James Brown may have invented funk, but Sly Stone perfected
it; his alchemical fusion of soul, rock, gospel, and psychedelia
rejected stylistic boundaries as much as his explosive backing
band the Family Stone ignored racial and gender restrictions,
creating a series of euphoric yet politically charged records
that proved a massive influence on artists of all musical
and cultural backgrounds. Sylvester "Sly Stone"
Stewart was born March 15, 1943, in Denton, TX, and raised
primarily in Vallejo, CA, where he sang with his family's
gospel group. After singing lead with a doo wop group called
the Viscaynes, at 16 he recorded the local hit "Long
Time Gone," concurrently spinning records for Bay Area
radio station KSOL. After studying trumpet, composition, and
theory at Vallejo Junior College, in 1964 Stewart signed to
local label Autumn Records, where he cut a series of solo
singles in addition to serving as a house producer; there
he helmed Bobby Freeman's national chart smash "C'mon
and Swim" as well as sessions by the Beau Brummels, the
Mojo Men, and the Great Society.
In 1966, Stewart formed the group Sly & the Stoners, while
his younger brother Freddie led his own band, Freddie &
the Stone Souls; soon the siblings merged the two acts, and
with bassist Larry Graham, trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, saxophonist
Jerry Martini, and drummer Greg Errico, Sly & the Family
Stone were born. After issuing their debut single, "I
Ain't Got Nobody," on the local Loadstone imprint, the
group signed to Epic to release their 1967 debut LP, A Whole
New Thing; Dance to the Music followed in 1968, and generated
a Top Ten hit with the title cut. Later that year, Sly &
the Family Stone topped both the pop and R&B charts with
the two-sided smash "Everyday People" b/w "Sing
a Simple Song"; and with the classic Stand!, the band's
music became increasingly politicized on standouts like the
hit title track and "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey."
As the group's chief vocalist, songwriter, and producer, Stone
pushed the envelope further with each successive release;
and with the 1970 chart-topper "Thank You Falettinme
Be Mice Elf Agin," he essentially created the sonic blueprint
for the funk and disco that dominated the decade to follow
via a percussive groove propelled by Graham's pop-and-slap
bassline.
However, as the utopian ideals of the 1960s gave way to the
paranoia and corruption of the 1970s, the celebratory sound
that once epitomized Sly & the Family Stone gave way to
the bleakly unsettling There's a Riot Goin' On, a dark, militant
masterpiece that yielded the hits "Family Affair"
and "Running Away." Stone's grim world view was
due in no small part to his increasing narcotics problem,
and he became notorious for arriving late to live gigs or
missing shows altogether. Released in 1973, Fresh was Sly
& the Family Stone's last truly great album, and after
issuing Small Talk the band unraveled, with 1975's High on
You credited to Stone alone. As his drug problems and legal
battles became public knowledge, efforts like 1976's Heard
Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back and 1979's Back on the Right Track
attracted little interest, as did a subsequent tour with George
Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars and a 1983 comeback effort,
Ain't But the One Way. After a 1987 single, "Eek-a-Bo-Static,"
failed to even chart, Stone instead made headlines for a cocaine
bust that led to his incarceration. Despite Sly & the
Family Stone being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall
of Fame in 1993, Stone failed to make a substantial comeback
in the '90s.--Bio
Courtesy of allmusic.com
Stand! (1969) In
late 1968, Sly & the Family Stone released the single "Everyday
People", which became the band's first number-one hit.
Even more pop-friendly than "Dance to the Music" had
been, "Everyday People" was a protest against prejudices
of all kinds, and popularized the catch phrase "different
strokes for different folks". "Everyday People"
and its b-side, "Sing a Simple Song", served as the
lead singles for the band's fourth album, Stand!, which was
released on May 3, 1969. The album eventually sold over three
million copies, and its title track became another hit for Sly
& the Family Stone. Stand! is considered one of the artistic
high-points of the band's career, with now-classic tracks such
as "Everyday People", "Sing a Simple Song",
"Stand!", and "I Want to Take You Higher".
