Thankful n' Thoughtfull: The Sly Stone Dedicated Chronological Listening Thread

186. Sly & the Family Stone - We Can Do It (Ain't But the One Way, 1982)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1KcH5m0YlQ
Arguably the most interesting track on the album, just in terms of the playing and construction, although the mix and overall sound is too diffuse and reverb is slathered indiscriminately all over the place. The lyrics just come off as crass.

187. Sly & the Family Stone - High, Y'all (Ain't But the One Way, 1982)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLCp0SUqZy0
Have you heard that Sly liked to get high? Thankfully this song is a bit more than the tired retread the title and opening section suggest. Instead the track downshifts into a lurching, half-time groove that bears some resemblance to Funkadelic's "Funk Gets Stronger", and shifts back up for the choruses. This track seems to have gotten a little bit more attention in the songwriting department, while it's built around a straight vamp that is only briefly modulated for a bridge section in the middle, it's littered with little organ and synth riffs, vocal lines, and horn licks. Fortunately the poor production choices that mar so much of the album are kept to a minimum here, although whether or not the extended sax solo really adds much is debatable. For once the vocals are blended well, Sly in the lead, even if the lyrics are mostly nonsensical ("how could a would not could not if a would not could not would"? OK, Sly). Performance and mixing-wise this is near the top of the heap for this album, at least it ends on a relatively, er, high note.

Sly never completed another full length album of original material. As a bandleader and driving creative force, this is basically the end. The remainder of his output would find him often relegated to half-hearted walk-on roles in the work of others.

188. P-Funk All Stars - Catch a Keeper (Urban Dancefloor Guerillas, 1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMPxjm9K1-Y
At this point, no one in the industry - with the notable exception of George Clinton, who was beset by his own problems - had any real faith in Sly's artistry or judgment, including Sly himself. From here on out, it's a succession of one-offs, random collaborations, and scattered P-Funk appearances. When he does show up, Sly is basically a bystander, a curious figure on the margins. This song isn't bad, more or less a retread of "(Not Just) Knee Deep"/"Freak of the Week" with some retooled synth licks and vocals. Sly has a writing credit and it sounds like his voice pops in for a couple bars, maybe he threw in some lyrics or something.

189. P-Funk All Stars - Hydraulic Pump (Urban Dancefloor Guerillas, 1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE3QOdzT6EI
Coming off his biggest hit ever, Clinton's 80s cut-n-paste synth funk formula was already in place, and while this starts out sounding fairly "live", by the time the record flips over various new wave touches start to take over the rhythm section and the synthesizers. The arrangement follows Clinton's tried-and-true approach of establishing a groove and throwing everything imaginable on top of it: scatological gang vocals, synth squiggles, heavy metal guitar, heavily processed percussion, weird sound effects, a trumpet line. Clinton may have been on crack by this point but his instincts and (perhaps most importantly) quality collaborators had not deserted him; this is a plenty absorbing dancefloor jam, and the constantly shifting details work to its advantage. Where is Sly on all this, and what did he do to merit his writing credit? Who knows. Apart from George and Philip Wynne, the dizzying mix makes it difficult to pick out individual voices, and it's entirely possible that's Sly on electric piano or some other combination of instruments. As it is, this song is great, but probably not because of Sly."

190. Sly Stone - Eek-ah-Bo-Static Automatic (Soul Man Soundtrack, 1986)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORH8RoKE6qs
Warner Brothers didn't know what to do with him and he didn't seem interested in or capable of doing a full album so they threw some soundtrack work at him. After a three year silence during which he has apparently heard rap music (possibly Schooly D? listen to that angel-dusted digital reverb), Sly diffidently tries his hand at approximating the feel and sonics of it. Clinton recounts the origin of this song in his autobio, which paints a generally sad picture of Sly freaking out in the studio because he was confusing playback in his headphones with an audio hallucination, which was the origin of the title/lyric. Digital production techniques have atomized conventional chord progressions, melodies, and conventional arrangement tricks by this point, so we get clusters of disconnected synth riffs, looped basslines, tons of hard-panned percussion, and lots of rambling vocal lines, everything overdubbed haphazardly. There's no real hook or center, and while it doesn't sound bad, really, it doesn't sound distinctive or exciting either, it sounds aimless. Parsing the lyrics feels like a fool's errand.

191. Sly Stone - Love and Affection (Soul Man Soundtrack, 1986)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMIYj05h-J0
With Martha Davis. To his credit, Sly's vocal doesn't sound phoned in, but the material and production are execrable. Every stupid cliché of 80s pop production makes an appearance, which might be forgivable if there was a decent hook or melody.

