{"id":590,"date":"2011-09-01T04:41:53","date_gmt":"2011-09-01T09:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=590"},"modified":"2011-09-01T04:41:53","modified_gmt":"2011-09-01T09:41:53","slug":"in-search-of-sly-stone-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/09\/01\/in-search-of-sly-stone-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"In Search of Sly Stone, Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"

In late June of this year, I received an electronic press release from one of my favorite music publicists. The message heralded an upcoming CD release from Sly Stone<\/strong>, an album to be called I\u2019m Back! Family & Friends<\/em>. Long a fan of Sly\u2019s groundbreaking work with the Family Stone<\/strong> (most notably 1968-73), I was predisposed to be very interested. And the album\u2019s title certainly got my attention: would this be a reunion (in whole or in part) of the Family Stone?<\/p>\n

My own exposure to the man and his music was somewhat limited, but represented enough to equip me with some preconceptions. The music of Sly & the Family Stone was ubiquitous on AM radio of my childhood; in particular I recall being hooked by Sly\u2019s clever use of a familiar schoolyard-taunting melody on “Everyday People\u201d (Billboard<\/em> #1 in 1969). Even if I didn\u2019t know about Woodstock, I heard Sly\u2019s songs, and although they weren\u2019t similar in style to much of the other music I enjoyed (Mamas & the Papas<\/strong>, Turtles<\/strong>, Beatles<\/strong>), their appeal was undeniable.<\/p>\n

Like anyone who followed music to any degree in the 70s and 80s, I knew of Sly\u2019s reputation as a mercurial and unreliable character. But even with that knowledge I was taken aback during a particular 1982 episode. At the time I was dating a girl who was a big shot in her sorority. She ran with a pretty high-dollar crowd: expensive college, exclusive sorority. (How I ended up as even a bit player in such a narrative remains unexplained to this day. But I digress.) This Greek society had money to burn, I guess, so they had booked a big open area at the center of Atlanta\u2019s Omni International, a sprawling urban mall of sorts, and then-home to indoor amusement park The World of Sid & Marty Kroft. (That property is now home to CNN, as it happens.) For the evening\u2019s entertainment \u2013 somehow \u2013 the powers-that-be had booked Sly Stone and his band. No, really.<\/p>\n

If you know anything about Sly, you know how this story would go. The band arrived, set up and did a sound check, all on schedule. But Sly was a no-show the entire evening; he finally strolled onstage a mere fifteen minutes before the whole thing was scheduled to end. And while my memory isn\u2019t sharp on details of some events from nearly thirty years ago, I distinctly remember this about that fifteen-minute performance: it wasn\u2019t memorable.<\/p>\n

Still, Stone\u2019s musical influence was undeniable, and it continues to this day. Besides the obvious debt that artists like Parliament \/ Funkadelic<\/strong> and Prince<\/strong> owe to Sly & the Family Stone, a diverse array of acts have taken a page or two from their musical approach. One of the more offbeat and interesting examples of this is a new album called MTO Plays Sly<\/em>, by Steven Bernstein\u2019s Millennial Territory Orchestra<\/strong>. Offering up a jam-funk-meets-big-band take on Sly\u2019s music, MTO reinterprets the man\u2019s music — both in instrumental and vocal-led form — for the 21st<\/sup> century. The disc points out the more timeless aspects of the source material, and proves yet again the axiom that a good song can stand up to reinterpretation in any number of styles.<\/p>\n

Sly Stone is Back?<\/strong>
\nSo it was with an all-too-common set of notions — great music, iffy performer — that I greeted that initial press release. Still, I was intrigued, and requested an advance copy of I\u2019m Back! Family & Friends<\/em>. I was also fascinated to learn that said friends included some pretty serious heavy hitters: Ann Wilson<\/strong> (Heart<\/strong>), Ray Manzarek<\/strong> (The Doors<\/strong>), Jeff Beck<\/strong>, Bootsy Collins<\/strong>, Carmine Appice<\/strong> (Vanilla Fudge<\/strong> et.al.) and Johnny Winter<\/strong>. On paper at least, this sounded like a super session might be in the making.<\/p>\n

Some of those artists were willing to speak with me about their involvement with Sly\u2019s new record. But, as I was cautioned by the publicist, Sly himself \u201cwill not be available.\u201d I had to chuckle at that; I believe I actually said out loud to my computer screen, \u201cYeah, no shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The disc arrived in the mail a few days later. This new record represented the first new music from Sly Stone since 1983\u2019s Ain\u2019t But the One Way<\/em>, a failed and non-charting release that ended a string of \u201ccomeback\u201d releases with too-earnest titles like Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I\u2019m Back<\/em> and Back on the Right Track<\/em>. I approached the disc with an open mind, but Sly\u2019s legacy hovered ominously in the background.<\/p>\n

