Although they were an American soul group, the Isley Brothers were the linchpin between two of rock and roll’s most influential artists: the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.
In February 1964, Hendrix became aguitarist with the Isley’s group. He’d been living with the family at their home in Englewood, New Jersey, after quitting the chitlin circuit and deciding to try his luck up in New York City. The Isley’s took him in and reportedly bought him a sunburst Fender Jazzmaster, after his previous electric guitar, a Duo-Sonic, was stolen. That March, Jimi cut his first professional recording with the Isley’s, “Testify,” and went on to tour with the group for much of that year.
As for the Beatles, they’d been covering the Isley’s 1959 hit “Shout,” as well as their 1962 smash “Twist and Shout” soon after it was released. They’d even made the latter tune the rousing closing number of their set when they performed in 1963 on Sunday Night at the London Palladium and The Royal Variety Performance, where John Lennon instructed the assembled royalty to “rattle your jewelry.”
The Beatles would go on to make the song the final track on their debut album, Please Please Me and eventually performed it in the U.S. when they made their February 23, 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
As guitarist Ernie Isley recalled in a 2014 interview with The Hub, the Isleys met the Beatles in England. “When they found out we lived in New Jersey, they said when they came back to New York they wanted to come by our home,” he said. “I think it would have been a bit much: because under the same roof it would have been the Isley Brothers, the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. And they would have heard him play.”
That meeting never happened, but Isley does recall watching the Beatles make their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. Sitting next to him on the living room sofa was none other than Jimi Hendrix.
Later that year, Hendrix would go on tour with the group, where he would perform “Twist and Shout.” Isley likes to imagine what might have happened if the Beatles had seen them perform.
“You know, if divine grace had happened and John Lennon showed up,” he says, “that would’ve had us asking, ‘Are we ready for the second coming?’”
Guitar Player dialed in with Ernie to discuss the Beatles, Hendrix and their intertwined history, starting with “Twist and Shout” and a historic Fab Four appearance on television in 1964.
The Beatles and the Isley Brothers have a bit of a connection because of “Shout” and “Twist and Shout.” Can you remember the first time you all saw them, which was while Jimi Hendrix was staying at your house?
When the Beatles were first on The Ed Sullivan Show, I was sitting on the left-hand side of the couch, Marvin [Isley] was sitting on the right-hand side and Jimi Hendrix was in the middle. And Ed Sullivan said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles!”
Was the reaction the typical shock and awe that most from that era recall experiencing?
Well, there was no clap of thunder, or nothing like that. You don’t know what the future holds, and we didn’t know the guy on the couch was kind of an electric guitar deity. We just knew he played extremely well.
So the Isley Brothers weren’t threatened by the Beatles?
A few days went by, and there was a meeting between the band members. We thought, This English group has changed everything. That’s not hype. But while we didn’t know what’s going to happen to any of the American artists as a result of the Beatles, we figured we were going to be all right.”
My brother Kelly said, “They’ve got two guitar players, but we’ve got Jimi.” And I looked over at Jimi, and he was grinning from ear to ear. And, of course, it was true.
Did you ever get to talk with any of the Beatles about their version of “Twist and Shout”?
Yes. Many years later, Ronald [Isley] and I were playing in Upstate New York, at the Perleman Estate; the Perleman family owned Revlon Cosmetics. After we played, I was signing autographs and taking selfies, and when I got to our table, my wife, Tracy, said, “Paul McCartney is over there.”
She pointed, and he was about four or five tables away.
So I weaved my way through the tables and got to where he was, and tapped him on the shoulder. He stood up at his full height and gave me a bear hug that just about cut my wind off! And we were laughing and hollering at each other at the same time.
What did you say to each other?
I was saying, “Paul, you, Ringo, George and John are wonderful.” And he said, “Ernie, if not for the Isley Brothers, the Beatles would still be in Liverpool.” And we got onstage with him, and we did “Twist and Shout.” It was the first public performance of the Isley’s and the Beatles together, and of course, everyone went nuts. And that was the last song that was done that night.
Around the time the Beatles first came to America, they said something to the effect of wanting to visit you. They didn’t, but if they had, I have to imagine it’s possible the Beatles and Jimi would have met.
Yeah, under the same roof. And they would have heard him in 1964. And if they’d heard him there, they would have been in shock! Because it’s like, “Do you hear what, and how this guy is playing, and the way he plays?” It would have been a shock to them.
After Jimi Hendrix blew up, he came back to see the Isley Brothers in 1967. Do you remember that?
I remember that he’d been in England. We were like, “England? What’s he doing there?” And this was before Are You Experienced came out, but we had a history, you know? And then, in 1969, we were going to do a festival show at Yankee Stadium.
We phoned Jimi and said, “We’re doing this concert at Yankee Stadium, we’d like you to do it.” He said, “Oh, man, I’d love to. But let me get back in touch with my people, and I’ll let you know.” And a few days went by, and he called back, and said, “Kelly, I would love to do it, but I’ve got this commitment…”
This was in early June of 1969, and he said, “It’s something called the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, in Upstate, New York, in August. The promoters are concerned that if I play Yankee Stadium, and although it’s in early June, it might hurt ticket sales.” Of course, that just shows he didn’t have a crystal ball, either.
