Before now, a long, varied label history has made it difficult to capture the Isley story in all its intermittent glory. The stunning three-CD box full of soul It's Your Thing does that job brilliantly, including all the obvious hits -- the early "Shout," "Work to Do," "That Lady (Part 1 and 2)," "Fight the Power (Part 1 and 2)," "Love the One You're With," the moving "Caravan of Love" (from the splinter group Isley, Jasper, Isley) -- and lots of material that fell between the non-crossover cracks. Among the revelations here are the godlike guitar work, not just by fleeting Brothers backer Jimi Hendrix (heard on "Testify" and the ahead-of-its-time "Move Over and Let Me Dance") but the group's in-house ax deity, Ernie Isley, as well as the consistently delicious lead vocals of Ronald Isley, who could still out-sing Rod Stewart a few years back on his cover of "This Old Heart of Mine." It's Your Thing proves that some grooves endure.

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DAVID WILD

(Posted: Oct 14, 1999)