O'Kelly Isley
Birth nameO'Kelly Isley Jr.
Born(1937-12-25)December 25, 1937
Cincinnati, Ohio, US
OriginTeaneck, New Jersey, US
DiedMarch 31, 1986(1986-03-31) (aged 48)
Alpine, New Jersey
GenresR&B, soul
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active1954–1986
Formerly ofThe Isley Brothers

O'Kelly "Kelly" Isley Jr. (December 25, 1937 – March 31, 1986) was an American singer and one of the founding members of the family group the Isley Brothers.

Biography

The eldest of the Isley Brothers, Kelly started singing with his brothers at church. When he was 16, he and his three younger brothers (Rudy, Ronnie and Vernon) formed The Isley Brothers and toured the gospel circuit. Following the death of Vernon in a road accident, the brothers decided to try their hand at doo-wop and moved to New York to find a recording deal. Between 1957 and 1959, the Isleys would record for labels such as Teenage and Mark X. In 1959, they signed with RCA Records after a scout spotted the trio's energetic live performance.

O'Kelly and his brothers co-wrote their first significant hit, "Shout". While the original version only peaked at the top 50 of the Hot 100, subsequent versions helped the song sell over a million copies. Later moving on to other labels including Scepter and Motown, the brothers would have hits with "Twist & Shout" in 1962 and "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)". In 1959, the Isley family had relocated to Englewood, New Jersey where Kelly stayed with his mother and younger siblings.[1]

In 1969, the brothers left Motown and started their own label, T-Neck Records, where they would write the majority of their recordings, including "It's Your Thing". Kelly and his brother Rudy began to take some lead spots on the group's albums starting with the It's Our Thing album in 1969. The track, "Black Berries", from their The Brothers: Isley album, was dedicated to Kelly, who Ron would always quote him as saying "the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice". That saying had been originated by Harlem Renaissance novelist Wallace Thurman in the 1929 novel, The Blacker the Berry. After the inclusion of younger brothers Ernie and Marvin and brother-in-law Chris Jasper, Kelly, Rudy and Ron didn't write as much as they did in the past but in an agreement shared parts of the composition credits as they owned the songs' publishing.

Kelly Isley during the Isleys' 1970s heyday was usually photographed wearing a cowboy hat and Western type of clothing. The Isley Brothers also gave a homeless Jimi Hendrix his first major steady gig when he joined their backing band on tour.[2] According to his brother Ernie, Ronald and Kelly needed a new guitarist and found Hendrix after hearing of his talents as a guitarist. After they helped Hendrix get his guitar out of the pawn shop and he played something for them, they hired him for their band and allowed him to live in their mother's house.[3][4] In 1985, the brothers released the Masterpiece album. It is Kelly who sings most of the lead of the Phil Collins ballad, "If Leaving Me Is Easy", on the album with Ron backing him up. Kelly's last appearance as member of the Isley Brothers was in 1986 on the song "Good Hands" from the Wildcats soundtrack.

A heavyset man, Kelly lost weight, which was shown on the group's album cover of Masterpiece. On March 31, 1986, O'Kelly suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 48 in his Alpine, New Jersey home leaving behind two sons, Frank and Doug.[5][6] He is buried in George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey.

The Isley Brothers' follow-up record following Kelly's death, Smooth Sailin', was dedicated to him and featured their tribute song, "Send A Message".

Kelly Isley was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Isley Brothers in 1992.

References

  1. ↑ Wilner, Paul. "Isley Brothers: A Family Affair", The New York Times, 13 March 1977. Accessed 18 September 2011. "WHEN Sallye Isley moved her brood of children from Cincinnati to Englewood in the summer of 1959, she was participating in a show-business phenomenon.... While their older brothers toured America, the younger Isley boys enrolled successively in Englewood Junior High and Dwight Morrow High School.... Right now, the brothers reside near enough to each other to keep in close touch. Ronald lives in Teaneck, Kelly Jr. in Alpine, Rudolph in Haworth and Ernie in Englewood."
  2. ↑ "How these Motown legends gave Jimi Hendrix his first gig", "Far Out Magazine", 7 October 2021. Accessed 6 November 2023. "Hendrix was frequently forced to sleep on the street after gigs. It was during one of his many shows in Harlem that Hendrix bumped into The Isley Brothers for the first time."
  3. ↑ "The Isley Brothers on hiring Jimi Hendrix", "CBS Sunday Morning", 30 July 2017. Accessed 6 November 2023. "
  4. ↑ , "Rolling Stone", 27 November 2017. Accessed 6 November 2023. "By the end of the afternoon, he was the newest member of their backing group. He had no place to stay, so he stayed at my mother's house, Ernie Isley recalled."
  5. ↑ O'Kelly Isley, 48, Of The Isley Bros. Dies In N.J. Johnson Publishing Company. April 21, 1986. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
  6. ↑ Associated Press. "O'KELLY ISLEY", The New York Times, 3 April 1986. Accessed 8 October 2007. "He was 48 years old and lived in Alpine. Born Dec. 25, 1937, Mr. Isley grew up in Cincinnati and began his musical career singing gospel with his brothers, who performed with their mother accompanying on piano."
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