The Essential Sly & the Family Stone (2002)

"There are two types of black music: black music before Sly Stone, and black music after Sly Stone" - Joel Selvin

I don't know what I can possibly add to that. So if you'll excuse me, I'm off for some hot fun. All the squares, go home.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Tracks:

CD1	Song	Album	Pop	R&B
1	Underdog	A Whole New Thing (1967)
2	I Cannot Make It	A Whole New Thing
3	Dance To The Music	Dance To The Music (1968)	8	9
4	Are You Ready?	Dance To The Music
5	Fun	Life (1968)
6	M'Lady	Life
7	Life	Life	93
8	Love City	Life
9	Stand!	Stand! (1969)	22	14
10	Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey	Stand!
11	I Want To Take You Higher	Stand!	38	24
12	Somebody's Watching You	Stand!
13	Sing A Simple Song	Stand!
14	Everyday People	Stand!	1	1
15	You Can Make It If You Try	Stand!
16	Hot Fun In The Summertime	Greatest Hits (1970)	2	3
17	Everybody Is A Star	Greatest Hits	1	1
18	Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)	Greatest Hits	1	1

CD2	Song	Album	Year
1	Family Affair	There's A Riot Goin' On (1971)	1	1
2	Luv N' Haight	There's A Riot Goin' On
3	Poet	There's A Riot Goin' On
4	(You Caught Me) Smilin'	There's A Riot Goin' On	42	21
5	Runnin' Away	There's A Riot Goin' On	23	15
6	Brave & Strong	There's A Riot Goin' On
7	Just Like A Baby	There's A Riot Goin' On
8	Thank You For Talkin' to Me, Africa	There's A Riot Goin' On
9	In Time	Fresh (1973)
10	If You Want Me To Stay	Fresh	12	3
11	Frisky	Fresh	79	28
12	Skin I'm In	Fresh
13	Babies Makin' Babies	Fresh
14	If It Were Left Up To Me	Fresh
15	Time For Livin'	Small Talk (1974)	32	10
16	Loose Booty	Small Talk	84	22
17	I Get High On You	High On You (1975)	45	11

I listen to disc 1 more than disc 2, but that doesn't mean that disc 2 is bad, just a little different. It's difficult picking favorites among these funk/rock classics, but I'd be hard-pressed to find a funkier groove than that found in Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).

Note: "Special Limited Edition" continues to be readily available more than ten years after release. Hmmm... But they got it right when they claim the music is "Spectacularly Remastered" because these songs sound fantastic.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Purchased to replace my greatest hits compilation.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Different Strokes by Different Folks (2006)
Fresh (1973)

Sly and the Family Stone - Different Strokes by Different Folks (2006)

I don't know exactly what to make of this hot mess. Is it a cover album or a tribute album or a remix album or just a blatant attempt to cash in on Stone's skills without coming up with anything original? Too much looping and too many drum machines for me. The original songs don't need updating; they're fresh enough as is. This review says it better than I could: www.popmatters.com

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: The only track that bears repeated listening is Family Affair, but after listening to the whole CD you'll go back to your collection looking for the original recordings to get the taste out of your mouth.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I bought this at a Best Buy on the way home from a grad school class and listened to it on the drive. Today's listening is the second time I've heard it.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Fresh (1973)

Sly and the Family Stone - Fresh (1973)

This is some gritty funk. Recorded at the beginning of the end for Sly Stone, this music wasn't properly appreciated at the time of its release, but has since become a landmark soul/funk album. According to Rolling Stone, Sly Stone should sit "alongside James Brown, Marvin Gaye, George Clinton and Al Green on the Mount Rushmore of soul." True. The syncopated horn parts on this disc are Stone's best, right up there with the JB's. Bonus points for the Richard Avedon photo on the cover. Unfortunately, after this release, Sly would no longer be as fresh and he would soon just vanish like Bobby Fischer.

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "The music in this long-awaited album indicates he is still a little shaky but regaining confidence."
• CashBox: "possibly the strongest the group has ever released"
• Billboard: "Sly sounds dragged and ragged"
• Record World: "A thoroughly excellent set."
• Rolling Stone: "masterpiece"
• Robert Christgau (A): "a superabundance of elusive images to a jagged groove."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #7
• Billboard R&B: #1 (3 weeks)

Tracks: It's all good. If I had to pick favorites, I'd go with In Time, If You Want Me To Stay (which has one of my all time favorite bass lines), Frisky, Skin I'm In, If It Were Left Up To Me, and Babies Makin' Babies. The cover of Doris Day's hit Que Sera Sera, sung by Rose Stone, is the best kind of cover, a complete deconstruction. Sly reimagines the song as a crawling gospel-blues waltz.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Embarrassingly, none. At the time of the album's release in 1973, this wasn't exactly the type of music being played at my house. I eventually became a casual Sly fan, owning only his greatest hits for years. In 2003, saw this album in the 186 slot of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003) and that prompted my purchase.