Isley Jr., O’Kelly “Kelly” (25th December 1937-31st March 1986)

He was a singer-songwriter born in Cincinnati, Ohio to a musical family where he first sang in church with his brothers. When he was 16 he was a co-founder of the family group The Isley Brothers, with his younger brothers Rudolph “Rudy”, Ronald “Ronnie” and Vernon. His other brothers Ernie and Marvin later joined the group.

From 1954 they toured and performed on the gospel circuit before the loss of Vernon in 1955 after he died in a bicycle accident. The brothers changed their style and became known for being a doo-wop trio and decided to relocate to New York and attempt to get signed up by a record label. After initial recordings with the Mark X and Teenage labels they were signed by RCA when a scout had seen their live stage performance. In 1959 he and his family moved to Englewood, New Jersey.

As a result of their live performances and the popularity of its finale, which was a call-and-response with the audience, he and his brothers wrote the song “Shout” which became their first hit in the Hot 100 when it reached No. 47. The song would be recorded by many others and in 1999 was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

He moved with his brothers to record labels that include Scepter and Motown and recorded songs such as “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You)” and “Twist and Shout” which became chart hits for the brothers. In 1969 they formed their own T-Neck Records and wrote most of the songs they recorded. He and his brother, Rudy, would often be the lead vocalists and they reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their 1969 recording and Grammy Award winning “It’s Your Thing” from their album of the same name.

Their next album, which would be their seventh, The Brothers: Isley recorded in 1969 had the track “Black Berries” dedicated to Kelly from a saying he would quote from Wallace Thurman’s novel The Blacker the Berry. The quote was “The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice”.

After this album his brother Ernie and Marvin and brother-in-law Chris Jasper joined the group and although he and Ronald and Rudolph wrote less, it was still agreed that they would share the credits as they were the owners of the publishing of the group’s songs. Kelly was also known for his cowboy type clothing for photo shoots in the early 1970s.

During that time Kelly, according to Ernie Isley, discovered a homeless guitarist and gave him the chance to live in his mother’s house and work with the band. This guitarist was none other than the acclaimed Jimi Hendrix.

Many other hits were recorded by the group during the 1970s including the song “Whose That Lady”, later to become “That Lady”, “Fight the Power (Part 1)”

In 1985 he and his brothers released Masterpiece and Kelly’s last appearance with the group would be in 1986 on the soundtrack of Wildcats on the song “Good Hands”.

In 1986, while suffering from cancer, he suddenly died from a heart attack in Alpine, New Jersey. He was 48 years old and left behind his two sons Frank and Doug. The song “Send A Message” on the Isley Brothers next album Smooth Sailin’ was dedicated to him.

The Isley Brothers recordings
Shout (O’Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley,Rudolph Isley)
RCA Victor 47-7588 (US single)

Sources:

Isley Jr., O’Kelly “Kelly” (25th December 1937-31st March 1986)

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