Bringing obscure songs from the 1970s such as deep album cuts, underrated cover songs and forgotten singles back on this blog. The 70s was a great time for music, possibly the best and the most diverse; that some gems that need to be rediscovered
Sly Stone is a legend one of the true original artists and always will be and I want to celebrate him in his lifetime before we lose him like so many others, most recently Little Richard, Bill Withers, too many!
That's Loving' You carries a seductive string section that swaggers with the slinky guitar and vocal lines, Sly's vocals are nicely restrained..I mean for him, he also sounds very youthful with a more closed mouth drawl in this one as the guitar string bends up and down in a truly iconic melody, while there is a bluegrass violin solo that actually works! There's too much going on in this track to describe it all and it wouldn't do it justice as you must here how the different instrumentation interplay in a sweet upbeat soul classic.
I Get High on You is pumping rocker as festive organs, a Funkadelic/Billy Preston Duck quack synth jiggles along as the tune plays out in another gospel powered funk driven soul rocker; closest I can get to a description of his music. So Good to Me is a polished strut as wah wahs wrinkle and another delicious bass line hums along with Sly before some really torrid overdriven guitar stings enter before returning the hushed swag of the tune before another overdriven chorus that sounds very clipped, which is just too much for headphones but probably sounds pretty good on vinyl; hell you can't say this guy was ever boring/formulaic or at a loss for ideas. The bass on both the washy organ track Green Eyed Monster and Who Do You Love?, with it's zany zipping guitar licks, is something overlooked; you r average Sly Stone track would always harbour a truly poppin bass part.
Le Lo Li is a Hawaiian inflected number that bears some swooning Santo and Johhny slide before Sly swoops in with another incredible melody/set of lyrics combo that mirrors the "different strokes for different folks" line from their big hit Everyday People back in the late 60s. Singing in his trademark style of strutting swaggering melodic nursery rhythms of 'Different pills for different thrills, different weeks for different freaks' Genius, you'll never see another like him as I finish my last in this Sly Stone Marathone as the great man himself would've most likely said it! Keep in Groovin Sly wherever you are during these panic times
1979' Back on the Right Track was not Sly's best but proved even his least exciting work was still steeped in original writing arranging and delivery. If It's Not Addin' Up... is a groovy number with some pin point bass notes and James Brown chicken-scratch chords and Sly's honeyed vocals make this very slipery when wet though it has no wet reverb on it but it does go down easy. The mellow Funkadelic/Billy Preston duck squawk Wah Wah Moog solo is a nice addition. The Funkadelic sound is even more pronounced on The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry) which carries the same spirit of The Placebo Syndrome from Parliament's 1977 album Spaceship; the talkbox scatting and the circular chants, drum loop and female interjections are excellent but the talkbox magic from Sly as he drawls partly unintelligibly is brilliant. But the lyrics that describe the many ironies, or specifically; oxymoron of life such as how the same people who make you laugh, can make you cry and the food you like can make you die. this beautifully teaches us why balance and moderation is key, damn Sly back at it again with positive thoughtful messages and deep insight alongside wonderful musicality skills. Who's to Say? carries a Commodores sound with some tight interlocking rhythms, muted guitar chipping away in spurts and a barrelling vocal that reminds me more of Stevie Wonder's gravelly gospel hail. The chorus group vocals are full of character particularly with more scat nonsense verse and the slight child like playfulness
The 1976 album, Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back by Sly Stone was my favourite with it's mix of strong melodies still fresh to this day; funk meets soul in it's most authentic and original form. I'll skip over the catchiest song of this whole collection, Mother Hippie, as it was already covered in a prior post at; http://lost70sgems.blogspot.com/2020/02/sly-stone-1975-mother-is-hippie.html
The title track starts with a bouncy flute or piccolo led digression before a steel drum initiates the 'ah ahah' chanting with a freaky crowd mayhem in the background while the exuberant chanting reminds me of a child making that noise for another spoonful of babyfood when being fed. The bass throughout is some of the most catchy playing rolling along with the abrupt shifts in in melody, the horns come in with a Zapata type of blasts while a clavinet crawls underneath for the bridge. But that sweet flute soft disco jam of the intro is an excellent eclectic addition. The ending brings the lubricious bass, the fills of Mexican horn blasts and ahahas together in a never ending weave of symmetry; shame the flute line didn't also fit into the weave though the chanting does resemble the flute line.
