It's the 40th anniversary of two albums. 40 years ago, Marvin Gaye asked What's Goin' On? Sly Stone replied There's A Riot Goin' On. I'm focusing on the album that doesn't get mentioned as much, despite it being just as, if not, more influential than What's Goin' On....Well, it's definitely more innovative in my opinion.

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"I wanted the flag to truly represent people of all colors. I wanted the color black because it is the absence of color. I wanted the color white because it is the combination of all colors. And I wanted the color red because it represents the one thing that all people have in common: blood. I wanted suns instead of stars because stars to me imply searching, like you search for your star. And there are already too many stars in this world. But the sun, that's something that is always there, looking right at you. Betsy Ross did the best she could with what she had. I thought I could do better." ~ Sly Stone on the album artwork.

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After the success of the innovative Stand! LP and consequential, historic Woodstock appearance, Sly & The Family Stone were the worlds premiere band. Band leader, Sly Stone, however, was becoming a bit of a rebel.

Moving to LA after Woodstock was, according to Slyologists, the biggest mistake he ever made, falling into the wrong crowd of thugs and gangsters...which lead to his now infamous drug use.

I ain't about to focus on his personal problems here, but it needs mentioning due to it being an ingredient to the album in question.

Not showing up to a third of his concert bookings during 1970 and onward earned sly the nickname Sly "No Show" Stone. However Sly went onto say that at times, he had trouble with promoters in a rare interview on the Mike Douglas show in 1974.

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Sly's record company, Epic Records began to get nervous towards Sly and his bands next album. Epic wanted to capitalise on the Woodstock phenomenon by getting out a new album. The only thing Sly did to capitalise was release two singles not affiliated with any album. Two being Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf, Agin), an innovative, hugely influential funk track that reached number 1, and Hot Fun In The Summer Time, although keeping in Vibe with Stand!, it was released too late, at the end of that years summer.

Sly was becoming absorbed by his own world and partying hard, free basing and having aimless recording sessions, which would become a repeated process for Sly.

He would fly Gregg Erico (drummer) in (Gregg and Larry Graham were living apart from the band during this turbulent time) to lay down his drumming, only to have it go nowhere. Such recording sessions may aswell of been jam sessions.

Sly would sometimes party too hard that he'd pass out recording, leaving miles of wasted tape in the morning. He'd lock up his ever changing musicians in the studio for days. Tapes disappeared, songs were worked on one day and lost forever the next.

[Edited 9/18/11 15:43pm]

Slowly an album began to emerge. From a raucous outtake from almost two years prior, to the eerie Family Affair, nothing more than innovative use of a drum machine, keyboards and Sly and sister Rose singing through cupped hands.

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Here are my highlights from the album limited to just five:-

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Poet - "My only weapon is my pen. Oh, and the frame of mind i'm in. I'm a songwriter, a poet" pretty much sets the tone for the album. But what really grabs me here is the beat. It's crazy funky. The Clavinete is heavenly and i can imagine D'angelo using this track as a source to his beats on Voodoo. I would of never of thought this was 40 years old.

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Just Like A Baby - Hypnotic, beautiful and dark funky track. It paints an image of a depressed lonely man...but lyrics can be interpreted. It is said that this song came to Sly when he ran out of his stash.

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Family Affair - Hauntingly spot on social commentary. Once again, hypnotic and dark, a complete contrast to Stand!. I never knew Prince sampled this for a long time.

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Spaced Cowboy - Wow. At first listen this is bizarre, but repeated listens will have you hooked. Again, the usual applies, dark and hypnotic. Lyrically, this is probably the most revealing, but also again, it's how you perceive them. Is there pain in Sly's yodelling or is he just off his rocker? Hugely inventive, innovative and progressive. That transition from the intro to the main groove is just genius.

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Thank You For Talking To Me Africa - The baddest Bass groove ever put to record in my opinion...and it's just 4 notes! Dark groove that reflects the darkness back on society...but it's been said before because essentially, this is a slowed down version of Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf, Agin), but don't think it ends there as this alteration adds so much more. It eeriely ushers in a sound that depicts the end of the free sixties to make way for the beginning of the end with the start of the 70's.