192. Jesse Johnson - Crazay (Shockadelica, 1986)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maHadudeqP4
As close as Sly got to Prince, and it at least sounds like it was fun to make. Of his post-P-Funk, 80s-onward appearances, this one is actually at least distinctive and sort of fun, even if it's just an attempt to shoehorn Sly into Prince's re-writing of R&B rules. His appearance in the video was pretty much the last time Sly would appear visibly engaged with music.

193. Sly Stone - I'm the Burglar (Burglar Soundtrack, 1987)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2IgeVl-2b4
Unlike "Soul Man"'s weirdly iconic status as a cultural low point, "Burglar" is mercifully forgotten. This tune is essentially Sly trying to repeat the formula of "Crazay" on his own, and as a result features all the signs o' the times - gated drum machine, orchestral pad sounds, synth bass, anonymous gang vocals, a bank of sound effects. It's a fairly standard gloss on Prince (or maybe Harold Faltermeyer) and Sly at least comes up with a credible vocal hook. The syncopated samples of locks breaking, doors being opened etc. in the middle is a bit much. Not good.

194. Bobby Womack - When the Weekend Comes (The Last Soul Man, 1987)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAAVOmIhJss
Womack, coming off a successful 80s run, throws his old buddy a bone. For some reason, Womack re-recorded this song (the original version was on his previous album "Womagic" from 1986) and turned it into something of a vocal duet with Sly. Sly does his thing, but his vocal range is narrowing and his inclusion comes off like an afterthought.

I have never heard most of this stuff. Supposedly, Sly peaced out in the middle of making the Jesse Johnson video? I can only imagine how difficult it must’ve been to work with him around this time.

The Burglar tune is produced (like the rest of the soundtrack) by Bernard Edwards – agreed it’s not very good and Sly doesn’t have a writing credit. But like the Jesse Johnson thing did putting him in the Prince universe, it’s interesting to hear Sly effectively fronting late-period Chic with the signature bass grooves and Tony Thompson whomp.

195. Ta Mara and the Seen - Everyday People (Blueberry Gossip, 1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMWpWUiikCk
Minneapolis-based band produced by Jesse Johnson. Sly's participation in this (a brief backing vocal track) seems very unnecessary. There's basically nothing to this cover, just a digital update of the original sonics, until it gets to the end and there's a detour that deviates slightly from the original.

196. The Brothers Johnson - Ball of Fire (Kickin', 1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PouL3YCWPg
Sly is credited with the horn arrangement (maybe this was some contractual A&M Records thing). The Brothers Johnson took a lot of cues from Sly, as is still audible here under the digital sheen of 80s-tastic drum programming and overdriven guitars/synths. The song isn't terrible; Sly's contribution again feels like a minor afterthought.

197. The Bar-Kays - Just Like a Teeter-Totter (Animal, 1989)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3umcQQnqqc
And then, somehow, Sly briefly musters the inspiration to deliver a tantalizing glimpse of an 80s discography that might-have-been. Updating the dry, skeletal arrangements of the Stone Flower/Riot-era with a claustrophobic mix of squiggly synths and digital percussion, Sly co-wrote and co-produced this surprising track with the Bar-Kays (uncharacteristically reduced to a trio at this point), who subsequently buried it on side two of this late career LP. Minimalism suits Sly. With the more bombastic tropes of the era stripped away, he scatters tiny details and embellishments across the track with a clarity and precision that would not have been possible in his analog days. A metronomic cowbell ticks its way through the whole song; super-compressed wah wah guitars and synth chords dance around the snare hits; comically nasal, airless vocals pop in and out. There's even a bridge with some spooky chords in the middle. It's not a masterpiece, and to be fair it isn't especially groundbreaking either, but it doesn't seem out of line to draw parallels with later, similar production work by people like Timbaland and the Neptunes.

This song rules.

This Bar-Kays track is wild. Like a weird "Parade" era Prince production with the pointillistic guitar and airy production. A relief to listen to after the last few utterly depressing guest star appearances from Sly.

Yes. The whole teeter-totter conceit and “Seeeeee/Sawwwww” call and response is very Sly.

Another notable connecting point: this track was produced by James Mtume of Miles’ 70s group and “Juicy Fruit” (and, by way of sampling, Biggie’s “Juicy”) fame – the latter of which shares a similarly skeletal arrangement and jittery beat.

198. Maceo Parker - Tell the World (For All the King's Men, 1990)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YYVbZmW9WA
Back to the bottom of the barrel. Sly co-wrote this with Bootsy and Maceo and is credited with piano/organ/synthesizer (along with another P-Funk alumnus, David Spradley). Some really questionable production choices going on here, the string synth patches and Maceo's vocal in particular don't do it any favors, and the balladry doesn't really come across. A snippet of this track would, for some reason, later appear on Bill Laswell and George Clinton's ""Funkronomicon"".

