| Product Summary | | Label: Universal Music Group | | UPC: 00600445050075 | | Release Date: 11/11/2003 | | Buy.com Sku: 60618759 | | Item#: MEXVWN | Format:  CD |
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(P) 2003 SKG Music L.L.C.
(C) 2003 SKG Music L.L.C.
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| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel includes: Ronald Isley (vocals); Burt Bacharach (piano); Dean Parks (guitar); Gayle Levant (harp); Dan Higgins (woodwinds, saxophone); Warren Luening (trumpet, flugelhorn); Dave Duke, Phillip Yao (French horn); Rob Schrock, Jim Cox (keyboards); Neil Stubenhaus, David Coy (bass); Vinnie Colaiuta, Harvey Mason (drums); Dan Greco (percussion); Kim Johnson, JS-Kandy, Josie James, Donna Taylor (background vocals). | | Producers: Burt Bacharach, Ted Perlman, Ronald Isley. | | Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California and Record One, Sherman Oaks, California. Includes liner notes by Steven Ivory and Burt Bacharach. | | For some, HERE I AM: ISLEY MEETS BACHARACH appears to be a meeting between Mr. Biggs, the character made famous in R. Kelly's music videos, and the Elvis Costello's piano-playing sideman from an Austin Powers movie. Others, however, will recognize that this project really represents a collaboration between the legendary Isley Brothers' ageless frontman and a compositional genius whose work with partner Hal David helped craft some of the most seminal songs in popular American music. | | The result of this pairing is a gorgeously recorded stroll through the Bacharach/David canon with the accompaniment of a 40-piece orchestra. In addition, Bacharach played piano, conducted, and created the new arrangements. Having waited nearly four decades to cut some of Bacharach's music, Isley is in fine form with his gorgeously pure vocals fitting hand in glove with these selections. Isley effortlessly moves from the melancholy sentiment of former girlfriend Dionne Warwick's "Alfie" to a radically reworked reading of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" that turns the classic into a brand new song. When you consider well-known songs such as "The Look of Love," "Close to You," and "A House Is Not a Home" were all recorded live in the studio with a maximum of one or two takes, it's a wonder HERE I AM didn't happen sooner. |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 11/11/2003 | | Original Release Date : 2003 | | Catalog ID : 0001005 | | Label : Dreamworks SKG | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00600445050075 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (12/25/03-1/8/04, p.123)
- 3 stars out of 5 - "...Soul legend Ron Isley has fun with old [Bacharach] nuggets...slowing down the tempos and teasing the lyrics with his sexy falsetto..."Entertainment Weekly (11/14/03, p.124)
- "Conventional thinking has held it to be nigh impossible to improve on Dionne Warwick's interpretations, but this album is sure to throw that assumption into doubt..." - Rating: A- |
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| | Bio | | The longtime lead vocalist for the Isley Brothers, Ronald Isley helmed the influential family group for close to a half century, a period spanning not only two generations of siblings but also massive cultural shifts that heralded their music's transformation from gritty R&B to Motown soul to blistering funk. Born in Cincinnati, OH, on May 21, 1941, as a preteen he joined siblings Rudolph, O'Kelly, and Vernon to form the earliest incarnation of the group. After Vernon's 1955 death in a bicycling accident, Ronald was tapped as the remaining trio's lead vocalist. Early singles stiffed, but "Shout" -- their 1959 debut for RCA -- sold a million copies, despite failing to crack the Top 40. Only after the Isleys left RCA for the Wand label did they have another hit, this time with their seminal 1962 cover of the Top Notes' "Twist and Shout." After recording for their own T-Neck label, they signed to the Motown subsidiary Tamla in 1965, joining forces with the famed Holland-Dozier-Holland writing and production team. The Isleys' first single, the shimmering "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)," was their finest moment yet and barely missed the pop Top Ten. The group still felt straitjacketed by the Motown assembly line production formula and in 1969, they exited Tamla to resuscitate the T-Bone label. Their next release, the muscular and funky "It's Your Thing," hit number two on the U.S. charts in 1969 and became their most successful record. In 1973, the Isleys scored a massive hit with their rock-funk fusion cover of their own earlier single "Who's That Lady," retitled "That Lady (Pt. 1)." The album 3 + 3 also proved highly successful, as did 1975's The Heat Is On, which spawned the smash "Fight the Power (Pt. 1)." As the decade wore on, the group again altered its sound to fit into the booming disco market; while their success on pop radio ran dry, they frequently topped the R&B charts with singles like 1977's "The Pride," 1978's "Take Me to the Next Phase (Pt. 1)," 1979's "I Wanna Be With You (Pt. 1)," and 1980's "Don't Say Goodnight." In 1986, O'Kelly Isley died of a heart attack and brother Rudolph left to join the ministry soon after; Ronald forged on, however, teaming with younger siblings Ernie and Marvin for albums, including 1996's Mission to Please.
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