The success of Stand! secured Sly & the Family Stone a gig
as one of the performers at the landmark Woodstock Music and
Art Festival. The band performed their set during the early-morning
hours of August 17, 1969; their performance was said to be one
of the best shows of the festival. A new non-album single, "Hot
Fun in the Summertime," was released the same month and
went to number two on the US pop charts.-- courtesy of wikipedia
There's
a Riot Goin' On (1971)
In the fall of 1971, Sly & the Family Stone finally returned,
after a nearly two-year period with no new material, with a
new hit single, "Family Affair". Because of the anticipation
built up for its release, "Family Affair" rose quickly
to #1 on the US pop charts, but "Family Affair" was
the polar opposite of what the public was expecting. It was
instead a somber, dark-sounding record, with Sly singing in
a low, depressed tone.
"Family Affair" was the lead single from the band's
long-awaited fifth album, There's a Riot Goin' On, which debuted
at number-one on the Billboard album charts upon its November
1971 release. Instead of the bright, cheery rock-laced soul
that had represented the optimistic 1960s, There's a Riot Goin'
On was filled with dark, drug-hazed, filtered drum machine tracks,
and burnt-out vocals and instrumentation, representing the hopelessness
many people were now feeling in the 1970s. The album is characterized
by a dulled sound quality, with a significant amount of tape
hiss, the result of Sly's extensive re-recording and overdubbing
during production. Allegedly, most of the album's instrumentation
is performed by Sly alone, who enlisted the Family Stone for
some of the additional instrumental parts and friends such as
Billy Preston, Ike Turner, and Bobby Womack for others. Besides
"Family Affair", "(You Caught Me) Smilin',"
and "Runnin' Away" were also released as singles,
and performed well on the charts.-- courtesy of wikipedia
Fresh
(1973)
Despite the loss of rhythm section and Sly's escalating cocaine
use, the next Sly & the Family Stone album, Fresh, was released
in 1973. By this time, Sly's sound had become more stripped
down while at the same time more syncopated and rhythmically
complex. As he had done with Riot, Sly held the masters for
a long time, obsessively overdubbing. Though the record received
mixed reviews at its release and did not receive the attention
that the band's earlier, more commercial work did, Fresh is
now recognized as one of the most important funk albums ever
made. Rose Stone sang lead on a gospel-styled cover of Doris
Day's "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)",
and the single "If You Want Me to Stay" became a Top
20 hit in the U.S.-- courtesy of wikipedia
Sly
and the Family Stone playing "Stand". Nice Hammond
B3 work and nice dancing at the end.
If
you are a Sly Stone fan then perhaps you will enjoy one of my CDs
as well.
Check out my cover of "Sing a Simple Song" on the Innocent
Bystander CD.
Innocent
Bystander is my alter ego of hardcore funky electronica.
Released in 2000, this CD was featured prominently in MTV
Road Rules.
The music infuses elements of Drum-n-Bass,
Techno, Reggae, and Funk
all with a unifying B-3 organ throughout.
Innocent Bystander transcends the space time continuum from
70's funk to the new millennium by perfectly melding the computerized
sounds of the new electronica with the raw human feel of old
school soul and funk.
It's as if Sly Stone and Jimmy Smith
were genetically combined with the Chemical Brothers
and Fat Boy Slim! There is even
a cover of Sly Stone's "Sing A Simple Song". The
result is music for your mind and your ass. It's Medeski,
Martin, and Wood on a futuristic tour around Jupiter.
The Satellite
Orchestra is the latest project from Los Angeles keyboardist
Rodney
Lee. The music is a cinematic journey into soulful
live electronica with Lee navigating from a Fender
Rhodes electric piano. The CD was released in Sept.
2006 and features Rico Belled on bass, Allen Lightner on percussion,
Dino Soldo on bass clarinet and flutes, Dave Karasony on Drums,
and vocalists Jody Watley, Jeff Robinson, and
Wade3.
The Satellite Orchestra is like a chance meeting of Massive
Attack, Zero-7, and Herbie
Hancock.
" I have always believed that an album is a trip..not
just music to wash the dishes to, but a place to go.. a journey
to take.. an album goes to a place in your soul that maybe you
forgot was there...or maybe you never discovered.. The Satellite
Orchestra is such an album..it's music you feel...make sure
to bring your headphones." -DJ
Jedi
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