Everything in You starts right out of the gate with a gospel flavoured call to let everything in you come out as a disco chunky strums and caressing soft soul vocals 'ba ba bah' while strings cut through. It displays all their talents a great mix of laidback yet tight rhythms, dexterous vocals and diverse yet clean musical interplay from another juicy bass line to the clear-cut strings, to the string plucks, to the incredible vocal lines of Sly and the spirited delivery of the backing harmonies. Blessing in Disguise is a perfect companion to the title track with another mellifluous flute passage leading to more strong soul group harmonies while strings underscore their passion and the vibrato of these singers has to be pointed out as the most melodious to ever grace a record, the group in the mid 70s was undoubtedly about vocal harmony as much as peaceful harmony; though they achieved both on record. While disco took the charts, Sylvester Stone was proving no one could create a better groove and yet retain soulful grit and sweet melodicism like him, sorry Bee Gees haha.
A work up of rapid tabla as organ blaring horns and slashing strings build in stages to a climax as we enter chanky funky tune, The Thing, with the raga sounding strings cutting in ribbons as the typical funky walking beat plods along as the fighty harmonies attack from all sides with the dramatic instrumentation. The drawling wah wah middle section is a great moment of darker experimental soul rock as the note modulates in one drawn out wah while the odd strings ecstatically zip along in striking additions while Sly effortlessly wails in an upper register.
Cut from the same cloth as It Keeps You Running, this starts with some robust drum march before Tiran Porter's slinky bass slides in creating a lubricating groove punctuated by Michale McDonald's electric piano chord stomps. A walking bass line and disco hi-hat dominates the old skool fonk chorus before we return to the roundabout riff that forms the songs' bed, except now Jeff Baxter's Roland Guitar Synth adds a little car horn burst to the McDonald's chords, while a squelchy synthesised bass treads underneath like boots on the ground to add another layer of rhythm. Finally as the vocal starts the second verse another synth comes in to add in a synthesizer blast with a lot of decay added to it for a 'phased explosion' effect. Baxter's guitar synth almost resembles a electric sitar as he plays a spectacular river of flamenco notes, the song keeping with it's clipped feel ends abruptly mid verse as Porter claims he needs a lady from Tennessee
The title track of Sly Stone's 1974 album, Small Talk is distinctive not for jazz funk bass groove that is coloured by a cinema organ but the added baby cryin all over the track. Its a novel idea that fits with the mellow yet tight rhythm track while Sly sings in a real low key vocal whilst also caring to his child and also features his wife and others baby talking to his son, as he slowly quietens down. Say You Will is a smooth melodic song mixing the defiant gospel inflected soul of their early days with the blended mellow 70s sound as big choral vocals a string section and some more of their tight drum, popping bass lines and sweet organ chords keep this so endearing; the squelching sounds effects and Sly's clear high tenor vocal are the best parts urging listeners to 'Give a Damn, Y'all!'.
Mother Beautiful starts with the newly added string section in full effect inter-playing with the drenched organ quiet jam balladry that was always a key element of Sly's 70s discography from 'Family Affair' onward. But the golden harmonies of the chorus are on point as are sister Rose Stone's exquisite cracked baritone, it just doesn't get any purer than that as the vocals lead and backing wash like the organ in tides of increasing volume and intensity then ebbing back to the background groove before re-emphasising a sentiment once again.
New bassist, 19 year old Rusty Allen kicks off Can't Strain My Brain with an indelible bubbly bass part that is more lead instrument than anything on the track as sweet spring strings the kind Isaac Hayes would use sing alongside Sly; an excellent contrast of restrained heavy funk rhythm sections and easy listening instrumentation in a lulling soup of a mix. It's so relaxing and such a masterful mix of the soft and gentle and with just enough clear cut bite in the bass, guitars and Sly's sly vocals slipping in between the two. They were thee Soul Super-group, practically inventing heavy funk bands, big band funk groups like Kool and the Gang and EWF and the Quiet Storm genre of the 80s whilst nailing smooth soul in the process.
The intro of Loose Booty will instantly take you to a dozen 70s cop shows with the hyped up Afro funk beat punctuated by urban sax stacks, wah wah and bass clanking away and some call and response Jackson Five sounding vocals, this would fit shows like What's Happening with it's playground singalong and mix of Blaxploitation wah wah funk workout energy. The refrain of 'shake that, get the permission for letin it go' is actually a chant of bible names ' Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego ', but it sounds like a looped sample and so catchy that it could've easily been a 90s dance hit or a 2000s club remix (I'm not counting the Beastie Boys, who failed to credit the major contributor to their track; just like Daft Punk did with the repackaging of Breakwater's playing as their own Robot Rock ..head tut, nice appropriation); well it was one of the album's two singles.
