Long before Michael Jackson and Prince became superstars by fusing rhythmic soul with rock's sense of scale and ambition, a former Northern California deejay and producer named Sylvester Stewart took the vaunted musical utopianism of the '60s and forged it into the cross-cultural, ass-shaking, genre-bending groove monster that was Sly and the Family Stone. James Brown may have invented funk, but S&TFS masterfully tooled and supercharged it into mass-acceptance. No mere greatest hits collection--though they're all here in digitally remastered glory--this 35-track, double-disc anthology delves deeper into the handful of seminal albums the band produced before its leaders' long, troubling slide into drug abuse and oblivion. Given the chronological development, there's a sense here that Stewart/Stone's problems paralleled the increasingly militant and hard-edged stance his band took on albums like the uncompromising classics There's a Riot Going On and Family Affair. Propelled by Larry Graham's locomotive bass lines and accented by rousing horns, Sly and company swooped from the heights of 1969's hit-laden "Stand" towards a darker and more unsettling decade ahead. Few bands have soared higher--or fallen as far. --Jerry McCulley
The Essential Sly & the Family Stone,Sly & the Family Stone,Sony,Funk,Pop,Pop/Rock,Psychedelic,Psychedelic Soul,R&B,Soul,Soul/R & B,Soul/Reggae/Rhythm & Blues
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Essential Sly & Family Stone
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ASIN: B00006NSH7 Release Date: 2003-03-11 |
Tracks:
- Underdog
- I Cannot Make It
- Dance To The Music
- Are You Ready?
- Fun
- M'Lady
- Life
- Love City
- Stand!
- Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey
- I Want To Take You Higher
- Somebody's Watching You
- Sing A Simple Song
- Everyday People
- You Can Make It If You Try
- Hot Fun In The Summertime
- Everybody Is A Star
- Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
Tracks:
- Family Affair
- Luv N' Haight
- Poet
- (You Caught Me) Smilin'
- Runnin' Away
- Brave & Strong
- Just Like A Baby
- Thank You For Talkin' To Me, Africa
- In Time
- If You Want Me To Stay
- Frisky
- Skin I'm In
- Babies Makin' Babies
- If It Were Left Up To Me
- Time For Livin'
- Loose Booty
- I Get High On You
Amazon.com
Long before Michael Jackson and Prince became superstars by fusing rhythmic soul with rock's sense of scale and ambition, a former Northern California deejay and producer named Sylvester Stewart took the vaunted musical utopianism of the '60s and forged it into the cross-cultural, ass-shaking, genre-bending groove monster that was Sly and the Family Stone. James Brown may have invented funk, but S&TFS masterfully tooled and supercharged it into mass-acceptance. No mere greatest hits collection--though they're all here in digitally remastered glory--this 35-track, double-disc anthology delves deeper into the handful of seminal albums the band produced before its leaders' long, troubling slide into drug abuse and oblivion. Given the chronological development, there's a sense here that Stewart/Stone's problems paralleled the increasingly militant and hard-edged stance his band took on albums like the uncompromising classics There's a Riot Going On and Family Affair. Propelled by Larry Graham's locomotive bass lines and accented by rousing horns, Sly and company swooped from the heights of 1969's hit-laden "Stand" towards a darker and more unsettling decade ahead. Few bands have soared higher--or fallen as far. --Jerry McCulleyCustomer Reviews:
Mostly the essential, at least.......2007-07-12
So now, onto the review of the album itself. This is a good roundup, but there are two Sly Stone studio albums that must be heard before you get anything by him. They are (dat duh duh duh dat dat dat daaaah!) High on You and Heard You Missed Me, Now I'm Back. No, wait, those are the only two Sly & the Family Stone albums I've never heard. I'm REALLY talking about Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On. This album contains most of those, but they feature some songs you NEED to hear that you won't find on essential: the former's Sex Machine jam and the latter's Spaced Cowboy (very funny song!) and Africa Talks to You (The Asphalt Jungle).
So now, what do I think of Essential? I think it's a pretty good Sly overview with a few faults. First off, only one pick from A Whole New Thing? Okay, that's not Sly's best known album by any means, but it is unfairly overlooked. Yes, Underdog was a great selection, but I think a couple more songs are needed, in interest of fairness to that album (What Would I Do, for instance). Similarly, Dynamite! from Life (another unfairly overlooked album) would've been a nice selection, not like the title song, Fun and M'Lady don't belong here or anything. Let's see... Dance to the Music (the group's second album and breakthrough) is pretty uneven, but I Ain't Got No One is a good listen, and it wasn't on this album either. I won't bring up the tracks from Stand! and Riot, because you need both those albums anyway. Fresh is quite well represented - they got all the best songs from that one. Loose Booty and High on You are good late-period Sly. Time for Livin' is not, but it was a pretty substantial hit so it'll probably make it on most other Sly comps no matter what I say.
I think the one disc Greatest Hits is the ideal Sly primer myself, but if you can't find that, Essential has its moments too. You still need Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On, though, no matter which one you buy. (Fresh, Life and A Whole New Thing are pretty good too, just not as good).
