what/which ones i need 2 b hearin?

I know Parlicfunkadelicment is good but, i hear Sly name come up so so many times...where sould i start?

paisleykids4 said:

If you mean "where do you start with listening to Sly and The Family Stone" I would suggest the beginning. Altough his work in the late 60's was good, it doesn't compare to the stuff he did in the early 70's IMHO. But I think it's good to listen to where he came from to see the progression he made and how different it is. If you can, definitely try to get your hands on his 70's classics-"There's A Riot Goin' On," "Fresh," and "Small Talk."

Stand! from 1969 is a great album 2 start with
I think.It´s Sly at his most energetic peak.
The album that made him a superstar & changed the whole
scene around.
Fresh from 1973 is a landmark funk album
& 1 of my all time albums ever.
Start with these & you´re ready 4 There´s a riot going
on that´ll blow your mind.
/peace Manki
[This message was edited Tue Jul 15 21:09:52 PDT 2003 by manki]

manki said:

Co-Sign - Manki rules

manki said:

I listened 2 Stand! A while ago..didnt get in2 it...(but then again i was 14 years old and had NO Funkadelic or Parliament rekids), so i will start lookin.

I listened 2 "Family Affair" last night and damn...

For the Sly newcomer, I recommend ANTHOLOGY. It's got a little of everything - the deep drugged out stuff and the pop sensation stuff. So you can hear the broad spectrum, figure out which styles you dig, and then check into deeper stuff.

I like the pop-funk stuff, but on occasion, the drugged out stuff really works. Family Affair and If You Want Me to Stay are my favorite tunes - both during the "anything goes" home-studio sessions. Miles Davis supposedly laid some stuff down, but nobody, including Sly, knows if his tracks made it to the records because Sly was continually recording over tracks to add new ideas... additionally, the BAND doesn't even know if they ended up on some of the records (Riot in particular) or was it all Sly?

I read a great article about him in some magazine last year - talks about how he rented the house from the Mamas and the Papas, where they had the studio in the house, and he was always throwing drugged out jam sessions... which explains the lack of information about who played on WHAT.

The record studio was ready to cut him loose until they heard "Family Affair". It really is the stand out cut on that record. (Riot? Fresh? I forget...)

otan said:

Family affair from "Riot" uses a rhythmbox instead of a
drummer & that was Sly trying 2 compensate the lack of
Greg Errico who at that time had enough of Sly´s
wicked moods caused of his drug abuse.
& that changed the sound 4 other great music 2 come.
/peace Manki

paisleypark4 said:

My personal stand-out track from "stand!" is
[b]Sing a simple song.1 of his funkiest moments!!!
This was the first song I heard with Sly & the Family Stone
& I felt that it had a huge influence on the hip hop scene.
The highly syncopated funk knocked me down & I was hooked.
/peace Manki

well it looks like every1 finally got me on2 Sly...damn I couldnt get "Family Affair" out of my head last night..it was IN MY SLEEP!

manki said:

Aren't those rhythmboxes found on some old Hammond organs? Also, I like the idea of him using this machine and overlaying some live drum parts with it (that I'm assuming he played).

okaypimpn said:

Yeah - that was him playing hi-hats over the song, I think... or some other song.

I agree Manki - Sing a Simple Song is THA BOMB.

BUT, and I hate to say this, but I find ALL his records to be inconsistent - there's some amazing stuff in there, and then there's mindless filler tracks that make you go "wha? he was just talking about a revolution, and now he's doing mindless noodling over the phrase "just like a baby" -- which is a cool groove, but, I get lost.

Let Me Have It All, In Time - those are also magnificent grooves - but again, they're sandwiched by what seems like mindless pop attempts... which is why I prefer Anthology over any single album.

ALTHOUGH, it was GREAT to hear him in full force on Jesse's song "Crazay" - I'd hoped that he was gearing up for his own album at the time.

I totally change my suggestion.

I picked up my copy of FRESH this morning, and, holy crap, I have to say this record is phenomenal, ESPECIALLY when you consider that it was recorded in 1973. Drum machines, awesome breaks - this thing is AWESOME.

So yeah. Ignore my suggestion. GO GET FRESH.

otan said:

A lot of people talk about how great of an album Fresh was, but IMHO I don't find it all that great. I mean, it's a good album and all, but it can't fuck with There's A Riot Goin' On! or Small Talk. The only songs that I really listen to from that album are "In Time" and "Let Me Have It All." I don't really like the inconsistancy of bass players (Sly, Larry, and Rusty). I think by the time he released Small Talk Rusty was pretty seasoned with the sessions and it shows. Now on High On You I think Sly had officially lost his damn mind. "Le Lo Li" is the funniest shit I have ever heard in my entire life!

See? I just don't understand the heaps of praise on Riot. Space Cowboy? It does nothing for me.

Thank you africa is good, but, is it me, or is that song kind of on there twice? The Jungle talks to Africa or something, and Thank you Africa for Talkin to me - or something... groovy beat, but, for the most part, I find myself skipping lots of empty grooves on there.

Didn't even check out Small Talk... I understood by then, the quality had gone down.

THIS is a GREAT resource for info on the whole history of his records. These guys review artist' music and rate the records in comparison to the other records released by that artist, sort of givng you a great way to answer the initial question here: where to start? GREAT reviews on Stevie Wonder as well.

http://www.warr.org/sly.html

otan said:

That was the point...



You obviously skipped 'Loose Booty' and 'Can't Strain My Brain'

-SWANGthinksy'allareabouttogethimstartedagain

SWANG said:

& "Say you will,Mother beautiful & Wishful thinking"
/peace Manki

otan said:

Great!!! Now ain´t "Babies makin´ babies" the shit?
/peace Manki

Does anybody know anything about a Sly album that came out in '82 called 'Ten Years Too Soon'? My dad has it, it think it's a remix album.

i remember seeing it in among his 3500+ albums.(he doesn't know, he's never played it)

Marrk said:

Yeah I have it,it´s Sly´s songs with a cheezy disco arrangement.It´s fun if U want 2 laugh but it´s not really
good./peace Manki

manki said:

Thanks Manki! bring on the cheese!

Is that where that Family Affair house remix came from, or is that something else? It's a cool groovy remix - but sounds more 90's. not 1982.