( Be sure to read our feature interview with Ernie Isley in this issue of Experience Hendrix.

1964 was an interesting year for the Isley Brothers. It had been about two years since their last major hit, "Twist And Shout." After the hit, they cut half a dozen more singles for Wand (the company that broke "Twist And Shout") and United Artists, without any success. They found themselves playing colleges, going hundreds of miles to gigs, driving in a sedan and a station wagon. Worse, they found themselves "between labels."

To alleviate this situation, they did something pretty much unheard of back in those nascent days of the rock and roll business: they formed their own label and negotiated a distribution deal with Atlantic Records. Jerry Wexler, Atlantic's head of A&R loved their version of "Twist And Shout," a song he had previously produced for another band. Here, he had an opportunity to sign them without bearing the expense of actually recording them. All he had to do was put out finished records.

Named after their adopted hometown, T-Neck Records was born. When they went in to cut their first side for their new label, they took the 22-year-old guitar phenomenon they had recently hired to join the band.

"Jimi walked into the studio," recalled Ronald Isley in the liner notes to the 1970 album In The Beginning, which collected all of the tunes Jimi recorded for the Isleys on T-Neck plus a few others to help round out the set. "He had never been in one [recording studio] before -- and said, 'Oh is this how you make records?'" [ed. Hendrix had been involved in studio recordings with saxophonist Lonnie Youngblood in early 1963. See our exclusive interview with Youngblood in our Spring 2000 issue of Experience Hendrix.]

The studio they used was a four track in New York City, just across the Hudson River from their home base. Multi-tracking was still a young art in 1964. They cut a tune called "Testify -- Part I and Part II." Not to be confused with The Parliaments hit of some years later, this song was a tribute to people the Isleys considered contemporaries, with call outs to Ray Charles, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Jackie Wilson, and even Little Richard, with Jimi all the while pounding out high powered blues licks.

"He played on 'Testify' and he also played on 'Move Over And Let Me Dance,' recalls Ernie. "That's the stuff that really stands out. There was a lot of rehearsal and stuff that the band used to do that might go on all day. Of course, none of that was recorded. We used to get a lot of comments from the neighbors, and the police used to come. 'Excuse me, Mrs. Isley. The neighbors are complaining. The music is a bit loud...'"

"Move Over And Let Me Dance" was recorded in August 1965, at Atlantic Studios. The studio had recently acquired an eight-track tape deck and mixer, which allowed the group to give Jimi some more discrete space in the mix (and to remix the songs with even more guitar after Jimi became a musical icon).

There were a couple of other records where Jimi was at least in the studio. "The Last Girl" was recorded in September of '64 at Atlantic Studios in New York. A track that presaged the mellow soul sound of The Stylistics, the guitar is subtle. Along with the B-sides "Have You Ever Been Disappointed" and "Looking For A Love" they represent one of Jimi's earliest studio recordings and the extent of his recordings with the Isley Brothers.

"He used to ask us if we had copies of the records we made together," Ronald recalled on the back of the album. "We didn't because of contracts. But we knew the tapes were coming back to us and we told him that when they did, we were going to reissue them. He was happy about it, but he said, 'If there's any stuff I played that isn't right, let me know and I'll come and do it over.' I told him not to worry. Jimi never played anything wrong."

AN ABRIDGED DISCOGRAPHY

Though Jimi's involvement with the Isley Brothers is limited to a handful of recording sessions in mid-late 1965, the resulting finished recordings have been featured on a number of releases including the following.

Singles

"Testify (Part 1)" b/w "Testify (Part 2)"
T-Neck, 45-501, (June 1964)

"The Last Girl" b/w "Looking For A Love" T-Neck, 45-2263, (November 1964)

"Move Over And Let Me Dance" b/w "Have You Ever Been Disappointed" Atlantic Records, 45-2303, (September 1965)

Albums

In The Beginning
T-Neck, TNS 3007, (March 1970)

Jimi is featured on "Move Over Let Me Dance Part 1," "Have You Ever Been Disappointed Parts 1 & 2", "Testify Parts 1 & 2," "Move Over Let Me Dance Part 2," "The Last Girl," and "Looking For A Love."

Ooh Child
Pickwick, SPC-3325, (circa early 1970s)

Jimi is featured on "Testify Parts 1 & 2."

The Isley Brothers Story, Volume 1
Rhino Records, R-70908, (April 1991)

Jimi is featured on "Testify Parts 1 & 2"

It's Your Thing: The Story Of The Isley Brothers
Sony/Legacy, 65547, (August 1999)

Jimi is featured on "Move Over And Let Me Dance" and "Testify."

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