Ernie Isley performs in Atlanta, March 27, 2010, as part of the Experience Hendrix Tour. “Jimi was just a dynamic presence with a style that couldn’t be copied,” he says
CHRIS MCKAY/GETTY IMAGESPERSONALITIES
HIS FIRST WITH THE ISLEYS
It’s Our Thing (1969) High Wire (1990)
HIS SOLO DEBUT
A DISCIPLE OF Jimi Hendrix. A mad scientist with pedals at his feet. A Strato-dreamer. A guitar icon. The Ohio-born, New Jersey-raised Ernie Isley is all those things and much more.
It didn’t hurt that young Ernie watched his older brothers rise to fame on the back of hits like “Shout,” “Twist and Shout” and “Testify,” the latter of which featured a young Hendrix, who joined the Isley Brothers in 1964.
“I WAS LISTENING TO JIMI HENDRIX BEFORE I WAS LISTENING TO THE BEATLES. HE WAS IN OUR HOME THE NIGHT THE BEATLES WERE ON ED SULLIVAN IN ’64 — THE FIRST TIME”
That means Hendrix’s appearance in Ernie’s life magically conicided with the Beatles’ 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, aka the watershed moment for basically every musician of a certain age. Still — despite the convergence of these two powerful storm systems — Ernie actually didn’t pick up the guitar until 1968 (when he was 16), although he was hanging around with his brothers in the studio by 1969.
But that doesn’t mean Ernie wasn’t in awe of Hendrix. “If you’d come by my house, you would have seen Jimi coming and going in and out the front door,” he says. “Long story short, if you asked me, ‘Who’s the best player out there?’ I’d say, ‘Jimi Hendrix.’ But not because of what’s in your headphones blasting left to right, but because of what I heard him play in my living room without an amplifier.”
As for when young Ernie started to get serious, that would have been in 1969, when the Isley Brothers funk smash hit, “It’s Your Thing,” featured him on bass — not guitar. He also played bass on 1970’s He played some guitar (and drums) on 1971’s — and nothing but guitar on 1972’s But it wasn’t until 1973’s that — at just 21 years old — Ernie became a
