can’t understand why Isley’s are making this come back. Of
course records like “Brother, Brother, Brother” are fire but what about new shit like
“Body Kiss”…Takes more than R. Kelly, Snoop Dog and a weak ass Nas song (Project
Windows) to make the Isley’s relevant again. Don’t have the range, impact, and
originality of Prince. Not even close.

17ways69days said:

The ONLY GROUP IN HISTORY to have a top ten album EVERY DECADE. What's with all this legend bashing on this site? I think some of you want to actually try to make Prince the only relevent musical entity on earth. They wrote "Twist and Shout". They did Prince long before Prince. As a matter of fact, if not for the Isleys and groups like them, there would be no "crossover" for Prince to have crossed over to. They were rock and roll! Check ya history, ppl! They were already legends by the time Prince "made it". Besides, the subject is guitar playing. Ernie is better. His solos are MUCH harder to learn, his rhythm chops are tighter and dude is just FIRE! Talk about FEEL! OMG! "Ballad of the Fallen Soldier", "Choosy Lover"? PLEASE! Jesse Johnson play a little like Ernie. Prince can't hold a candle. Ernie Isley

Ah, another Music As Olympics thread.


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[This message was edited Sun May 9 10:38:42 2004 by Supernova]

Ernie Isley has always been one of my very favorite guitar players. His style, phrasing and tone are great. Check out Climbin' Up the Ladder, Midnight Sky or the second half of Livin' in the Life ("Go for Your Guns"). Also, check out his way overslept-on solo album High Wire, one of the greatest funk-rock albums ever. The only thing is that is not much variety in his playing.

However, as good as he is, I believe if we are talking about funk guitar players, Funkadelic's Eddie Hazel, Michael Hampton and Blackbyrd McKnight all exceed Ernie's range of style and speed.

Comparing Ernie to Prince is tough on one level because there were many more Isley Brothers songs where he was allowed to wail for extended solos, whereas Prince almost never does that in his released studio work. I think Prince is a far-more interesting guitar player and definitely a better rhythm player, which seems to be overlooked a lot on these boards. As good a lead player as P can be, his rhythm chops are about as good as it gets. I guess if I had to choose, I would take Prince for his overall ability, but no one could have done those Isley record solos better than Ernie.

How about some other great funk guitar heroes like: Drac from Slave, Phelps "Catfish" Collins, Stevie Salas, Roger Troutman, Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner, Ray Parker Jr. ... I am sure I am missing some others.

Peace,
Scott

HardcoreJollies said:

It's out of print.

BlaqueKnight said:

Man, E. Isley is good, great, no doubt. But Prince is a unique force and Isley, as good as he is, IMO, has not contributed as much as Prince has to the sound of contemporary music. In terms of style, personality, and musical innovation I just don’t see how you can make the argument that E. Isley is better than Prince. As for being legends, yeh, I hear you, the Isley's are legends. As for being a better guitar player, that's tough and I would really need to refresh myself with the E. Isley but I could see myself agreeing.

17ways69days said:

I was only referring to their guitar playing. As for who's more relevant Prince or the Isleys - it doesn't matter. They both are. Two different time periods. They helped make it possible for artists like Prince, though. As for guiar, Prince could never do to Ernie what he did to Lenny. He'd get WAXED.
[This message was edited Sun May 9 11:12:39 2004 by BlaqueKnight]

BlaqueKnight said:

What did he do to Lenny?

Prince does more than just play fuzz guitar..lol

Supernova said:

2freaky4church1 said:

Ernie Isey - High Wire - In Deep and Fare The Well Fair weather Friend; he plays acoustic and plays his solo dry. The Muses is short, but he plays dry. Ernie does more than just play "fuzz guitar" As a matter of fact - guitars, bass, drums, keyboards,percussions and vocals by Ernie Isley on all of High Wire. He is KILLING some bass guitar on this record!
[This message was edited Sun May 9 13:30:50 2004 by BlaqueKnight]

BlaqueKnight said:

mmm...looks like i'ma have to keep an eye out for this record the next time i go vinyl-hunting.

meltwithu said:

I thought Jimi Taught Ernie? But antway I like Ernie but he's not as exciting as Prince is live i Saw Ernie back in 96-97 and he played his ass off but he doesnt move just stand and thats not exciting 2 me. Now Prince some of the shows I've seen whoa Ernie Can't touch him

chinua said:

so prince plays better than ernie just because p moves around?

i don't know. I hadn't listened very much from Ernie. But from what i heard he coudl smoke Prince back in the day, but not nowadays.
[This message was edited Sun May 9 15:03:33 2004 by 7salles]

PurpleCharm said:

He pretty much showed Lenny up when he and Lenny did American Woman/Fly Away together. Lenny's the R. Kelly of rock to me. He's not particularly GREAT at anything, but he can put together something simple that the masses can relate to really well. On the Rave DVD, Prince sorta stole the limelight from Lenny on his own song during the guitar solos. Prince did that because he COULD. He knows a real guitarist like Steve Vai or somebody would rip his ass to shreds during a solo. Ernie would shred him up, too. Prince knows his limitations; that's why he trys so hard to mask them and showboats when he can (i.e, Clapton tribute) Smart man. I wonder if he would take the stage during one of Ernie's shows and try that crap that eeryone else lets him get away with? I think not. That's probably why he avoided the Funkadelic medley. Robert Randolph had already taken him to school earlier; I don't think he wanted to get dusted twice in one day.

I think da Isley's shoulda/probably had sum influences on P. They've been around in Jimi's time & worked wit him..I'm sure. Da songs that have good guitar playin'(IMO) are...

*You're All I Need(Eternal Album)
*The Heat Is On(Tneck Records-1975)
*Hope You Feel Better Love(Tneck Records-1975)
*Go All The Way(Tneck Records-1980)
*Say You Will(Tneck Records-1980)

Of course there's plenty more..but I only named the 1s I got. Oldest IBs I have is from 1975 & their on cassette & it's hard 2 find them songs on da net 4 download.(I got da YAIN song only). Otha than that da Isley that played guitar would defintely school Prince in 'Guitarology' seems 2 me P should thinka 'bout that. I bet in the past & even now he probably be jammin' 2 them songs & othas of the IBs on his off days. IMO he might really enjoy the "Hope You Feel Better Love" guitar solo cuz it's mad long. Da only IB ya here 'bout is Ron Isley ughz..I mean he koo but c'mon now...

chinua said:

Yes it was the other way around because Ernie was a young boy when Jimi was with the Isleys. He taught Marvin Isley the bass player a lot also!

Ha. Funny your put up a post about this cause I was just listening to summer breeze. "In my lover's eyes", "voyage to atliantis", huh. You must be lisetening to the Isley's Beautiful Ballads compilation CD