The little bass doodling that starts Wishful Thinkin' displays the young Allen's talent while the sweet formula of organ, strings and Sly once again undulate like a Sinatra tune but with far more authenticity and inner city grit and some wonderfully creative gargled and strained vocal by Sly on some lines to display a drugged out unpredictability and slightly wired state of mind as some lines you hear his deep intakes of breath and the crack of his speaking voice or the raw uncut growl of his yelling voice; no singer mixed so many techniques into his style as Sly who could rap, monologue, yearn, wail, rasp all over the course of one melody! This mixed styled vocal is a great example of how utilises his changing vocal styles to symbolise his muddled state familiar to anyone stressed, emotional or reliant on any substances too.
The studio chatter before the sax and then the backing Little Singers coming in and eventually strings coming into the track one by one on Better Thee Than Me displays a rough mix of how spiky raw they all were. The strings cut a shrieking line, the guitars and organ lay down liquid textures while the sax sounds very earthy and full. But best are the vocals that are better served by this live separated studio mix where they are more up-fronted to capture their kick ass splendour. This band were swagger personified, far more than a thousand funk bands, DJs and Rappers, they along with James Brown of course defined the term for the first time and never has anyone exemplified it better than the Stone siblings and Co from Vallejo, California of all places, not the most streetwise nor street tough of places.
This Is Love starts differently with a piano and doowop melody sung by Sly more of glorious strings and backing vocal glories and a guitar chankles (that's right I just made that up!). He even starts the song with the instruction "Pull the strings up" before launching into that evergreen package of Fats Domino piano plonking and serene vocal lines. Its so melodic with Sly head bobbing piano beat and scat vocals anchoring those impeccable strinsg and magic backing vocals from the Little Sisters backing group; Just Listen to it! Don't need to read anymore about it!
Other low key highlights include the alternate version of 1975's Crossword Puzzle, this earlier cut features some droning string lilts, drawling away while Sly or Rose or someone sings with a real high vocal, half sung low, half gravelly and loud. Best is the slight honky tonk vibe of the strings and the melodies hoedown rhythm yet urban isolation lyrics which include gems like "are you gonna be a mouse, livin in your house". The overall metaphor of a crossword puzzle for a inter-sectional grid of a city is a master idea while the up and down funk swagger of the vocal beats any rapper's flow as it cements the dead end inner city message of the song whilst remaining eclectic and colourful and balancing contrasting dynamics.
Finally Positive (Instrumental) is the one that doesn't bare any parts of their sound, rather it sounds like a jam by James Brown's band with a typical clanky 9th chord funky blues lick, hyperactive double time drumming and blues slide double stops.
Sly Stone's Fresh (1973) album is just that a considerable boost going into the new decade; a fresh injection of songs, melodies and lyrical pizzazz decorate this colouring book of bright eyed psych funk bubblegum soul. The high kick suspended in mid air on the front cover would become an iconic image, though it captured how they had become less a band a more of Sly and his backing unit, it also captured their fire straight out the gate on this new more smoother sound.
Let Me Have It All is a slippery wet wah wah 'hush-child' groover from the master of that style, with a defiant war cry of a hook, this is still inferior to the sonically similar If You Want Me To Stay but captures the band's mix of power and sensitivity. The juicy wah wah and hollow box drums make Thankful N' Thoughtful an even better quiet soul number with excellent interplay between explosive horns and chorus vocal while the sweetly distorted guitars chime and blurting horns contrast back and forth. The wah wah gets more Parliament styled quacked out and the picking is really something subtle in it's pre-disco swagger and Sly's melodic vocals root everything as they always do; a one of a kind performer.
The heavily muffled drum and bass intro of Skin I'm In form a rugged foundation for some nice circus organ playing before the track suddenly explodes into an orgasm of swan song horns and funeral wailing from Sly. Probably one of their greatest moments is there powerful gospel cover of Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be), they're ability to turn showtunes into the most raw, realest gritty statement with so much emotion pouring out of them made them gods. Babies Makin' Babies starts with some wonderful soft harmonised vocals, the bass is a really standout as are the restrained but sweet horn parts while the subtle organ chords keep a dark tone. The walkabout strut of the end that the guitar and organ play in sync shows how musicality just dripped from their joints coming up wit effortless beats and melodies while the other bands jammed for hours to come up with the same blues standards repeated over and over again.
The gem though is the single, If It Were Left Up To Me, with an indelible hook, a circular vocal melody that they were great at this just centres on their stacked vocals with lovingly played horns riding alongside a bumping bass rhythm. That incredibly catchy and timeless vocal line would be heard much more in their mid 70s work (Mother was a Hippie, Heard ye)and it shouldve been a commercial direction but it didn't work.
