With the Isley Brothers hitting the charts in a big way again, it makes me think...why don't I have a greatest hits CD of theirs. They have so many legendary hits from "Twist and Shout" to "Between The Sheets" to "That Lady". I was just wondering is there a one or two CD collection that sums up most of their best hits. I realize I won't be able to find anything with "Contagious". Thanks in advance.

I have the "Isley Brothers Story" Volumes 1 and 2 from Rhino Records.These CDs came out in 1991,here's the tracklist...



DISC 1---
"It's Your Thing"
"I Turned You On"
"Love The One You're With"
"Spill The Wine"
"Layaway"
"Pop That Thang"
"Work To Do"
"That Lady"
"If You Were There"
"What It Comes Down To"
"Summer Breeze"
"Live It Up" Pts.1 & 2
"Midnight Sky" Pts. 1 & 2
"Fight The Power" Pts.1 & 2
"For The Love Of You" Pts. 1& 2


DISC 2---
"Harvest For The World"
"Who Loves You Better"
"The Pride" Pts.1 & 2
"Footsteps In The Dark" Pts.1 & 2
"Livin In The Life"
"Take Me To The Next Phase" Pts. 1 & 2
"Groove With You"
"I Wanna Be With You" Pts. 1 & 2
"Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time For Love)" Pts.1 & 2
"Inside You"
"Between The Sheets"
"Choosey Lover"
"Caravan Of Love"---Isley Jasper Isley



These compilations aren't perfect (where is "Voyage To Atlantis","It's A Disco Night" and "Smooth Sailing"?),but I highly recommend them.The liner notes are very good and informative and for the most part,the songs are featured in their full-length album versions.

VinnyM27 said:

And be thankful for that

Theres a very nice box set that came out in 1999 (Epic/Legacy) that covers most if not all of their better songs. Look for:

"It's Your Thing: The Story of the Isley Brothers"

Disk 1:

1. Building up to Shout [Live at the Yankee Stadium][Live]
2. Shout, Pts. 1 & 2
3. Shout (Live from the TV Show Shindig)
4. Twist and Shout
5. Who's That Lady
6. Time After Time
7. Move over and Let Me Dance (Jimi Hendrix; The Isley Brothers)
8. Testify, Pts. 1 & 2 (Jimi Hendrix; The Isley Brothers)
9. This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You) 20k | 65k
10. Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)
11. It's Your Thing
12. I Turned You On
13. Get into Something
14. Freedom
15. Keep on Doin'
16. The Blacker the Berrie (A.K.A. Black Berries)
17. Rockin' McDonald
18. Don't Be Jealous
19. Angels Cried
20. It's Your Thing [Live at the Yankee Stadium] [Live]


Disk 2:

21. That Lady, Pts. 1 & 2
22. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
23. For the Love of You, Pts. 1 & 2
24. Brother, Brother
25. Work to Do
26. Cold Bologna
27. Midnight Sky, Pts. 1 & 2
28. Hello It's Me
29. Make Me Say It Again Girl, Pts. 1 & 2
30. Summer Breeze
31. Live It Up, Pts. 1 & 2
32. Fight the Power, Pts. 1 & 2
33. Fire and Rain
34. Love the One You're With
35. Lay-Away


Disk 3:

36. Footsteps in the Dark, Pts. 1 & 2
37. Harvest for the World (Prelude)
38. Harvest for the World
39. Groove With You [#]
40. For the Love of You, Pts. 1 & 2
41. Mission to Please You
42. Between the Sheets
43. Caravan of Love (Isley/Jasper/Isley)
44. I'm So Proud
45. Smooth Sailin' Tonight
46. Voyage to Atlantis [#]
47. Take Me to the Next Phase, Pts. 1 & 2 [#]
48. Pride, Pts. 1 & 2
49. At Your Best (You Are Love)
50. Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time for Love)


DavidEye, this one has everything you mentioned, except,"It's A Disco Night", plus it adds rare stuff with Jimi Hendrix. Check it out...

DavidEye said:

I have this comp. I wouldn't have bought it if "Harvest for the world" wasn't on it." "Voyage to Atlantis" is an egregious omission, but I do have it on another comp.

where is their funkiest track ever "climbing up the ladder"?

codshort said:

I ended up caving in and got the best thing I could find on one disc. It's called "The Ultimate Isley Brothers" and I believe is the one disc condestation of that box set. Circuit City had CDs for only $9.99 so I caved in. I figure if I ever cave in and get a better set, it will be "It's Your Thing". Thanks for all of the great recommendations! I believe that with theire new number one album that there will be a slew of more Isley hits collections. In fact. I won't be shocked if "The Ultimate IB" isn't made into a two disc affair since it is from teh same record division of SOny that realeases those two disc sets from aritsts like Heart, Billy Joel and Ozzy. Unfornatley, they tend to be a little bit sloppy though. Thanks again for the info.

VinnyM27 said:

I saw someone else post this, but get the Rhino Collection. It is great.

codshort said:

You know,I've been thinking about getting this box set for the last couple of years.The only thing that stops me is,the fact that I already have many of those songs (got alot of their old albums on vinyl).But I guess it's worth it for the rarities,huh? And the first disc seems to have alot of their lesser known 60s material,so that might be worth investigating.Thanks for the tip!


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[This message was edited Tue May 27 0:08:01 PDT 2003 by DavidEye]

I got all of there stuff&the MR.Biggs Era Stuff is gonna Make for a Great Box Set someday as well IMHO.they could do a EP now just on the many people that have used "Between the Sheets".

mistermaxxx said:

Whitney "One of Those Days"
Biggie Smalls "One More Chance"
...I know there are others but I can't think of them...