Inside Tracks #15: The Isley Brothers, "Harvest For the World" w/Covers by Power Station, The Christians, Paul Carrack, Vanessa Williams

An inspirational 1975 classic by The Isleys travels across 30 years and two centuries in remarkable iterations by vastly different artists!

The Isley Brothers released their 14th studio album, Harvest for the World, on May 29, 1976 on the band’s T-Neck Records (founded in 1964). By this time, the native Ohioans and their label had enjoyed a distribution deal with CBS Records for several years.

Upon its release, I was 21, and doing a 7-midnight shift on Baton Rouge’s (Louisiana) commercial “progressive rock station,” WFMF-FM102, after having spent a year at my hometown Houston’s CBS Radio affiliate, KLOL-FM.

In record biz parlance, this was the “white-label promo” copy of the Isleys’ album, including the customary CBS Records “banding strip” that was slapped onto the bottom front cover of all CBS and affiliated labels’ promo albums. This strip was particularly helpful at the radio level, as it showed each song’s title and playing time, as well as a little box to check so program and/or music directors could indicate the preferred songs they’d like jocks to play.

Record-Plant-ing the Seed

Having enjoyed a couple previous Isley releases, I was eager to take home a spare promo copy of Harvest for the World, and give it a spin. Imagine my surprise when the first things I heard were a gentle piano intro and a cymbal flourish, followed by a gentle ballad about “people of today” preparing us for “a harvest for the children.”

Then, imagine my further surprise to hear that same piano issue a brief arpeggio, concurrent with an acoustic guitar, both now hinting boldly at a decidedly un-Isley acoustic album opener! There’ll be no power-fighting on this one (remembering their massively funky and chart-rattling “Fight the Power” the previous summer, recorded at L.A.’s Record Plant!). Need a reminder?

Here were the Isley’s and their “Fight the Power” (Radio Edit, of course!) which gave the brothers their first song to peak in the Top 20 on three different charts (Billboard’s R&B #1, Top 100 #4, Dance/Disco #13):

Whatever power we may be fighting as we gird our collective loins for this impending hope-filled “harvest,” our fists will be lowered from their mid-air 1975 positions, and will now be joyfully wrapped around metaphoric hoes, rakes, and pitchforks.

The roiling basses, funky grooves, and vocal growls of Summer ‘75 are now replaced by gleeful acoustic guitar strums, glorious piano glissandos, and happy major chord structures. Oh, the “Fight the Power” hand claps are still present, but now, instead of marching in the streets, these percussive claps are accompanying a much more inclusive, hopeful, and encouraging message!

In fact, close your eyes while listening to “Harvest,” and you might think you’re hearing the newest from America or Seals & Crofts (the Isleys are intimately familiar with the latter duo, having covered their “Summer Breeze” as a single in 1974)!

“Harvest” is about seeking world peace; the song was composed by Ernie Isley, who wrote most of the lyrics, together with Marvin Isley and Chris Jasper, with additional lyrics and musical arrangements added by the three original members, O’Kelly, Rudolph and Ronald.

Musically Flexible (To Say the Least)!

Incredibly (from a thematic and structural sense, anyway), “Harvest” was actually recorded on the same day as “Fight the Power (Parts 1 & 2)”! Imagine going from the socially-conscious urgency of “Fight the Power” to the joyfully exuberant optimism of “Harvest” from one hour to the next!

“Harvest for the World” was originally intended to go on 1975’s The Heat Is On album as the lead single, but “Fight The Power” ended up being the lead single (decided by a group vote), and thus, was saved to include on the Harvest for the World LP.

As on many Isley Brothers records, Ronald sang lead on the song while his older brothers, O’Kelly and Rudolph, backed him up.

Enjoy this inspiring mid-’70s magic created by the songs’ composers (who also produced): Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, Chris Jasper, Rudolph Isley, O’Kelly Isley and Ronald Isley:

The Harvest for the World album sold over half-a-million copies in the first three weeks of release, making it one of the fastest-selling records ever (it passed the million-unit sales mark in the early 2000s). It topped the Billboard R&B Albums chart, the Isleys’ third straight album to do so.

As a single, the title track became a Top Ten R&B hit, reaching #9, peaking at #63 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a bigger pop hit in Britain, reaching #10 on the UK Singles Chart.