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There's A Riot Goin' On is a masterpiece of dark, simmering grooves and visions from the other side. Sly tapped into his own chaos and utter blackness of his own life to extract timeless art - a personal statement that ranks with the greatest of all time (it is constantly ranked as one of the greatest of all time, sometimes reaching as high as number 1), lifting him into realms of candour and audacity that ranked only with his hero, Dylan. With this record he paved the way for Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, George Clinton and just about all urban musicians that followed.

This was just one of his innovative albums and with it he gave way to entertainers, musicians and singers aross all barriers...making Sly one of the most important musical figures in history.

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It's the albums 40th anniversary and i see no up and coming events to commemorate...but i guess that's ok. Rhianna has a new album coming out, that's much more important.

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Track 6: There's A Riot Goin' On - 0:00 - "....because the riot is in one's mind" ~ Sly Stone

[Edited 9/18/11 15:37pm]

Before I appreciate the masterpiece that is There's A Riot Goin' On, lemme just say that both this album and What's Going On are very influential in VERY DIFFERENT WAYS. Except for the solemn tones both albums took and similar titles, even the covers have something similar (Marvin's mad/sad/confused/pissed look in the cover of WGO and the shotguns replacing the stars in Riot that actually describes what America was/is like), there was a different energy with both. Sly's was a reaction to the utopian hopefulness he had preached and advocated in the late 1960s showing the reality of what it was really like and his struggles to come to terms with it, whereas Marvin's was more poetic in its response but still had a hopefulness in it if a bit darker than anything Sly had preached.

Now that being said, musically Sly and Co. were on some nether regions throughout Riot. A bit angry, a bit pissed off, a bit dark, a bit melancholy, the flow of it was nasty and surreal and so against the norm of what was being passed as rock music in 1971. It added in blues elements and even some country (though a bit mockingly in "Space Cowboy") and it even mocked the previous happier Sly tunes ("Running Away", "Thank You for Talkin' to Me Africa"). This album, you can tell the original band was falling apart but in what turned out to be the final album for some members (Gregg Errico, Larry Graham, etc.), they still were able to turn out a masterpiece. Bobby Womack, Ike Turner and Billy Preston added in the genius of an album. I doubt people don't look at this album as influential as the original poster might think but some may be scared to admit it. It's just fucking deep, the entire album.

Approval granted

I'll say this though because it doesn't make much sense to me, damn near every article I read that reviewed this album, the word "terrifying" gets thrown generously.

Sly presented one of the rawest and most natural displays of human condition ever caught on wax, whats so "terrifying" about that? Its only reality, at least from his perspective. Granted, I'm not gonna dismiss the dark overtones, but within those overtones he also displayed hope in there.

Harlepolis said:

Approval granted

I'll say this though because it doesn't make much sense to me, damn near every article I read that reviewed this album, the word "terrifying" gets thrown generously.

Sly presented one of the rawest and most natural displays of human condition ever caught on wax, whats so "terrifying" about that? Its only reality, at least from his perspective. Granted, I'm not gonna dismiss the dark overtones, but within those overtones he also displayed hope in there.

Because they're scared of how deep the album is.

One of my favourite albums ever by anyone.

Timmy84 said:

Before I appreciate the masterpiece that is There's A Riot Goin' On, lemme just say that both this album and What's Going On are very influential in VERY DIFFERENT WAYS. Except for the solemn tones both albums took and similar titles, even the covers have something similar (Marvin's mad/sad/confused/pissed look in the cover of WGO and the shotguns replacing the stars in Riot that actually describes what America was/is like), there was a different energy with both. Sly's was a reaction to the utopian hopefulness he had preached and advocated in the late 1960s showing the reality of what it was really like and his struggles to come to terms with it, whereas Marvin's was more poetic in its response but still had a hopefulness in it if a bit darker than anything Sly had preached.