Before even removing the shrink wrap, I spotted potential signs of trouble. A sticker affixed to the cover listed some of the guests\u2019 names \u2013 okay so far \u2013 but also noted that the music was \u201c30 Years in the Making.\u201d That gave me pause. Flipping to the back cover, I discovered that this fourteen-track CD took the \u201cgreen\u201d aesthetic very seriously: Sly and\/or his producers were obviously very committed to…recycling. The first eight tracks were new versions of old Sly & the Family Stone hits (one of those eight was a remix of another). Three \u201cnew\u201d songs were listed, followed by three more remixes (one of which was a re-re-mix, giving purchasers no less than three \u201cnew\u201d versions of \u201cDance to the Music.\u201d Uh-oh<\/em>, I thought.<\/p>\n

The breathless copy on the back also pointed out that on these tracks Sly was \u201caided by a cast of today\u2019s music superstars.\u201d Now, I mean no disrespect to any of the artists involved, especially as several of them rank among my favorites, but \u201ctoday\u2019s music superstars\u201d is perhaps not the most accurate description of them. Still, reminding myself that it could be worse if the ad copy was <\/em>accurate, I paused to thank the heavens that neither Lady Gaga<\/strong> nor Justin Bieber<\/strong> would be involved.<\/p>\n

I was also a bit concerned about the graphics: the cover featured a painting of Sly circa 1970, and the back cover sported a photo of the man from roughly the same era. Looking inside the splashy packaging, I discovered more archival photos, including one that had to — I hope — be from the 1980s: Sly in festooned ball cap, sunglasses, Miami Vice<\/em> stubble, and loads of oily “jheri curl” product in his hair. In sum: acceptable packaging for a retrospective, but where exactly was the 21st<\/sup> century Sly in all this?<\/p>\n

The answer to that question would prove elusive, but I had hopes that conversations with some of the major players would fill in some of the blanks. I was curious as to how these major names got involved in this latest comeback.<\/p>\n

Ann Wilson<\/strong>
\nHeart\u2019s Ann Wilson, who provides guest vocals on the new remake of \u201cEveryday People,\u201d put it simply. \u201cSly\u2019s people reached out to me,\u201d she says. \u201cThey sent over a track with Sly\u2019s vocal on it,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s [Sly’s] vocal that they used, or if they fixed it up, or what.\u201d While she insists that Sly\u2019s vocal is \u201creally great, really un-messed with,\u201d it\u2019s clear that her part was overdubbed in a separate studio, sent back, and mixed into the track by\u2026well, by someone. Ann laughs and asks me, \u201cWell, did you really think that Sly would show up<\/em> for something? Maybe he would, but I don\u2019t think you should count on it.\u201d Hmm\u2026so Ann knows Sly? Nope; never met the man. \u201cI\u2019m dying for the time when I hear his response to what we did,\u201d she admits. In fact, at the time of our talk, Ann hadn\u2019t even heard the final mix (or any of the other songs, for that matter).<\/p>\n

All that notwithstanding, Ann\u2019s vocal on \u201cEveryday People\u201d conjures the right vibe, and she delivers an expert and heartfelt performance. She says she was given her choice of songs, and chose this one because of its meaning to her personally. \u201cThis song really opened my eyes to the funk, and to what groove can be,\u201d she says (though one might well ask how exactly \u201cthe funk\u201d manifests itself in her own music). Ann reflects fondly on the influence of Sly & the Family Stone during the 70s, leading me to ask her if that group\u2019s featuring of female performers inspired her own career choice. \u201cI\u2019ve got to be honest,\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t really take that as my cue to think it was okay to do. You can cross that one off as being a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that Sly has turned all of that \u2018unreliable\u2019 stuff into an art form,\u201d Ann observes. She wonders how much of it is \u201caccident, theater, or the way he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnny Winter<\/strong>
\nBluesman Johnny Winter is known as a man of very few words, but I wanted to get his take on the new album. While the lead singer for Heart might be something of an odd choice for a Sly Stone record, the fiery Texas guitarist has perhaps even less in common with Stone and his music. But he applies his stinging blues licks to a rendition of \u201cThank You (Falettin Me Be Mice Elf Agin).\u201d Johnny laid down his guitar part atop a finished (or semi-finished) track. \u201cWe weren\u2019t in a studio together; [Sly] did his part in California, and I did mine in Connecticut.\u201d Like Ann Wilson, Johnny hadn\u2019t heard the finished product, but says, \u201cI heard it when I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoping to draw a Sly Stone anecdote or two out of Johnny, I point out that both acts played a lot of festivals in the late 60s and 70s. He agrees but passes on the opportunity to elaborate. I ask him to comment on how Sly\u2019s music has influenced his own. \u201cIt didn\u2019t really have any effect on me,\u201d he says in his plain-spoken manner. Some might say the reverse is true as well: on the remake of \u201cThank You,\u201d Johnny\u2019s distinctive guitar and voice are lost amidst the mix. The song is successful in and of itself, but uninformed listeners would be hard-pressed to discern Johnny\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n

In Part Two<\/a>, Ray Manzarek, Carmine Appice and Bootsy Collins discuss their involvement with the new Sly Stone album <\/em>I\u2019m Back! Family & Friends.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\nwhen new features, reviews and essays are published.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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