Radio programs playing hit records were my entry into hearing the music of the West, and I used to choose what kind of tunes I want to listen to from hit charts appeared on some magazines. As I gazed at the annual bests of such charts of the old years and sometimes had old songs from FM radios, I gradually settled my taste in music and I found some vinyls or CDs, in which I had put bookmarks in my mind, can hardly be got in the '80s. The nursery chorus of Sly & the Family Stone's Everyday People was so easy for me to get acquainted with that I searched its vinyl at some import stores or some used stores in the local area where I had lived, but I found that some storekeepers themselves had never heard it before. And finally I got their "Anthology", which had been two-disc set of vinyl, at an import store in Shibuya and I listened again and again while I felt uneasy about each tune's unnatural fade-out. This album contained tunes in chronological order and made me realize that its first half is social but the latter after Family Affair is gloomy. And I was anxious about one of their albums with the same title in different sleeves at the stores.
In the '90s the reprinting of old ones in CD start on the right lines and you got easier to have Sly & the Family Stone albums. Their early sides like Dance to the Music, M'Lady, Fun or Life are characterized by marching rhythms and exchange of words between the members. I think Sly Stone a.k.a. Sylvester Stewart, who had also been a disc jockey, exerted his splendid talent in the way he applied the exchange of words, which can be heard in the Coasters' sides and so on and had often be made little of while harmonious chorus had been more desired, to the ideal of the flower movement of "Everybody, black or white, men or women, is a star". Message-ridden "Stand !", including Everyday People, Don't Call Me Niggar, Whitey, I Want to Take You Higher, Sing a Simple Song or You Can Make It If You Try, spreads funk in the Sly style which was evolved from his early marching style. Song titles directly mean thier slogans and this reminds me of James Brown at that time. But rhythms are lighter than those of JB for his folks and they are more accessible for different folks including whites. Their "Greatest Hits" also have good intimate tunes like Hot Fun in the Summertime or Everybody is a Star, but I think the intricate mixing of funky and pop sounds in Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) more exquisite and superb.
And then here comes the stuff early-'70s rock freaks cannot miss, "There's a Riot Goin' on". This is often told by the keywords such as 'dispair' or 'cynicism'. Its grooves are riding more backward than those of their former tunes and slower than JB rhythms, which are likely to be seen as deep but are actually rather slim and easy to dance. It's kind of dozing on the bed in your room all day and all night. This album's sleeve is designed in the U.S. with a photo of their live in the angle from the stage to the audience, and in the E.U. or Japan with the Star-Spangled Banner in the face and various photos sticked in the reverse side. I cannot deny suspecting that someone in the states intentionally did poor works on the sleeve and wanted not to bring out remastered things because the original design was thought as putting 'undesirable' impressions on his national flag. In any way, Family Affair, which was made with the help of Philly soul, or Runnin' Away succeeds their former popness, but the voices are cracked and the backings are muddy. Just Like a Baby or (You Caught Me) Smilin' is too loose to resist for the blues-devotees, Thank You for Talkin' to Me Africa is so different in signification from a mere re-recording of Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin). However, why do I feel these unpretty tunes very dear as time goes by? I guess they touch the chords of the hearts of those who think they themselves should be off from typical happiness but be on in others' point of view.
Their next "Fresh" is, it seems to me, still as funky as the former but slimmer and brighter. In Time or If You Want Me to Stay are still pop, but you can find the past ideal "Everybody, black or white, men or women, is a star" was gone when you listen to the reading of Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be), which was sung brightly by Doris Day who also sang in Alfred Hitchcock's film "A Man Who Knew Too Much". The later albums are said to be not so good and I feel like not getting them, however, I have had "The Essential Sly & The Family Stone" containing the sides before Dance to the Music and after "Fresh". Rhythms of the early ones like Underdog are more hooked than I had expected, and I think their hit tunes like Dance to the Music were strategically made simple so that the whites could digest them. That's why the drummer Greg Errico and the bassist Larry Graham suddenly could adjust themselves to the backward grooves in "There's a Riot Goin' on". The tunes featuring the bassist Andy Newmark and the bassist Rusty Allen are also wonderful for their funky grooves. This year's Grammy Awards managed to invite Sly Stone and it suggests his new recordings in the near future thanks to the recent re-appreciations. But I guess they should be like the other old-timer's which are made by fans of his past works, who let him seat on the bandwagon and allow him not to be anxious about recovering his own creativity in his heyday. Despite it, I hope you find that the glitter in his prime should never be clouded when you listen to these albums.
Afterwards there's no one to talk about Sly's comeback, however, there were reprints of the Family Stone albums with digipack both in the U.S. and in Japan. I bought them all. Not to mention their debut at Epic "A Whole New Thing", tunes from "Dance to the Music" or "Life" have straighter grooves, but they never be ready-made and are rich in the spirit of experiment. "Stand !" is the peak of the lines, which well brought the buoyant atmosphere in the performance in Woodstock. The swinging grooves from "There's a Riot Goin' on" (even in the U.S.A. the sleeve I love appears !) and "Flesh" still have irresistible charms. At the time of "Small Talk" including his doo-wap tune, I only grow up the impresson that Sly was over. When I hear the compilation of Sly before such Epic years and in his DJ days, "Seventh Son", I feel like slipping down from the chair because of its immaturity. Sly's talent was taken higher so far from here. I can see the speed of the times. (2006/04/16)(2008/04/28)