Plugging in The Power Station

The Power Station in ‘85, in full wattage: Bathrobes, dinner jackets, a sponsorship deal with the good folks at AquaNet, and thou.

The first artist to cover “Harvest for the World” waited a solid decade to do so: The Power Station, formed in 1984, recorded their version in ‘85, at the place that inspired their name: New York City’s Power Station studio.

Something of a “super-group,” two Duran Durans (the non-related Taylors, John and Andy), and former Chic drummer, Tony Thompson, joined forces with singer, Robert Palmer (early’70s, Vinegar Joe with Elkie Brooks, plus a decade-long solo career), and signed with Capitol Records.

The Taylors (longtime fans of Palmer) wanted to distance themselves from their synth-heavy Duran habit, and explore a more rock- and guitar-driven direction; Palmer and Thompson (who both passed away in late 2003) were, of course, desirous of keeping their respective funk flames alit.

Hence the resultant guitar crunch (Power Station extension chords?) of their “Harvest,” cross-pollinated with a danceable dash of R&B (produced by Chic’s Bernard Edwards, with an unofficial and uncredited assist by fellow Chic-ster, Nile Rodgers, about whom much more can be discovered in the 21st century, by clicking here).

The Christians Have a (UK and European) Hit

Called a “soul group” and hailing from Liverpool, England, The Christians were three brothers, Garry, Roger, and Russell Christian, and Henry Priestman. Paul Barlow, Mike Bulger, and Tony Jones were early members of the band that formed in 1985.

Rock: The Rough Guide critic, Charles Bottomley, described the group as “The Temptations in ripped jeans, producing gritty-centered songs in a sugary vocal shell.”

Be that as it may, The Christians got to #8 in the UK with their cover (recorded for charity on the 1988 Summer Olympics Album-One Moment in Time) on Island Records in 1988. The band’s product, released throughout Europe, was never released in the U.S.

Dangling a Carrack

No more perfect singer could’ve been tapped to cover an Isley Brothers song…any Isley song. Wanna hear an impressive resume?

Paul Carrack was the lead singer on Ace’s #3 US and Canadian hit, “How Long” in 1974 (immediately becoming Rod Stewart’s favorite, and in Phil Collins’ Top Ten all-time songs at the time), Squeeze’s “Tempted” in 1981 (at the suggestion of producer, Elvis Costello, also heard on the song, in an arrangement inspired by The Temptations), Mike + The Mechanics’ “Silent Running” and “The Living Years,” plus he toured with Ringo’s All-Starr Band in 2003, and he was once a keyboardist for Roxy Music!

The BBC once dubbed Carrack, “The Man with the Golden Voice,” while Record Collector added, “If vocal talent equaled financial success, Paul Carrack would be a bigger name than legends such as Phil Collins or Elton John.”

Carrack recorded an all-covers album in 2001, called Groovin’, for which “Harvest” served as the opening track. One can sense Paul might have been itching to tackle this song for decades (it even could’ve been the catalyst to gather the other covers to justify recording a new album)!

Certainly in his wheelhouse (and playing virtually all the instruments and producing), Carrack was, as usual, in the pocket!

Vanessa Williams

The 1984 Miss America is easily the most gorgeous of our otherwise testosterone-laden Playlist artists! And, as she’s done so many times, Vanessa Williams proves to be an all-around performer, as she sings the living daylights out of “Harvest,” giving it a funky, danceable undercurrent to boot.

Her cover emanates from her 2005 Everlasting Love album (on Lava/Atlantic Records), and like Carrack’s, is filled with popular covers. Players on her “Harvest” include David Letterman’s longtime TV bassist, Will Lee, with keyboards and guitar by then-35-year-old Rob Mathes (who also produced, arranged, and conducted), whose resume includes similar work with Sting, Ray Charles, Fall Out Boy, Springsteen, Bono, and many others.

Through the years, “Harvest for the World” has also enjoyed covers by Jewell, jazz flautist (and fellow native Houstonian), Ronnie Laws, and Gary Valenciano (whom we featured on “Inside Tracks #11: Todd Rundgren’s ‘Love is the Answer’”), here:

Inside Tracks #11: Todd Rundgren💖"Love is the Answer" with Utopia, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Rumer, Keni Burke, Gary Valenciano

My bean harvest has been thin. Cup o’ coffee?👍