Why The Isley Brothers were pivotal for The Beatles
Due to the significance of their innovations, The Beatles are often celebrated as one of the most unique bands of all time, credited with singlehandedly propelling music forward with groundbreaking records like Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road. However, much like Rome, their legacy wasn’t built in a day. The Fab Four travelled a long and winding road to become the cultural pioneers they have been revered as for over five decades.
In their early years, the group relied heavily on the influence of those who had made them pursue music as a career. Famously, vivacious rock ‘n’ roller Little Richard taught Paul McCartney how to scream in Hamburg in 1962, a technique which would underpin some of their best moments and give them that edge that made them stand out from their clean-cut peers. Elsewhere, the group played numerous covers during their early years and wouldn’t stop doing so until after 1965’s Rubber Soul.
While their October 1962 debut single, ‘Love Me Do’, was a Lennon-McCartney original, six of the 14 tracks on their March 1963 album, Please Please Me, were covers. The most famous of these is undoubtedly ‘Twist and Shout’. Written in 1961 by Phil Medley and Bert Berns, the song was first recorded by The Top Notes but failed to gain traction until The Isley Brothers reworked it in 1962, infusing it with an R&B flair. The Beatles, however, put their own raw, energetic spin on the track, epitomised by John Lennon’s frenzied, hoarse delivery, which has since become iconic.
Other than the singles they had already released, The Beatles recorded Please Please Me on February 11th, 1963. It was an arduous day for all involved, but particularly Lennon, who was suffering a terrible cold. After pushing his voice to the brink all day, things took a more challenging turn when recording the final track, ‘Twist and Shout’, which, ironically, they’d been saving till last as it took the most vocal effort. The sickly Lennon pulled it off but later said his voice wasn’t the same “for a long time” after it and that he was ashamed of the take because of his physical condition. He thought he could do better.
A masterpiece considering it was done in one take, with Lennon completely spent after it; the song symbolised the brash, youthful energy The Beatles were instilling in rock, going to number one in the UK and number two in the US. The track put the band on the cultural map and set them up for everything that followed. It was rightfully their closing number on 1963’s iconic performances on Sunday Night at the London Palladium and The Royal Variety Show and helped unlock the gates to Beatlemania.
According to The Beatles, they couldn’t have done it without The Isley Brothers, and their cover of ‘Twist and Shout’ allowed them to leave Liverpool and hit the big time. According to Asbury Park Press, at the Apollo in the Hamptons benefit in 2012, McCartney told Ernie Isley just how indebted his group were to the soul legends.
He explained that after The Isley Brothers came off stage, he was pointed by his wife to Paul McCartney. He headed over, tapped him on his shoulder and was met with a bear hug. Isley recalled: “We were both yelling in each other’s ears at the same time and I said something like, ‘Paul, you and Ringo, George and John were wonderful.’ He said, ‘Ernie, if it weren’t for the Isley Brothers, the Beatles would still be in Liverpool.'”
Later in the night, Ernie and his brother Ron were joined onstage to play ‘Twist and Shout’ with McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and other stars. It was the only time a Beatle and The Isley Brothers had performed the song live together, and McCartney reiterated his thanks to the American band onstage.
It wasn’t just McCartney, though; at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in 2015, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr also extended his thanks to Ernie for ‘Twist and Shout’. He said: “Ernie, it’s because of the Isley Brothers that we were able to hit our stride”. Clearly, it wasn’t just Jimi Hendrix who the soul group were pivotal in shaping.
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