Now that being said, musically Sly and Co. were on some nether regions throughout Riot. A bit angry, a bit pissed off, a bit dark, a bit melancholy, the flow of it was nasty and surreal and so against the norm of what was being passed as rock music in 1971. It added in blues elements and even some country (though a bit mockingly in "Space Cowboy") and it even mocked the previous happier Sly tunes ("Running Away", "Thank You for Talkin' to Me Africa"). This album, you can tell the original band was falling apart but in what turned out to be the final album for some members (Gregg Errico, Larry Graham, etc.), they still were able to turn out a masterpiece. Bobby Womack, Ike Turner and Billy Preston added in the genius of an album. I doubt people don't look at this album as influential as the original poster might think but some may be scared to admit it. It's just fucking deep, the entire album.

Perfectly said! The innovation, moods and messages behind this masterpiece tells a large story not only about Sly, but America as a whole. As Marvin told his side of the story, Sly's story was a bit dirtier, angry and pitiful about America and the state of his own life. The washed up dreams and realities had taken its toll on many and Sly revealed nearly every one of them through the funk, rock 'n' roll, blues and soul traditions of There's A Riot Goin' On. I don't think too many folks have been able to do that more sadly and brilliant as he was able to do it.

This would have to be the saddest, scariest and deepest song ever written, produced or sung...

Think about it if Marvin, Stevie or Curtis ever did a cut like this? People would've stopped in their tracks, just as folks probably stopped in their tracks when they heard this cut and album back in '71.

Ah! Replies. I had thought my work done creating this would go to waste. Had to do research for some bits.

Timmy, thanks for the detailed response and i agree with most of your assumptions. By the way, it is Suns in the flag not shotguns. I'll post the meaning of the cover underneath the picture as described by Sly.

Silverchild, i was hoping someone would pull out that one. It's so dark, depressing (two words i find myself repeating!) and prophetic.

Harlepolis, i didn't call it terrifying, but i can see why people would. Displaying the natural human condition is exactly that. Sly was pointing that out. Thanks for the approval lol.

[Edited 9/18/11 15:45pm]

WetDream said:

Ah! Replies. I had thought my work done creating this would go to waste. Had to do research for some bits.

Timmy, thanks for the detailed response and i agree with most of your assumptions. By the way, it is Suns in the flag not shotguns. I'll post the meaning of the cover underneath the picture as described by Sly.

Silverchild, i was hoping someone would pull out that one. It's so dark, depressing and prophetic.

Harlepolis, i didn't call it terrifying, but i can see why people would. Displaying the natural human condition is exactly that. Sly was pointing that out. Thanks for the approval lol.

[Edited 9/18/11 15:34pm]

I didn't mean you in my post, sorry if it came out that way lol,,,

It wasn't a slam against those reviewers but it kinda frustrating to see people viewing that album with a one deminsional angle. Like the overdubbed instrumentation, the moods were deeply layered as well. I think some people got caught into the drastic change from "Stand" to "Riot" as far as the contrast between both albums in terms of how the music sounded. But lyrically, Sly remained consistent with his message.

Harlepolis said:

WetDream said:

Ah! Replies. I had thought my work done creating this would go to waste. Had to do research for some bits.

Timmy, thanks for the detailed response and i agree with most of your assumptions. By the way, it is Suns in the flag not shotguns. I'll post the meaning of the cover underneath the picture as described by Sly.

Silverchild, i was hoping someone would pull out that one. It's so dark, depressing and prophetic.

Harlepolis, i didn't call it terrifying, but i can see why people would. Displaying the natural human condition is exactly that. Sly was pointing that out. Thanks for the approval lol.

[Edited 9/18/11 15:34pm]

I didn't mean you in my post, sorry if it came out that way lol,,,

It wasn't a slam against those reviewers but it kinda frustrating to see people viewing that album with a one deminsional angle. Like the overdubbed instrumentation, the moods were deeply layered as well. I think some people got caught into the drastic change from "Stand" to "Riot" as far as the contrast between both albums in terms of how the music sounded. But lyrically, Sly remained consistent with his message.

