Sly and the Family Stone - Stand - Week 1

Jason:
My first introduction to Sly was pretty indirect. I first heard his infuence in the Black Crowes. listen to a song like (only) Halfway to Everywhere and listen to an album like Stand! and you will know what I mean. Chris Robinson has also said the first... music he was introduced to was from Sly.
I am a relative newby to funk music, but in a lot of ways it's been the next natural progression. Sly and the gang where making music in a time when popular American music was still being molded and the possibilities were endless. and you will hear his influence for decades to come!
What strikes me about Sly and the Family Stone's music is their ability to very fun, Psycaedlic, and have a few sprinkles of socially charged humor all at once. There is always a fun and positive vibe running throughout.
Sly, much like George Clinton, surrounds himself with the most talented musicians he can find, and has plenty of skill on his own to back it up! The racial makeup of the band was very mixed, and this lent to a sort of social unity within the groups output. Ultimately this is great music that can make you think while shaking your hips and throwing a party. If you don't check this out, you are doing yourself a great disservice.

Kris:Week 1: Sly and the Family Stone - Stand! (1969) - In the year of the first moon landing, Denton-born Sly Stone and his "family" put together an album that stands aside from the rest of the releases I have heard. Tracks such as "Everyday People" and "I Want to Take Your Higher" were some of the more memorable songs played at Woodsto...ck and can still be heard on radio stations today.
One of the things that I like so much about this album is the ever-present sense of humor. A song like "Don't Call me Nigger, Whitey" is largely aimed at poking fun at racial prejudices by making the lyrics of the song a reprise consisting of "Don't call me nigger, whitey. Don't call me whitey, nigger." The lyrics repeat over and over seeming to indicate that we're just not going to get anywhere if we keep up this mentality. The song "Everyday People" does more of the same, although in a slightly more optimistic style. This song was a #1 hit in the US and also spawned the phrase "Different Strokes for Different Folks," which later inspired the Gary Coleman show Different Strokes. The 13-minute jam session "Sex Machine" also has it's touch of humor. The whole purpose of the track was to give each member of the band a chance at doing a solo. The last person to participate was Greg Errico, the drummer of the band. Apparently the rest of the band was standing around him and making fun of his playing as he closed out the song. At the very end of the track you can hear the band just start laughing at the whole situation. Golden.
Moreover, the influence on this record on subsequent artists is a bit difficult to overstate. "Sing a Simple Song" was later covered by Diana Ross and The Supremes, The Temptations and even The Jackson 5. Not only that, but Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis used the guitar riff from the song in later tracks of theirs. Years later when the hip hop movement really got going, all kinds of producers starting sampling bits off this album. It's all over the place, from LL Cool J, to Ice Cube, to Arrested Development and even Jay Z.This was actually the fourth album recorded by the group, but the first where Sly put a great, almost obsessive, focus on orchestration. A greatest hits hits album was released the following year and Sly developed a cocaine habit that progressively made his work suffer.
As a bit of an experiment, I would recommend that you check this and "There's a Riot Going On" (1971). The latter album has a genius all to its own, but it is also a much darker album. That one deals with more topics of racial tension in a more pessimistic tone than this one. Even if you don't get around to checking that one out, Stand! will certainly be worth your time.