I Want to Take You Higher_ The Life and Times of Sly & the Family Stone - Jeff Kaliss [85]
Back on the Right Track Warner Brothers, 1979
(1) Remember Who You Are; (2) Back on the Right Track; (3). If It's Not Addin' Up; (4) The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry); (5) Shine It On; (6) It Takes All Kinds; (7) Who's to Say?; (8) Sheer Energy
Sly Stone-vocals, keyboards, harmonica; Freddie Stone-guitar, vocals; Joseph Baker-guitar; Hamp Banks-guitar; Cynthia Robinson-trumpet; Keni Burke-bass; Alvin Taylor-drums; Walter Downing-keyboards; Mark Davis-keyboards; Ollie Brown-percussion; Pat Rizzo-saxophone; Steve Madaio, Fred Smith, Gary Herbig-horns; Rose Stone Banks, Lisa Banksbacking vocals
Sly seemed to have left much of his tunefulness behind, at least for the time being, when he departed the Epic label and made this first of two albums for Warner. In his lyrics, he retained some of his cleverness and his telegraphed insightful messages, most creatively applied in fine funky fashion on "The Same Thing" and "It Takes All Kinds." The sound was evocative of James Brown and predic tive of Prince, and at its worst was still better than much of the rock and R & B from this and the following decade. Sly's one-time mentor and long-time associate Hamp "Bubba" Banks was credited as associate producer and guitarist, and Rose, Sly's sister and Bubba's wife at the time, provided backing vocals alongside her daughter, Lisa.
Ain't but the One Way Warner Brothers, 1982
(1) L.O.V.I.N.U.; (2) One Way; (3) Ha Ha, Hee Hee; (4) Hobo Ken; (5) Who in the Funk Do You Think You Are; (6) You Really Got Me; (7) Sylvester; (8) We Can Do It; (9) High, Y'All
Sly Stone-vocals, keyboards; Pat Rizzo-saxophone; George Clinton-miscellaneous contributions
This proved a somewhat better showcase of Sly's eclectic talent than did the earlier Warner effort, but the overproduction rather quashed the superior quality of the songs. The lush arrangements evinced what was being borrowed from Sly by groups like Earth, Wind & Fire, and "Who in the Funk Do You Think You Are" sounded almost suited to the catchy, repetitive mode of disco, which had "died" a couple years earlier. The album could have used more of the sort of fun and funk abounding in Sly's imaginative cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me." The two Warner releases were the last to bear the Family Stone moniker (so far), though the band had no apparent connection with the final album other than the involvement of its former leader.
COMPILATIONS
Precious Stone: In the Studio with Sly Stone 1963-1965 Ace, 1994
What's precious here are some of the raw elements and skills that Sly assembled while working as an in-house songwriter, arranger, and producer for San Francisco's Autumn Records in the early 1960s. Assembled and meticulously annotated by Alec Palao, the singles, not all of which made it onto finished LPs, feature the singing and/or playing of Sly, siblings Freddie and Rose, George & Teddy (Jerry Martini's sometime employers), Billy Preston, and Autumn star Bobby Freeman. Sly deals easily in R & B, early soul, and pop modes, at one point laying down a bit of jazz scat. Just as Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page drew on his former life as a session guitarist, Sly's audible technical and musical discipline would go gold with the Family Stone.
The Essential Sly & the Family Stone Sony, 2002
For those not wanting to buy or to carry around the big Collection box, this is an excellent remastered two-disc, thirty-five-track alternative, including not only all the hits (with notation of their placement on the charts) but also some of the best of the other Epic tracks, dating back to A Whole New Thing and ahead to High on You. It's arguably the best way for a listener to grasp the scope of Sly and the band's history.
Sly & the Family Stone: The Collection Sony, 2007
The first seven LPs released by Epic