The Isley Brothers’ 3+3
$15.00
by Darrell M. McNeill
The Isley Brothers‘ 3+3, dissects The Isleys’ 50-year-old undisputed masterwork, an album that firmly established their music dynasty on a global scale, as well as heralding the boldest run of genre-defiant albums of their 67-year career. The 1973 watershed was their first multiplatinum release and is significant as a rare, crossover record by a Black act that struck a chord with urban, rock, and pop consumers, despite the schisms between audiences due to bias-driven media and industry marketing.
The book looks at the album from all angles: from The Isleys’ early career to their influence on rock and rollers both Black and White, from the twists and turns of having national hits without national recognition, on to their decision to form T-Neck Records and the group’s challenges navigating a music industry that racially codified music and hampered Black artists from universal acclaim and compensations. Finally, a summation of the decades follows The Isleys’ run and its ups and downs, with a fast-forward to where the group is now after 67 years.
Paperback | 160 pages | Bloomsbury Publishing | 2024
Darrell M. McNeill is a Santa Barbara-based producer, musician, composer, arranger, contractor, promoter, critic, and journalist. He is director of operations for the Black Rock Coalition (BRC), a grassroots 501c3 advocacy, promotion and production nonprofit for artists of color who defy the music industry’s stereotypical constructs regarding Black music, and has written for publications such as The Village Voice, VIBE, SPIN, and RAVERS.
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