Sly Stone (1974) This is Love - LOST70sGEMS

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 (1973) If It Were Left Up To Me - LOST70sGEMS

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.

Sly Stone (1971) Spaced Cowboy - LOST70sGEMS

The Sly Stone and The Family Stone 1971 opus There's a Riot Goin' On was considered their peak and true highlight of how the socially conscious music of the 60s could transition into the funk soul and disco of the 70s without losing it's edge. However what was once considered the most forward thinking and progressive of the 60s soon found themselves settling on that formula rather than changing it up and this would soon see them fall foul of critics. The songs would get tighter and more melodic as the record goes along and yet the vocals become wilder too.  Brave & Strong is a great example of their unhinged jams, vocals wail, guitars clank, basses pickin, horns stack and rhythms churn; but nothing can beat Sly's patented croaked wail full of power and electricity, passion, sexuality and defiance. The band could be soothing and calming, smooth and slippery as ever then heavy and packin  a lot of punch and syncopated wallop; truly a magical ensemble. 


You Caught Me Smiling starts with an oriental ambient guitar line before sliding into a dapper groove, the honeyed backing vocals like a sea of cool while Sly's vocal like on Family Affair are filtered through a tinny microphone filter. Horns perk up a little here with some more rhythms to play such as a sustained rasp and the guitar is mixed nice and high.
Their tight in the pocket groove abilities kick off Spaced Cowboy with a little African rhtymm and some funked out trebly bass  creeping in the mix while some wah wahed organ whines and washes in spurts like before while Sly proves why he is the most creative and inventive performer of all time with some amateur mountain yodelling  strangely working with the funky wah wah beat in a obscure idea, think raw laurel and hardy as a harmonica solo full of soul enters chiming with the wah wah and panting drums .

Possibly saving best for last is seven minute album closer, Thank You For Talking To Me Africa, some James Brown guitar straddles a robotic bass part.  They reference their own hit Thankyouforlettimiceself  as guitar notes zing and some hazy gospel twang and a very hypnotic effect while Larry Graham's bass line keeps poppin.

Led Zepellin (1975) Down by the Seaside - LOST70sGEMS

Starting with a swift one,two bass drum kickoff, Jimmy Page strums some lilting guitar chords with the tremolo arm on, the gliding distortion approximating the ripples of the sea.

This is an oddity in the Zeppelin canon as it is built around a Wurlitzer electric piano; bobbing along with the tide in it's undulating trebly manner, similar to the intro to the Queen hit, My Best Friend. John Paul Jones also contributes a nifty little upper register piano break every now and then to lead back into the verses, while other interludes include some big steel guitar bends before leading into a trickling stream of descending tremolo guitar while Plant 'ahs' meanderingly over it.

 This English Country hybrid tune just keeps on rolling like the waves as John Bonhams' distant drums give the track a dusky thud; perfect for this hot, humid summer malaise of a song. The chorus is a  dreary musing of how 'people turned away..oh..people turned away', the stream of consciousness lyrics from Plant are delivered in a nasally, slightly downhome accent, sought've Mississippi by way of the Black Country. It's a sleepy, lazy, dog-day afternoon haze of a vocal; part observation, part day dream; his husky voice working in a far more laidback setting to how it is regularly utilised.


 The bridge is the piece de resistance, possibly their greatest ever mid song excursion, it starts at the end of another chorus as Plant intones the refrain 'people turned..away', but on the last delivery, the delivery of the word 'away' is modifiled as it lands on a new chord and subsequent key change and so Plant lowers his voice accordingly. Sonically we descend into a warbling, underwater passage, a rhythm guitar strikes a funky chicken scratch riff setting a firm groove for a delta blues soloing to play over it. Meanwhile there is a reverberated chamber echo of Plant's voice bouncing off the walls as he scats his most guttural as well as adding refrains of 'see how they run' (which for years I always thought it said "Seek Hollywood" because of Plant's odd phrasing). It all reminds me of the murky, submersed mid section of Over the Hills and Far Away; which also bore a watery mix, a funky strum pattern and a slowed down guitar solo.


 However all good things must come to an end, and what an end, the bridge abruptly climaxes in a little hard rock middle eight that features a thrumming bass line and Plants' wicked vocals, doubled for sinister quality. It immediately commands your full attention as Plant demands; 'Do you still do the twist. Do you find you remember things that well'. The line crescendos into crashing guitars chords before a second repeat of the formula ends the whole bridge as it started; with a sudden key change on the last note and before we know it we're back to the plodding tempo of the verses. Its one of the smoothest, most subtle and inventive transitions I’ve ever heard in all of the 70s. The chiming tremolo chords and bubbling Wurlitzer rhytmms return with turnarounds of train horn guitar bends, Joneseys' lounge jazz piano flourishes and dribbling guitar passages before ending on another doubled Plant vocal line. Here, he sings 'Don't they know that they're going?' in a clipped Southern accent, much more pronounced than anywhere else in this song and its drenched in echo for a very wistful ending note of elegiac longing.


OK class, what have we learned from this rambling piece; I can't self-edit or contain my admiration of Zeppellin and..they were masters of  composition and how to create dynamic changes!

ELO (1971) Nellie Takes Her Bow LOST70sGEMS

A Roy Wood ELO number along the lines of Whisper in the Night, it displays in full ELO's early heavily Progged out sound from Wood's demonic croon that is electronically processed much the same as Peter Hammill with a crackly distortion and a high cutoff frequency. The tale about the eponymous Nellie is secondary to the dragged out piano and lazy day drawl delivery of Wood. The middle section like Battle of Marston Moor on this record displayed their mini orchestra with a turgid cello and double bass and shrieking strings like a neo-renaissance interpretative dance. But I love the hazy lethargic downbeat quality of the track and how Roy Wood's croaked vibrato  is enhanced and then slowly submerged in a very crackly and vibrating filter. The contrast of a very old style of music and a very new mechanical vocal is a great contrast, the delivery of Wood's vocals intensifies along with the layers of flanger or whatever that effect is, it would be used for that megaphonic effect heard years later on Mr Blue Sky and many more of ELo's poppier songs but here it suits Wood's voice far more than Lynne as heard here.

Exile (1978) Sing a Song - LOST70sGEMS

A very hard album to track from 1978 is the band Exile' third foray into discofied rock n roll. While the style was losing favour with them and their audiences I had to find this album. It only recently appeared online so here's my choice track from a very very hard to find gem. The infectious bubblegum pop harmonies of Sing a Song combined with a bright disco guitar and descending bass line and exuberant jacked up delivery are almost rip offs of the Jackson Five' debut single, I Want You Back. Rock n Roll Women carries the same holy sunny harmonies but more an organ rocker along the lines of Corporate rock but with some atmospheric chicken scratch. Whatever Mood You're In combines Hendrix purple haze intro wah wah scratch with a Caribbean flavoured organ cowbell tune. Leave Me Standing is a bouncy old school funky honey tonker. The band has a Grand Funk Mitch Ryder vibe on some tracks don't it feel good is a sleazy drawn out clanky funk and muddy waters blues wailing track to end it.

Clancy (1976) Jeka Jose - LOST70sGEMS

Clancy a British funk soul outfit's second album produced much better songs, the best of which is Jeka Jose, the squelching wah wah guitar and bleusy stabs along with a reggae organ makes this the most concise cut from the album with it's mix of Santana Latin flavour in its vocals and the jazz playing. The watery organ solo, the Hendrix influenced guitar work and Sly Stone styled ensemble group package made them a fierce contender for the Average White Band another Scottish blue eyed soul/funk act who of course succeeded  by aping Black American artists with greater flair.