Harvest for the World
| Harvest For The World | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by The Isley Brothers | ||||
| Released | May 29, 1976 | |||
| Recorded | 1975–1976 | |||
| Studio |
The Record Plant (Los Angeles, California) | |||
| Genre | Soul, funk rock, smooth soul | |||
| Length | 37:54 | |||
| Label | T-Neck Records | |||
| Producer | The Isley Brothers | |||
| The Isley Brothers chronology | ||||
| ||||
Harvest for the World is the fourteenth album released by The Isley Brothers on their T-Neck imprint in May 29, 1976.
The album was remastered and expanded for inclusion in the 2015 released CD box set The RCA Victor & T-Neck Album Masters, 1959–1983.
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | B- [2] |
| Pitchfork | 9.0/10[3] |
The album included the successful socially conscious title track and the top three R&B record, "Who Loves You Better?" While not released as singles, the ballads "(At Your Best) You Are Love" and "Let Me Down Easy" were also hits. The album sold over 500,000 copies in the first three weeks of release, making it one of the fastest-selling records ever (it passed the million sales mark in the early 2000s). It topped the Billboard R&B Albums chart; the Isleys third straight album to do so.
Track listing
All tracks written by Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, Chris Jasper, Rudolph Isley, O'Kelly Isley and Ronald Isley.
| Side one | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Harvest for the World (Prelude)" | 2:11 |
| 2. | "Harvest for the World" | 3:51 |
| 3. | "People of Today" | 4:42 |
| 4. | "Who Loves You Better" | 5:31 |
| Side two | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 5. | "(At Your Best) You Are Love" | 5:23 |
| 6. | "Let Me Down Easy" | 6:30 |
| 7. | "So You Wanna Stay Down" | 3:51 |
| 8. | "You Still Feel the Need" | 4:50 |
| 2001 reissue bonus track | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 9. | "Summer Breeze" (Live at Bearsville Studios) | Jim Seals, Dash Crofts | 8:43 |
Personnel
- Ronald Isley – lead vocals
- O'Kelly Isley, Jr. – background vocals, lead vocals on "Let Me Down Easy"
- Rudolph Isley – background vocals, lead vocals on "You Still Feel The Need"
- Ernie Isley – guitars, drums, percussion, congas, timbales, maracas
- Marvin Isley – bass, cowbell, woodblock, percussion
- Chris Jasper – piano, keyboards, ARP synthesizer, clavinet, tambourine, percussion
Samples and covers
- Power Station covered "Harvest for the World" on their album The Power Station in 1985.
- Aaliyah covered "(At Your Best) You Are Love" on her album Age Ain't Nothing but a Number in 1994.
- Jewell covered "Harvest for the World" on the soundtrack album Murder Was the Case in 1994.
- Vanessa Williams covered "Harvest for the World" on her album Everlasting Love in 2005.
- Ronnie Laws covered the entire album of "Harvest for the World" titled Portrait of the Isley Brothers' Harvest for the World in 1998.
- Mike Francis covered "Il Mio Amore Libero per Te" on his album Misteria in 1998.
The Christians famously covered "Harvest for the World" in 1988. The song reached #8 in the charts.
Charts
| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard Pop Albums[4] | 9 |
| Billboard Top Soul Albums[4] | 1 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions[5] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop |
US R&B |
US Dance | ||
| 1976 | "Who Loves You Better" | 47 | 3 | 2 |
| "Harvest for the World" | 63 | 9 | – | |
| "People of Today" | – | – | 3 | |
See also
External links
References
- ↑ Lytle, Craig. The Isley Brothers: Harvest For The World > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 03 September 2011.
- ↑ "Robert Christgau review". Robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
- ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (September 11, 2015). "The Isley Brothers: The RCA Victor and T-Neck Album Masters". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- 1 2 "The Isley Brothers US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
- ↑ "The Isley Brothers US singles chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
