Harvest for the World

Summary

Harvest for the World is the fourteenth studio album released by The Isley Brothers on their T-Neck imprint on May 29, 1976.

Harvest For The World
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 29, 1976[1]
Recorded1975–1976
StudioThe Record Plant
(Los Angeles, California)
Genre
Length37:54
LabelT-Neck Records
ProducerThe Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers chronology
The Heat Is On
(1975)
Harvest For The World
(1976)
Go for Your Guns
(1977)

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 edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [4]
Christgau's Record GuideB−[5]
Pitchfork9.0/10[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 edit

Unless otherwise noted, Information is based on Liner notes[6]

All tracks are written by Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, Chris Jasper, Rudolph Isley, O'Kelly Isley and Ronald Isley

Side one
No.TitleLength
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.TitleLength
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.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."Summer Breeze" (Live at Bearsville Studios)Jim Seals, Dash Crofts8:43

Personnel edit

Performance
Production
  • The Isley Brothers - producers
  • Malcolm Cecil - recording engineer (1-8), producer, music programming
  • John Holbrook - live recording engineer (9)

Later samples and covers edit

Later Samples
  • Paul Johnson sampled "Harvest for the World" for his song “4 the World”, from the 1995 album Bump Talkin’[11]
  • Mo Kolours also sampled "Harvest for the World" for his song “Harvest”, which first appeared on the 2015 album Texture Like Sun[12]
  • Tracey Lee sampled "Let Me Down Easy" on his song “On the Edge”, from the 1997 album Many Facez
  • Devin the Dude also reused "Let Me Down Easy" on the song “I Can’t Handle It”, from his 2010 album Suite 420
  • Sevyn Streeter sampled the song on the track "Before I Do" from her 2017 debut album Girl Disrupted.
Cover Versions

Charts edit

Chart (1976) Peak
position
Billboard Pop Albums[19] 9
Billboard Top Soul Albums[19] 1

Singles edit

Year Single Chart positions[20]
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 edit

External links edit

  • The Isley Brothers-Harvest For The World at Discogs

References edit

  1. ^ a b c ”Albums Recorded by The Isley Brothers”. The Isley Brothers. http://www.softshoe-slim.com/lists/i/isley.html#16
  2. ^ Martin, Bill (1998). Listening to the Future: The Time of Progressive Rock, 1968-1978. Open Court Publishing. p. 239. ISBN 081269368X.
  3. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (September 11, 2015). "The Isley Brothers: The RCA Victor and T-Neck Album Masters". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  4. ^ Lytle, Craig. The Isley Brothers: Harvest For The World > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  5. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: I". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 27, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  6. ^ The Isley Brothers. “Harvest for the World” (Album notes). T-Neck / Epic. 1976.
  7. ^ Bogdanov, Vladimir (2003). All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-0-87930-744-8.
  8. ^ Disco, Soul, Gold. “Happy Birthday, Rudolph Isley”. Facebook. 2 April 2015. https://m.facebook.com/DiscoSoulGold/posts/998121983534342
  9. ^ a b ”Harvest for the World”. YouTube: The Isley Brothers - Topic. 9 February 2017. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0OOvVN8TcA
  10. ^ a b ”(At Your Best) You Are Love”. YouTube: The Isley Brothers - Topic. 17 February 2017. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CSGMkGHty6o
  11. ^ Johnson, Paul. “Bump Talkin’” (Album notes). Peacefrog Records. 1995.
  12. ^ "Mo Kolours announces Texture Like Sun LP · News ⟋ RA". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  13. ^ The Christians. “Harvest...FLAC”. YouTube: A-Music. 26 November 2016. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KYuN1sz3TFQ
  14. ^ Deep Soul - Ronnie Laws | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 2024-03-19
  15. ^ Portrait of the Isley Brothers: Harvest for the World - Ron, retrieved 2024-03-19
  16. ^ “It’s a Sony”. Mike Francis Archives. Updated 7 March 2001. http://wohnort.org/francis/archive.html
  17. ^ Francis, Mark. “Misteria”. Spotify / Lungomare S.r.l. 1998. https://open.spotify.com/album/0qyH2J7H3rnLEP0cEhwB7Z
  18. ^ Kreps, Daniel (2015-01-17). "Frank Ocean Shares Aaliyah Tribute 'At Your Best'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  19. ^ a b "The Isley Brothers US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  20. ^ "The Isley Brothers US singles chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-09-03.