Oh i know you didn't mean me, i was making a point at how some may not feel it, but can see why it was said.

It's like, to all those things you mentioned, i can understand such reactions. The overdubbed instrumentation deserves to be mentioned because it's so prominently affecting the record, luckily for Sly, in a good way as it complimented the atmosphere of the recordings.

The contrasting (although Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey contains one of many roots for Riot in my opinion) between Stand! and Riot further cemented my admiration for Sly & The Family Stone because i prefer unpredictability and evolution in an artist. One of many reasons i consider Prince the top dog, he was master at it!

But i understand where you're coming from, man. It's the same as always mentioning Sly's personal problems when talking about him as an artist when it's only ever SLIGHTLY relevant for Riot. It's tedious.

[Edited 9/18/11 16:01pm]

WetDream said:

Ah! Replies. I had thought my work done creating this would go to waste. Had to do research for some bits.

Timmy, thanks for the detailed response and i agree with most of your assumptions. By the way, it is Suns in the flag not shotguns. I'll post the meaning of the cover underneath the picture as described by Sly.

Silverchild, i was hoping someone would pull out that one. It's so dark, depressing (two words i find myself repeating!) and prophetic.

Harlepolis, i didn't call it terrifying, but i can see why people would. Displaying the natural human condition is exactly that. Sly was pointing that out. Thanks for the approval lol.

[Edited 9/18/11 15:45pm]

Oh for real? I thought it was gun blasts lol but suns make sense.

WetDream said:

Ah! Replies. I had thought my work done creating this would go to waste. Had to do research for some bits.

Timmy, thanks for the detailed response and i agree with most of your assumptions. By the way, it is Suns in the flag not shotguns. I'll post the meaning of the cover underneath the picture as described by Sly.

Silverchild, i was hoping someone would pull out that one. It's so dark, depressing (two words i find myself repeating!) and prophetic.

Harlepolis, i didn't call it terrifying, but i can see why people would. Displaying the natural human condition is exactly that. Sly was pointing that out. Thanks for the approval lol.

[Edited 9/18/11 15:45pm]

WetDream, you nailed it! In my opinion this among the top five LPs EVER released by any true artist. Its a masterpiece that will continue to transend for years to come. " />

madhattter said:

WetDream said:

Ah! Replies. I had thought my work done creating this would go to waste. Had to do research for some bits.

Timmy, thanks for the detailed response and i agree with most of your assumptions. By the way, it is Suns in the flag not shotguns. I'll post the meaning of the cover underneath the picture as described by Sly.

Silverchild, i was hoping someone would pull out that one. It's so dark, depressing (two words i find myself repeating!) and prophetic.

Harlepolis, i didn't call it terrifying, but i can see why people would. Displaying the natural human condition is exactly that. Sly was pointing that out. Thanks for the approval lol.

[Edited 9/18/11 15:45pm]

WetDream, you nailed it! In my opinion this among the top five LPs EVER released by any true artist. Its a masterpiece that will continue to transend for years to come. " />

[Edited 9/19/11 8:52am]

I love this album

Gotta add this one to the mix...



...(You Caught Me) Smilin'


Love the vocal performance/sound.

You hear "Family Affair" used at a number of family reunion/get together occasions.
Makes you wonder if they really are listening to the lyrics in any detail.


Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

there's a riot goin' on = one of my favorite albums

theAudience said:

Gotta add this one to the mix...



...(You Caught Me) Smilin'


Love the vocal performance/sound.

You hear "Family Affair" used at a number of family reunion/get together occasions.
Makes you wonder if they really are listening to the lyrics in any detail.


Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

I know right. Certainly "Family Affair" is about the dissolution of a family. There's just no solutions or postivity in that cut. Irks me that folks play "Family Affair" at family reunions and family-oriented occasions. Not a good look.

silverchild said:

theAudience said:

Gotta add this one to the mix...



...(You Caught Me) Smilin'


Love the vocal performance/sound.

You hear "Family Affair" used at a number of family reunion/get together occasions.
Makes you wonder if they really are listening to the lyrics in any detail.


Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

I know right. Certainly "Family Affair" is about the dissolution of a family. There's just no solutions or postivity in that cut. Irks me that folks play "Family Affair" at family reunions and family-oriented occasions. Not a good look.

Seems like dummies like the way the song sounded and the chorus too much to hear what THE FUCK Sly was saying in the goddamn song.

Timmy84 said:

silverchild said:

I know right. Certainly "Family Affair" is about the dissolution of a family. There's just no solutions or postivity in that cut. Irks me that folks play "Family Affair" at family reunions and family-oriented occasions. Not a good look.

Seems like dummies like the way the song sounded and the chorus too much to hear what THE FUCK Sly was saying in the goddamn song.

Yep. Either Sly or Rose were high as hell, singing with their hands over their mouths; legend has it. Or it could be one of those groupies Sly and the guys were banging in the studio singing that "It's A Family Affair" chant??? But I'm not a hoax believer, so I'll play it safe and say it was Rose and Sly.

I remember when I first brought this album back in the 90s on that muddy-as-hell and atrocious original CD and I couldn't understand what the hell Sly was saying on alot of the cuts. It sounded like one of those radio DJs doing a funky as hell promo cut. I was so intrigued in the sound and complexity of the cut though. If you listen closely, there are so many jazz-influenced chords being played around the thick rhythms and percussive grooves in this song alone.

silverchild said:

theAudience said:

Gotta add this one to the mix...



...(You Caught Me) Smilin'


Love the vocal performance/sound.

You hear "Family Affair" used at a number of family reunion/get together occasions.
Makes you wonder if they really are listening to the lyrics in any detail.


Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

I know right. Certainly "Family Affair" is about the dissolution of a family. There's just no solutions or postivity in that cut. Irks me that folks play "Family Affair" at family reunions and family-oriented occasions. Not a good look.

Reminds me of Phillip Bailey's interview where he said that folks say to him that they played "Reasons" in their weddings. I loved his reaction

silverchild said:

Timmy84 said:

Seems like dummies like the way the song sounded and the chorus too much to hear what THE FUCK Sly was saying in the goddamn song.

Yep. Either Sly or Rose were high as hell, singing with their hands over their mouths; legend has it. Or it could be one of those groupies Sly and the guys were banging in the studio singing that "It's A Family Affair" chant??? But I'm not a hoax believer, so I'll play it safe and say it was Rose and Sly.

I remember when I first brought this album back in the 90s on that muddy-as-hell and atrocious original CD and I couldn't understand what the hell Sly was saying on alot of the cuts. It sounded like one of those radio DJs doing a funky as hell promo cut. I was so intrigued in the sound and complexity of the cut though. If you listen closely, there are so many jazz-influenced chords being played around the thick rhythms and percussive grooves in this song alone.

I noticed the jazz elements immediately. Didn't hurt that Bobby Womack gave a jazz-inflected rhythm guitar solo while Billy Preston laid it all out real cooly on the keyboards...

Amazing album. But personally I like What's Goin' On More

Harlepolis said:

silverchild said:

I know right. Certainly "Family Affair" is about the dissolution of a family. There's just no solutions or postivity in that cut. Irks me that folks play "Family Affair" at family reunions and family-oriented occasions. Not a good look.

Reminds me of Phillip Bailey's interview where he said that folks say to him that they played "Reasons" in their weddings. I loved his reaction

Ok. I remember that! It was during that Earth, Wind & Fire documentary DVD that came out in the early 2000s. Philip had me in stitches talking about that song and how people still mistake as the greatest love song ever made, when it is essentially a break-up song.

silverchild said:

Timmy84 said:

Seems like dummies like the way the song sounded and the chorus too much to hear what THE FUCK Sly was saying in the goddamn song.

Yep. Either Sly or Rose were high as hell, singing with their hands over their mouths; legend has it. Or it could be one of those groupies Sly and the guys were banging in the studio singing that "It's A Family Affair" chant??? But I'm not a hoax believer, so I'll play it safe and say it was Rose and Sly.