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/oct/06/i-never-lived-a-life-i-didnt-want-to-live-sly-stone-on-addiction-ageing-and-changing-music-for-ever

The Axiom Funk version of this is a different, less wander-y mix (spoiler: Maceo’s vocal is still terrible). It also features studio chatter at the beginning and end with Sly – including him seemingly getting ready to comp over a double time rhythm box in the latter right before it cuts out.

Somebody needs to make a supercut of Sly studio chatter. Going back to Fresh, there’s a metric ton of it.

199. Earth, Wind and Fire - Good Time (Heritage, 1990)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSezf9GMOoQ
In a testament to just how many aging, big name R&B stars were willing to give him a shot, Sly wanders into the studio to provide some backing vocals for EW&F on this Cameo-endebted track. But as with many of these late-period collaborations he's not particularly prominent.

200. 13CATS - Thank You (March of the 13CATS, 1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBrbLb7KuNs
Wikipedia credits Sly with playing guitar on this, but no other information is available. A pointless retread with lots of 90s-era bells and whistles. This becomes common for subsequent releases with Sly's name in the credits, they generally slot into a post-90s G-Funk/Prince-post New Jack Swing sort of sound that updated 70s funk tropes with a digital production sheen.

201. George Clinton - Ain't That Peculiar (George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love, 2008)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zPVrKynudE
After almost 20 years of silence, Sly's voice audibly pops up towards the end (he trails off: "that's all I can do right now"). That's about it.

202. George Clinton - Fever (George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love, 2008)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQT8g2_TcPs
The noodling at the beginning sounds a bit like Sly, as do some of the autotuned vocals in the main body of the track. Otherwise the track sounds like studio scraps dressed up with some modern-ish overdubs.

203. BabyStone - Stonetro / Ask Me (BabyStone, 2008)
https://www.thefunkstore.com/Sounds2012/BabyMp3Stone.mp3
Recording project of one of Sly's daughters (Novena Carmel) that put out an EP in 2008. Full songs do not appear to be online, these links/clips from the website were all that seem to be publicly available. Sly's damaged voice opens the EP, dredging up some passably entertaining DJ patter from his days with KSOL and KDIA, and also shows up (about 1:30 in) for the brief track "Ask Me". The material and musicianship is not bad at all, credible and well produced post-G-funk throwbacks. Sly, however, is little more than a grunting shadow of his former self.

Memoir via Questlove is coming out it seems. Feature on CBS Sunday Morning on ot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpdlfVVLPQ4

*it*

205. Sly Stone - Plain Jane (I'm Back! Family & Friends, 2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP1b7zAe6RI
His latest and final(?) attempt at a comeback. This album was primarily remixes and covers of his old material, with a ton of (mostly regrettable) collaborators lending a hand. It also had a couple of originals, including this liquid, midtempo funk track. Who's doing what is not entirely clear. A talkbox and a phaser-enhanced bassline take the lead over some rather pedestrian drumming, burnished by female vocals and a scrappy horn part, with Sly's strained voice popping in on the choruses for a single line. Much of the lyrics are indecipherable, the song generally seems to address a girl who likes to party. It isn't terrible but it's also pretty generic, with little of Sly's compositional skills on display.

206. Sly Stone - His Eye Is On the Sparrow (I'm Back! Family & Friends, 2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72Pop-sr7_w
Now this is a bit more interesting. Sly returns to an oft-covered gospel standard that dates back to 1905, an obvious instance of a career coming full circle. At a guess that's him leading the way on the organ, although he doesn't do much besides play sustained chords, and presumably that's his scratchy voice that briefly appears almost 2 minutes in. The song itself is a statement of faith and this take leans heavily on the refrain ("I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free / For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me"), with some added "change me / don't change me" lines (Sly, always hedging). The accompaniment is again fine if not particularly distinguished, and the arrangement does little but repeat the chord cycle over and over. Still, the poignant irony of the material itself goes a fair way towards making this resonate.

That comment at the end of the CBS Sunday Morning interview with Questlove was pretty profound - most of Sly's contemporaries died in their 20's, 30's and 40's indeed. The fact he's still kicking, after only just getting clean merely 4 years ago (at age 76?) is extraordinary. Dude's got some Keith Richards level resilience to chemical abuse, but in Sly's case it seems fueled by spite!

207. Sly Stone - Get Away (I'm Back! Family & Friends, 2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK1OLARof5s
Far and away the best of the lot, even if its just a plagal cadence over a drum machine. Did they actually did out a Rhythm Ace for this, or just re-use a bit of the "Family Affair" tracks? Barebones as the structure is, there's a spark of Sly's old arranging acumen; the mix of wah wah guitars, a bobbling bassline, suspended organ chords, crescendoing horns, and gospel backing vocals is both dreamy and propulsive. Sly's raspy voice, now little more than a whisper, is once again out front, plaintive but still melodically playful. The lyrics, just two verses and a refrain, return to familiar tropes - hesitancy about commitment, a faith in music ("You can get away from the guy who loves you / They'll break your heart in two / I can get away from the girl who feeds me / She don't need you like I need you" and "I would bet my pay for a year and a day / If I couldn't be wrong / About this melody written for you and me / And we might as well sing the song"). It's not an incredible song but it is fittingly wistful.

