Sly and The Family Stone 1967- 1975

Sly and the Family Stone were as great a band as everything you've ever heard. They broke new ground on several levels, interracially, politically, and most of all in the pursuit of pure funk. You can argue about who invented funk, but Sly and the Family Stone moved funk forward in a seriously big way. And got white folks into it too.

The 1970 Greatest Hits is an indispensable record. Even if you have all of their studio records, you'd still need it for the three great singles that appeared new on the album. Absolutely everyone with any cool at all owned it in 1970.

Other compilations that came later and include the songs on Greatest Hits are strong contenders these days for someone new to the Family Stone, assuming such people exist. For vinyl lovers, the 2009 Music On Vinyl two-disc The Best of Sly and the Family Stone adds a few more tracks and includes a couple from Fresh, which many see as his last great record. The 2003 The Essential Sly and The Family Stone, on two CDs, is even better, as it includes a couple from the 1967 debut A Whole New Thing (Underdog is definitely essential) as well as Small Talk 1974 and one from Sly's 1975 solo debut High On You, plus lots more album tracks that deserve to be heard.

Many would argue that the best way to appreciate the band is in live performance, and there's also a couple of good ways to do just that. Woodstock: Sunday August 17, 1969 from 2019 or The Woodstock Experience from 2009 both include the whole set, and it's easy to see why they wowed the peace and love crowd in upstate New York (Experience also includes Stand! on a second CD). Live at the Fillmore East October 4th & 5th, 1968 from 2015, available as a comprehensive four CD set or a two LP edited version is also killer.

By the way, their criminally neglected debut A Whole New Thing is not a lesser record just because it sold little and didn't really sound like what was coming. It's quite good. It sounds a little like a good War record without the Latin bit.

Dance To The Music is hands down one of the greatest singles of the sixties. 

Cynthia and Jerry got a message they're sayin' All The Squares Go Home!