I remember when I first brought this album back in the 90s on that muddy-as-hell and atrocious original CD and I couldn't understand what the hell Sly was saying on alot of the cuts. It sounded like one of those radio DJs doing a funky as hell promo cut. I was so intrigued in the sound and complexity of the cut though. If you listen closely, there are so many jazz-influenced chords being played around the thick rhythms and percussive grooves in this song alone.

It is Rose

And glad I'm not the only one who noticed the jazz influence. Coming from Sly, he was a master at flirting with different musical styles before Riot so hearing the jazz influence was inevitable. Not only in this song, but in a couple of other tunes as well from the album.

Down home blues, delta blues or whatever the expression is pretty evident in Just Like A Baby as well. I heard a blues group cover this song and it just reaffirmed how great this man's influence is.

Timmy84 said:

silverchild said:

Yep. Either Sly or Rose were high as hell, singing with their hands over their mouths; legend has it. Or it could be one of those groupies Sly and the guys were banging in the studio singing that "It's A Family Affair" chant??? But I'm not a hoax believer, so I'll play it safe and say it was Rose and Sly.

I remember when I first brought this album back in the 90s on that muddy-as-hell and atrocious original CD and I couldn't understand what the hell Sly was saying on alot of the cuts. It sounded like one of those radio DJs doing a funky as hell promo cut. I was so intrigued in the sound and complexity of the cut though. If you listen closely, there are so many jazz-influenced chords being played around the thick rhythms and percussive grooves in this song alone.

I noticed the jazz elements immediately. Didn't hurt that Bobby Womack gave a jazz-inflected rhythm guitar solo while Billy Preston laid it all out real cooly on the keyboards...

This album and its follow-ups, Fresh and Small Talk have to be Sly's most jazz-inflicted pieces. Sly and Co. really matured musically around this time, post-Woodstock and even before this album came to fruition, the singles to "Hot Fun In The Summertime", "Everybody Is A Star" and most importantly, "Thank You (Falettmine Be Mice Sef Again)" sparked much progression from their earlier sides. By the time There's A Riot Goin' On came, it seemed that Sly was miles above other artist (black or otherwise) in the business once again.

Does anyone have any reviews from back in 1971 when this album came out? I'm just curious as to what critics were saying about it. I know the public were shitting in their pants when this came out in the autumn of '71...

[Edited 9/19/11 15:03pm]

silverchild said:

Timmy84 said:

I noticed the jazz elements immediately. Didn't hurt that Bobby Womack gave a jazz-inflected rhythm guitar solo while Billy Preston laid it all out real cooly on the keyboards...

This album and its follow-ups, Fresh and Small Talk have to be Sly's most jazz-inflicted pieces. Sly and Co. really matured musically around this time, post-Woodstock and even before this album came to fruition, the singles to "Hot Fun In The Summertime", "Everybody Is A Star" and most importantly, "Thank You (Falettmine Be Mice Sef Again)" sparked much progression from their earlier sides. By the time There's A Riot Goin' On came, it seemed that Sly was miles above other artist (black or otherwise) in the business once again.

Does anyone have any reviews from back in 1971 when this album came out? I'm just curious as to what critics were saying about it. I know the public were shitting in their pants when this came out in the autumn of '71...

[Edited 9/19/11 15:03pm]

I heard critics' initial views were mixed on the album... not sure about that so don't quote me.

They should do a "making of" documentary on the album. There's a promo clip they had up for "Family Affair" a few years ago when "Essential" came out but can't find it, typical early 70s promo.

"blood is thicker than the mud".

I agree with dalsh327...

With all the Sly docs that are "supposed" to hit the screen, they need to do a 2 hour docu on just the "Riot" era alone. It would be like watching "Scarface" and "Superfly" at the same time.

"Riot" is one of those headphone masterpieces..After listening to it your mind is like "What the f@#k?"

Pain/drugs/wit/sex/fear/confusion/paranoia/love/hope/joy....it's all in there.

[deleted 9/21/11 2:47pm]

[Edited 9/21/11 14:47pm]