Agree, I like that song.

Based on what I’ve seen of Sly since that WTF Grammy’s performance I can almost hardly believe he is singing on this as well as he is. Can’t he almost barely speak at this point? How is he even carrying a tune? Is it possible this is actually an older cut?

208. Funkadelic - The Naz (First Ya Gotta Shake The Gate, 2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbPLMpgRc-o
Our final entry. While it would be foolish at this point to expect Sly to go out with a bang, he doesn't exactly go out with a whimper either, more like a giggle. This is thanks to George, who, 30 years on, is still trying to pull Sly out of his hole. His loyalty is remarkable. Sly delivers an abbreviated version of Lord Buckley's classic sermon recounting the life of the titular Nazarene over a decent digital funk groove. Clinton characteristically layers in a bunch of synthesizer and electric guitar details into a backing track that more or less works, and then lets Sly loose, looping bits of his monologue here and there. The connection between Buckley and Sly's vocabulary is made explicit, and there's obviously layers of significance woven in here in terms of Sly's life and career - the savior archetype, motormouthed hipster patter, funk. Lots of echoes here. (In one odd bit of symmetry, Buckley's lines: "if they can't straighten it they know a cat that knows a cat that's gonna get it straight", which is very close to Sly's henchman Hamp Banks' description of himself: "When it got to big for me, I knew the cat that knew the cat that could get it done.") Thankfully, Buckley's text does not extend beyond the loaves and fishes story, sparing the listener any implied parallel between Sly's own failings and Christ's demise.

Since further musical output from Sly seems unlikely at this late date, this serves as a strangely fitting capstone to his discography. Hopefully this thread has made the overarching arc of his career clear, even if it's a cliche at this point: a series of undeniable and monumental achievements, marred by a depressing capacity for self-sabotage that lasted for almost 50 years. Unlike Brian Wilson - whose own life and career is in many ways an inverted, white-bread, mirror image of Sly's (Sly loves dualisms but who knows if he would appreciate or acknowledge this one) - there hasn't really been any late-period redemption. Wilson, while still eternally haunted and damaged, got his shit together and appears to have achieved some measure of functionality and peace; the core of his musical talent has never left him, he still loves music, he needs it and believes in it and works at it. By contrast, when Sly attempted a similar comeback in the 2000s it was hampered by his all-too familiar problems and habits. In many ways it's just too late. The Summer of Soul doc and forthcoming QuestLove doc are a historical corrective, rightly emphasizing his massive talent and impact. Based on advance press and published excerpts, Sly's autobiography (which comes out tomorrow), will no doubt shed some light on the details of Sly's life and his perspective on it, but it seems unlikely to contain much in the way of critical self-examination. For an artist who claimed to write his songs while looking in the mirror, he seems to have spent much of his life running away from his own reflection.

*applause*

epic thread, ty One Child

Yeah, this was great, thanks so much.

Cheers, amazing work

Yes incredible effort on this thread, ty <3

Great thread, though becomes inevitably more depressing as we move into the later years.

Legendary thread! Loved reading from start to finish

Surely this is the gold standard for listening threads? So thorough and insightful.

One of my favorite ILM experiences over 20 years here. Just a treasure trove of top shelf analysis.

What am I going to do everyday at lunchtime now? LOL.

Great thread! Thank you so much! Respect.

I didn't give anywhere like enough time to this thread but it's a great acheivement!

Oh, no mention of "If I Didn't Love You", also on First Ya Gotta Shake The Gate?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBpt8Yu3Q8s

We never did discuss "My Gorilla is My Butler", either...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbZQ6tIeNH8

It's strange that Sly's status as a "survivor" almost makes his career sadder than if he had died at some point in the last 50 years.

Just finished reading the oral history from a couple of years back in anticipation of reading Sly's new one.

All I can say is ...wow. I blame PCP.

After listening to Questlove's podcast with the autobio writer, I listened to 'Life of Fortune & Fame', which is pretty striking and was apparently on a comp of unreleased '60s tracks that came out in the '90s called Funkmeister. Curious if One Child had heard these?

Also at the very end there's a clip of an actually unreleased '80s Sly song, just a DX7 and drum machine. It's very Prince-y, really something.

Nice clip, thanks for sharing.

BTW it’s kind of nuts that OneChild started this thread 3 1/2 years ago and finished the 208th and last entry the day before his memoir was released.

Autobio is great!

I downloaded Small Talk prompted by this thread - had never heard it - and it's absolutely blazing my Saturday, "Can't Strain My Brain" is wildly, weirdly great. Thank you Sly and Shakey.