Surrounded by as much pop mythology as Brian Wilson’s radical thoughts towards surf music on Pet Sounds or the twinkling of George Martin over on Abbey Road, the essence of There’s a Riot Goin’ On lays in the chaos of American Black-folks circa 1971, three years after the assassination of Martin Luther King. Incorporating Mississippi blues bottom, Los Angeles studio sheen, dirty overdubs that pre-dated Scratch Perry’s Black Ark movement, and an off-kilter lyricism that reminds me of poet Bob Kaufman, Riot sounds like nothing else on the planet. "That is my favorite Sly album,” says Van Hunt, a few hours before his recent sold-out concert at Harlem Stage. “It’s just a muddy soup; it’s a muddy mess of a record.”

For the entire essay, go to:

http://www.soulsummer.com...-sly-stone
[Edited 4/10/10 6:32am]

T4P

It is a VERY heavy album to digest, at least for me. I became officially a Sly fanatic this very past week. I mean I've always admired the man for being an innovative, hell, for somebody who was one of the main influences behind Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, you know he had to be heads & shoulders above his peers.

But I never fully got into his music, untill I saw that performance of Hot Fun In The Summertime, when Rose Stone wailed I cloud nine when I want to and got followed up by her brothers, Freddie & Sly,,,,that combination did it for ME right then & there

I only owned Fresh & Riot, but after watching that performance, I bought their complete discography.

My ears are still digesting what I missed so far, and you won't see me complaining anytime soon

Harlepolis said:

Yeah... another thing i like about Sly's music is that alot of his songs start MID GROOVE...ahhhhh...its one of those things that get me everytime

It is a muddy soup of a record and i remember when i first heard it just felt so heavy, so dense. It's also a very seductive record too and once it gets into your soul it stays there. My fave Sly album will always be Stand just because it captures the essence of the band perfectly but Riot is like comedown from a great party.

WildheartXXX said:

its there best work im , stand! is awesome i purchased it recently ( i couldnt find the woodstock experience ) i dont know people around that love my kind of music .

sly is just great period . i also have fresh and riot. its a very dark deep record . its an album i play when in a certain mood just as bitches brew

Went back and checked out Sly & Company for my Org-Mix. I don't know of a group that had the unique talent of pissing off or alienated as many people as they did. Harle, is their first album "A Whole New Thing" out on Cd?

TD3 said:

Yes it is.

phunkdaddy said:

What you laughin' at? You betta leave me alone.


Thank you phunkdaddy.

I'm laughing at Sly's perm.

TD3 said:

Really?

Other than the Black Panther party, I don't think I ever heard of them alienating folks, in fact, they have always seemed the opposite to me.

What exactly are you talking about, girl?

TD3 said:

Columbia released the whole albums from their debut to Small talk under their "Legacy" series, with a couple of alternate/outtakes in each album Most importantly, the sound quality is great,,,,,esp in comparisions to my worn out LP copies of Riot/Fresh.

Harlepolis said:

Half the time they didn't show up or were so fucked up their performance sucked, that's saying something that the audience would notice when most of them were high themselves. I/we bought concert tickets to see Sly & Company 9 times (I don't count the free concert in Chi-Town, Sly didn't show up for that one either) and we saw them 3. Talk about a group that spiraled down in the abyss and burnt brigdes with their fanbase, 'bout time Fresh came out (my favorite album by the way) nobody gave a damn.

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[Edited 4/10/10 18:24pm]

Always and still do to this day think that "Riot" and albums afterwards were just Sly's solo efforts.

funkpill said:

To an extent you are probably correct,however, Fresh and Small Talk had that Family Stone feel to them. If you can, pick up a copy ofthe High On You album. IMO it is severly UNDERATED. It showed that he hadn't lost the uptemo-touch that many missed after the Stand/Greatest Hits cd's

TD3 said:

Yeah, I figured you'd say that right after I typed my previous post

What he said in this interview fucked me up though...


Maybe he was bullshittin', but if not then some people are so fuckin' low it just goes to show you that hustlin' can squeeze its way into any triflin' thing. Mind you, he was the one who caused the problem for hisself and in result gave those leechers the chance to take advantage of his situation .

As for folks not giving a damn, I saw ANOTHER Mike Douglas interview with him seated next to Valerie Harper(Rhoda ) I don't know what year it was but I'm guessing its 75-76, anyway you could tell he was truly pissed off and he said something like If my album won't go platinum in a week after its release, bye ya'll bye, Rhoda was lookin' @ him like

BTW, the clip I'm talking about is in the beginning of this trailer...

[Edited 4/11/10 0:20am]

Sly & Company never showed up, never. The concert started a 3:00, they were the headlines but a couple of bands played before them. He/they were suppose to be their at 4:00 we waited 2 and half hours. Someone came on the PA and said he was on his way another 30/35 minutes passed and some person came back on and said Sly and the Famliy weren't coming, that's when all hell broke loose.

As far as the riot, that had nothing to do with him/them per say, residual affects of what had been going down with those assholes of the C.P.D. for years, especially the mess of the previous 3 years.

Sly being pissed about record sales, well ain't that a trip. If that show was after 75-76, I'm supposing this was after the more than half empty house in New York. they played their asses off but it was too little to late. If you didn't promote via concerts your albums weren't going to sale. There was so much good music being made in every damn corner of this country, Sly & Company weren't the only game in town, hardly. Sly talking shit about if his album didn't sale this or that.. big ego and drugs are a bad combo.


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[Edited 4/11/10 3:37am]

madhattter said:

I own all of the albums

funkpill said:

I also have all of the albums and I'm looking forward to the new material due this summer!

There's a Riot..literally sounds like nothing I've ever heard before or since. I love love love that album, it has a bluesy visceral feeling to it but is relentlessly funky. Luv n Haight is one of my favorite songs ever. I can't get enough of that. If Sly burned out, well at least he left his mark in pop music history.

Sandino said:

He has a lot of creativity that will surface when new material is released. I think now he is smart enough to make shure the "legal issues" are taken care of first.I even expect that Rose, Cynthia, Jerry and Freddie will add parts to the mix as well as they are an important part of the chemistry. I can never tire of "Riot". It is truly a masterpiece!