Isley, Marvin (18th August 1953-6thJune 2010)

He was a songwriter, bassist and percussionist born in Cincinnati, Ohio as the youngest of 6 brothers. After his family moved to Englewood, New Jersey in 1959 he studied at Dwight Morrow High School and went on to earn a degree in music at C.W. Post College. At the same time he was tutored on bass by his elder brothers.

His four older brothers, O’Kelly, Ronald, Rudolph and Vernon sang as a gospel group for a time until Vernon died in a bicycle road accident. The three other brothers continued to perform but decided to sing in a doo-wop style and changed the name of the trio to The Isley Brothers. They achieved immense popularity and after having several hits they founded their own label T-Neck Records. After they had been at T-Neck for a while they asked Marvin and his brother, Ernie, along with Rudolph’s brother-in-law Chris Jasper to join The Isley Brothers in 1971.

Marvin’s first album with The Isley Brothers was 1971’s Givin’ It Back, on which he performed bass. Two years later he was made an official member and by that time he was playing percussion and songwriting. As a co-writer he wrote hit songs such as “Between the Sheets” and “Fight the Power” along with “The Pride” and “Harvest for the World” and several others.

In 1984 Marvin, Ernie and Chris decided to follow the splinter group Isley-Jasper-Isley and the following year they had a hit with his co-written “Caravan of Love”, later a No. 1 hit in the UK cover version by The Housemartins, and released the albums Broadway’s Closer to Sunset Blvd, Caravan of Love and Different Drummer between 1984 and 1987.

In 1987 the trio disbanded and Marvin and Ernie returned to The Isley Brothers. In 1992 he and his brothers were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and in 2014 he was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award as a member of The Isley Brothers.

He performed with his brothers Ron and Ernie until 1997 when he was forced to retire after suffering a stroke. He suffered from diabetes and as he got worse with the condition his legs had to be amputated. He died in Chicago at the Weiss Memorial Hospital due to complications of diabetes in 2010 when he was 56 years old. He left behind his wife, Sheila, a son and two daughters.

Sources:

Isley, Marvin (18th August 1953-6th June 2010)

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