A fine introduction to a great band........2007-05-19
But enough hyperbole-- the music itself, presented in fine remastered sound, includes virtually all their singles for Epic and a number of album tracks, with particular emphasis on "Stand!" (seven cuts), "There's a Riot Goin' On" (eight) and "Fresh" (six). As I've often thought the three of these were far and away superior than everything else the band ever did, I'm alright with this. With the presentation chronological, you can hear the band rising from an older funk sound ("Underdog") to the commercial pop forced by the record label ("Dance to the Music") to eventually into a sunny sort of optimistic funk/soul ("Life"). Had the band stopped when they did find their own sound, they dismissal of them would make sense, but instead Stone's artistry became increasingly more dense, more personal, and more powerful. There are few records out there as direct and potent as "Stand!" and "There's a Riot Goin' On", the former perhaps the summation of the California dream ("Stand!", huge hit "Everyday People"), the latter being a reflection of its failure ("Luv N' Haight", "(You Caught Me) Smilin'"). Along with all this are many songs that have worked their way into collective consciousness-- the aformentioned "Everyday People", "Sing a Simple Song", "Everybody is a Star", "Hot Fun in the Summertime", "If You Want Me To Stay"... when I first started listening to Sly and the Family Stone only recently, I was shocked how much of this material I knew.
For fans, in the wake of the recent batch of remasters, this is somewhat undervalued with the band's first seven albums available in remastered sound. This does however include the two singles that were omitted from that remasters-- "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and double-A side "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"/"Everybody is a Star". There's also one track from Sly Stone solo record "High On You" ("I Get High on You"), which has not been reissued.
Sly and the Family Stone's place in music history is a bit undervalued, and I think this collection can go some way towards reconciling that. For the uninitiated, this is the place to start. Highly recommended.
You may still need this even if you bought "the collection".......2007-05-14
It wasn't until years later they came out with the "Essential Sly and the Family Stone". This is an excellent collection and feels more complete than "the anthology".
However, now the Collection (seven sly albums remastered and with bonus tracks) is out.
You would think that the Collection would have ALL the Sly tracks. BUT IT DOESN'T. Three singles (that were not on any albums and were singles only) are not in the collection, "Thank you" "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and "Everyone is a Star". As far as I know, these three tracks are only on compliations i.e. "Greatest Hits" "The Anthology" and "The Essential Sly and the Family Stone". The Essential is the only one that is remastered. (It usually makes little difference when they "remaster" tracks but the stereo versions of "Thank You" and "Hot Fun" do sound better).
If you need all the Sly tracks, you might need this for those three tracks. If you want a good compilation of some of sly's best tracks, well, this is the better of the three.
CORRECTION: The Sly and the Family Stone Collection seemed to have gone up to about 65 dollars (it was 55 the last time I checked which is about a week ago)
Looks like you need this collection after all!!!.......2007-04-13
Turns out, "The Collection" did come out this week, so I picked it up...it consists of the first 7 Sly CDs in their entirety, in beautiful numbered digipacks with awesome booklets, plus 33 bonus tracks overall, and on the BestBuy version, a 2-track DVD!!! so I was VERY happy...until I saw 3 key singles were missing: "Hot Fun In The Summertime", "Thank You For Lettin Me Be Mice Elf Again" and "Everybody Is A Star" (a cool live clip is on the DVD though)...turns out they weren't originally on ANY album, just released as singles and on that 1970 "Greatest Hits"...many bands like New Order have done this, even Elton John back in the 70s...release singles apart from their albums, as many of their albums are artistic statements, as are their singles, which never fit in the album format anyway.
Because of this, you need this "Essential" set in addition to the box...I wish I had known this back when this was first released...hey, better late than never, right!!!!
It's all good...
Boom-laka-laka-laka! Boom-laka-laka-laka! .......2007-02-08
Years later (read 2006) I developed a keen interest in Miles Davis and started collecting most of his stuff from 1955 - 1975. Every single CD from 1968 forward mentions the incredible influence that Sly Stone had on the music of Miles when you read the liner notes. I didn't really understand why someone who was a Julliard student, an incredible jazz player and a great band leader would take such an interest in a pop star who had little or no musical education. So, I set out to buy Sly and The Family Stone Greatest Hits. Then I saw this collection and picked it up instead. After listening to this, I do get it. The grooves are just so deep, they're infectious. It's hard not to want to get up and dance around. After a hard day at work, this is just the thing to pop in the car CD player. It's impossible to arrive home in a bad mood no matter how much the morons at work pissed you off that day. Great stuff! You get about 1/2 of Stand, All but one tune from Riot Going On, and most of Fresh. Then you get stuff from the earlier releases and the later stuff as Sly's star was starting to fade. But it's all great stuff!
If I have one criticism it's the overall packaging could have been better. A collection like this deserves a booklet with lots of pictures and more detailed notes. That's a pretty small complaint really. It's all about the music.
Well worth the price of admission. Have fun!
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The Essential Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & the Family Stone Manufacturer: Mastercuts Singles ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Dance & DJ
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| Dance Pop
| Dance & DJ
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| Pop
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Pop Rock
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| R&B
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| Funk
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Psychedelic Rock
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ASIN: B000A7X8IE Release Date: 2005-10-25 |
Tracks:
- Remember Who You Are
- If Its Not Adding Up
- Back On the Right Track
- It Takes All Kinds
- The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh Makes You Cry)
- Shine It On
- Whos To Say
- Sheer Energy
- L.O.V.I.N.U
- One Way
- Ha Ha Hee Hee
- Hobo Ken
- Who in The Funk Do You
- You Really Got Me
- We Can Do It
- High Yall
Album Description
Mastercuts is proud to present the legend that is Sly and the Family Stone. Dirty funk with a true taste of soul, Matercuts Presents… gives a real taste of what Sly and the Family Stone are all about - never before seen and never since bettered.Known for their wild and brilliant fusion of soul, rock, R&B, psychedelia, and funk that broke boundaries - this special release features the band's essential songs. Mastercuts Presents… comes complete with exclusive and detailed sleeve notes written and compiled by former Strut label head, Quinton Scott.
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Essential Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & the Family Stone Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B000NVL96A Release Date: 2007-05-08 |
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