Stand!

by

Sly & The Family Stone

Edit

In 1969, Sly & the Family Stone finally found their voice with "Stand!". Continuing his fusion of nearly all sounds he could find while redefining what funk was, leader Sly Stone crafted an album with no less than 4 charting singles, topped off by #1 hit "Everyday People".

The album is dominated by something entirely new-- Stone has taken the band's funk sounds and injected some space, some openness into the music. Take the aformentioned "Everyday People"-- it's a funk song, there's no doubt, but it's got a breeziness to it that's somewhat indefinable (that and an irrestible chorus shouted passionately by the band with Sly on top). Likewise title track "Stand!" has this same openness, almost a California pop song to its verses, again with Stone's soulful vocal leading the way.

But there's something else on here as well, an almost claustrophobically dense sound that's beginning to emerge (and that would define the album's followup "There's a Riot Goin' On"). I think in some capacity it's evident everywhere, but it can most be heard in "Don't Call Me N*gger, Whitey" and the 12 minute jam "Sex Machine"-- a dark, bleak sound that doesn't lend itself to open structure but somehow maintains the same irresistability that the rest of the material has. On the former, Sly Stone sings the chorus with a venom over the dense funk dirge, the latter is wholly instrumental, but in roughly the same vein. Both also feature Sly Stone singing through a vocodor run through a wah-wah pedal to extraordinary effect. One thing about them that's definitely, even at their extended lengths (nearly 6 minutes and over 13 minutes respectively), both of them are incredibly intense and intriguing. Both also highly informed the future of music, be it Miles Davis' superb '70s records or pretty m uch the entire genres of soul, funk, r&b and hip hop.

Perhaps when the album does best is when it sits somewhere in between these-- "Somebody's Watching You" wiht its laid back groove and great dirty guitars ends up being one of the creepiest recordings on record and "I Want to Take You Higher" (a remake of "Higher" from a couple years ago) takes the claustrophobia and uses it to push ecstacy to new heights, proving to be downright overwhelming.

This reissue remasters the record and appends a handful of bonus tracks-- mostly single mixes and a couple unreleased recordings and includes detailed liner notes. Sonically, this improvement is fantastic-- the record is crisp and clear and presented as you'd like it to be. The only complaint I have is the choice to leave off singles "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and double A-side "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"/"Everybody is a Star". The three pieces were slated for a followup to "Stand!" that never materialized and ended up being stuck on a "Greatest Hits" record. While strictly speaking they don't belong either here or with this record's followup, it'd've been nice if they were included somewhere with this batch of remasters (for anyone looking, they can be found on "The Essential Sly & the Family Stone").

Bottom line on "Stand!" is that it's one of the great albums of it's era, and together with "There's a Riot Goin' On" forms the peak of Sly & the Family Stone. This is essential listening. Highly recommended.

Content: 4 stars; Sound Quality: 2 stars = Overall: 3 stars.

This album represents the best work that Sly has done from his "happy", optimistic period before he had a severe attack of pessimism (realism?) shortly after so evident on "There's a Riot Goin' On". Lots of good singles here that would make it on any best of compilation of the band like "Stand!", "I Want To Take You Higher", "Sing A Simple Song", "Everyday People" and "You Can Make it if You Try". That's 5 out of the total of 8 tracks from the album! Other than "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey", the other tracks resemble little more than filler and that's especially the case for all 14 minutes of "Sex Machine". Still, this album is a classic for the impact that it has had for the future of funk music and its influence on music since then cannot be underestimated. This mini-lp replica sleeve version very faithfully recreates the original lp design down to the inner sleeve and includes a 12-page colour booklet which has an essay by Barney Hoskyns and all the lyrics. There are 5 bonus tracks as well which are single versions of "Stand!", "I Want To Take You Higher" and "You Can Make it if You Try" and two previously unreleased tracks: "Soul Clappin' II" and "My Brain". The only disappointment for me of this version of the album is the poor sound quality. For an album that's supposed to be remastered, you can only presume that the quality of the master tapes have deteriorated so badly that this is the best that they could do which doesn't amount to much sadly. A shame really; Sly's classic really does deserve better.