I don’t know what came over the Isley Brothers in the early ’70s, but they apparently decided that beating the era’s chart-toppers at their own game was their new mission statement.
Focusing on classic songs that: a) they really dug, and b) were really popular, the Isleys cut absolutely burning renditions of killer tracks from emerging singer/songwriters, people like Stephen Stills, Neil Young, and Seals & Crofts.

Yes, I said Seals & Crofts. The IBeez cover of “Summer Breeze” may be THE GREATEST SONG OF ALL TAHM!!!

I’ve always thought that a collection of all of these tracks in the same place would make the best album that either the Isleys or any of the artists they covered never made…and now here it is, in the form of a Spotify playlist…sort of. I couldn’t find a way to embed the actual playlist on my blog, so clicking the photo above will take you to the playlist on sharemyplaylist.net, where you can click to listen.
Sorry for the rigamarole – just focus on the jams instead.
P.S. Why does this end with the Isleys’ own “Climbin’ Up The Ladder”? Because it smokes.