Dee1991 said:

duccichucka said:

Aw man, if you had said "Case RE-opened" that woulda been classic, but nice

comeback!

But you're still wrong.

I was going to say that, that's the truth.

Stand!

Now the case is legit again.

There's A Riot Going On?

aardvark15 said:

Dee1991 said:

I was going to say that, that's the truth.

Stand!

Now the case is legit again.

There's A Riot Going On?

That's my second favorite.

I don't think Stevie ever recorded anything like "Time", "You Caught Me Smilin", "Poet"..."Thank You For Talking To Me Africa" what?!

Dee1991 said:

aardvark15 said:

There's A Riot Going On?

That's my second favorite.

I don't think Stevie ever recorded anything like "Time", "You Caught Me Smilin", "Poet"..."Thank You For Talking To Me Africa" what?!

Stevie never recorded anything like those but there are many things that Stevie did that Sly never did too. Personally I say Stevie. Sly's great too.

aardvark15 said:

Dee1991 said:

That's my second favorite.

I don't think Stevie ever recorded anything like "Time", "You Caught Me Smilin", "Poet"..."Thank You For Talking To Me Africa" what?!

Stevie never recorded anything like those but there are many things that Stevie did that Sly never did too. Personally I say Stevie. Sly's great too.

I think Sly did more Stevie like tracks, than Stevie did Sly tracks.

Dee1991 said:

aardvark15 said:

Stevie never recorded anything like those but there are many things that Stevie did that Sly never did too. Personally I say Stevie. Sly's great too.

I think Sly did more Stevie like tracks, than Stevie did Sly tracks.

Dee1991 said:

aardvark15 said:

Stevie never recorded anything like those but there are many things that Stevie did that Sly never did too. Personally I say Stevie. Sly's great too.

I think Sly did more Stevie like tracks, than Stevie did Sly tracks.

HaHaHaHa.........Sly rarely did Stevie-like tracks. Here is the bottom line: When it comes to influence and creativity I say SLY. When it comes to a wider POP success, without influence, its Stevie hands down! Stevie talked to the masses when Sly's drugs took him down. But Stevie stopped using his music as a message and thats a shame because none of todays "STARS" are saying anything to us with any real meaning........ Like I said earlier its like comparing a Lamborgini to a Ferrari.

Sly NEVER did anyone's type of tracks but his own but it can be argued that Stevie did imitation songs, even those of Sly's. The energy from a song like "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" was no doubt influenced by Sly Stone obviously.

Plus, since the debate was about the 1969-74 period, Songs don't count because it came out in '76 and Sly was already in career freefall by then.

Timmy84 said:

Sly NEVER did anyone's type of tracks but his own but it can be argued that Stevie did imitation songs, even those of Sly's. The energy from a song like "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" was no doubt influenced by Sly Stone obviously.

Plus, since the debate was about the 1969-74 period, Songs don't count because it came out in '76 and Sly was already in career freefall by then.

Sly NEVER did anyone's type of tracks? I think that doesn't make sense. When sly was a DJ, he absorbed many different styles regardless of genre.

I think Beatles and Jimi hendrix influenced sly in some degree. Fuzzy and wah-wahed guitar sound on Life and Stand album was definitely influenced by Jimi hendrix. Even Sly did guitar solos on some concerts that was unfortunately not very impressive.

[Edited 8/1/12 21:10pm]

sly67 said:

petes2 said:

both are so great it's really pointless to conjecture. Sly is comparatively overlooked. I'd have to say that Sly had a much bigger impact on black music and was a direct precursor to disco(for better or worse) I believe he had a greater influence than stevie did. He also, of course influenced stevie as did Marvin Gaye. I thought the synclavinet was brought to prominence by Sly and then taken to another level in some of stevie's songs like superstition and you haven't done nothin'. How can you say one is better than the other, both great songwriters, sly probably a better pop songwriter than Stevie and just about any other black artist of that era, both great keyboardists, stevie had his own harmonic sense which was unique. Sly played plucked instruments, stevie did not, and I came to the conclusion that he did not because it would callous his fingers. He did however play just about everything else. Of course Sly had the advantage of seeing so he could develop his own fashion sense and dance on stage, stevie couldn't. In the era you are asking about I'd go with sly, Riot was a sheer work of genius, a tormented artist, tormented by demons and by his own mass acceptance. I've always thought that was what drove him to drugs "selling out is hard to take, dying young is harder" just the brilliance in his mumbled vernacular on that album makes him one of the best lyricists ever, stevie's lyrics were often obtuse and or mundane so no contest there. Singing has to be a tie, both are just so good, sly has such a great range and expressive voice, stevie had his own style of singing with maybe not quite the awesome range sly had. As bandleader, Sly probably had an edge, Larry Graham has to be the most influential bassist in history, most of stevies guys were highly polished session musicians with nothing new to say.

As a fan of both musicians, I want to clarify some facts.

Stevie first used Clavinet in 1968. On "For once in my life" album. You can hear clavinet on 'Shoo-be-doo-be-doo-da-day', 'You met your match', 'I don't know why'. On 'Shoo-be-doo-be-doo-da-day', by playing clavinet with wah-wah pedal and percussive style, he established basic usage of clavinet in popular music. As far as I know that was ahead of many colleagues. Billy preston use clavinet on 'outta space' in 1971. Sly first used clavinet on 'There's riot a going on' in 1972, 4 years after stevie's first use. So your statement about clavinet doesn't match with fact.

you're absolutely right, how could I forget signed sealed delivered? but did he use it in the way Sly did? I've never understood the sound of those but they are wonderful. I thought the delay effect was what stevie imitated, on riot the clavinet is simply mesmerizing and forces one to wonder how it works, never heard an instrument like that.

I like Stevie's use of the clavinet in the songs mentioned, don't get me wrong, but Sly turned it upside down, same with Billy Preston.

Timmy84 said:

I like Stevie's use of the clavinet in the songs mentioned, don't get me wrong, but Sly turned it upside down, same with Billy Preston.

Hell yeah. "Poet" is clavinet heaven.

no, like a baby is heaven. stevie took all of it and made my fave stevie songs with superstition and you haven't done nothin'. I just love sly, I've heard since i was just getting into him that he "burned out" whatever the hell that meant and that he still gives horrible shows to upset concert goers to this day, I could give a fuck if he came to my town I'd pay to watch him play pinochle.