Throwback Thursday: Sly & The Family Stone Reunite To Talk "Stand" + Changing The World--Final Episode!
This Throwback Thursday marks the end of our Sly & The Family Stone interview series, a series of historic moments captured in the studio as Sly & Fam (minus Larry Graham) assemble in the studio for the first time in epochs of musical time, coming together to review the newly-remastered versions of their classic tracks for collection on the definitive the definitive Higher Box Set. All good things must come to an end--and that goes not only for historic conversations but also musical groups and movements. There is no foreseeable end, however, to Sly & The Family Stone's legacy; their impact not only on how our favorite artists make music, but also the way they think about music's role in remaking the world. Only fitting then, that our final throwback focuses on "Stand!"--one of The Family Stone's most resounding and lasting statements--and the stand they were trying to make as they tried to change the world. Whether or not we, their musical descendants, have given them the world they were imagining back in the '60s and '70s, they definitely changed ours for the better. Watch as Freddie Stone breaks down the difference between their message and "Kumbayah" below and don't forget to enter here for a chance to win a copy of the ultra-completist 4-CD Box Set.
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Yes, children. It's Throwback Thursday, which means another exclusive look at Sly & The Family Stone's historic conversation, reunion and playback session, captured for the cameras as they met at the mixing board (sans Larry Graham) to listen to the remastered versions of their catalog for release on the über-completist Higher 4-CD Box Set. This week we not only get some anecdotes and insights from the Family's early gigs at Winchester Cathedral but we're also treated to a listening session for the master tracks of the all-time funk blueprint "Thank You (Falettin Me Be Mice Elf Agin")--including never-before-heard versions!
Watch below to have your mind blown and your soul sucked to audiophile funkgasm--and don't forget to enter here for a chance to win a copy of the ultra-completist 4-CD Box Set. See you next week, kids, for the final installment of this exclusive Throwback Thursday series.
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It's Throwback Thursday, which means its time to check in with Sly & The Family Stone. In parts 7 & 8 of our exclusive series of clips from the historic playback session that went down when the Family Stone got together (minus bassgod Larry Graham--but including Sly, which is something of a miracle already) to listen to remastered, re-tracked versions of all their classics for the release of the definitive Higher 4-CD Box Set. In this week's gems we get some insight the Family's gratitude to their audience for a willingness to follow them wherever they went sonically--the literal inspiration for that song about the most famous Mice Elf of all time. And then a treat for the true audiophiles and funk obsessives among us, we get to listen in (and look over Freddie Stone's shoulder) as the Family playback and play with the original master tracks of "Family Affair"--letting the most heartbreaking drum machine track in music history play out all the way to the unheard keyboard noodles and change up in tempo at the end. Priceless.
Come back next Throwback Thursday to collect 'em all--and don't forget to enter here for a chance to win a copy of the ultra-completist 4-CD Box Set.
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If it's Throwback Thursday it must be time for another look at Sly & The Family Stone's historic reunion in the studio listening to their music as newly-remastered for the release of the definitive Higher Box Set. In this installment (clips 5 & 6, for those playing along at home) The Family discusses Love & Haight. Specifically that's interracial love, breaking ground as a "band that looks like America"--as a wise man once said--a liberating disregard for barriers captured most famously in Sly's iconic and taboo-breaking cover photo with wife & child in cover photo for the album Small Talk (above). And that's Haight Ashbury, the bohemian San Francisco neighborhood that was the heart of the expanding consciousness of the 1960s and 70s, a place that let the Family Stone be Mice Elves, so to speak. Watch both clips below, just two fascinating glimpses into a long and long-overdue sharing session between Sly & The Family. You have to come back next Throwback Thursday to collect 'em all--and don't forget to enter here for a chance to win a copy of the ultra-completist 4-CD Box Set.
Okayplayer is amped to bring you the next installment of Sly & The Family Stone's historic reunion interview series for Throwback Thursday, recorded in the studio as they played back their essential sides, newly remastered for the release of the ultra-completist Higher box set. In this episode Sly and the Family dig into possibly their most lasting and defining musical composition "Everyday People" as well as a discussion of the philosophy and feeling expressed by the band's unique look in a segment we call "Family Fashion."
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE. Lest you get lost in these stories of musical history in the making without being able to listen along and cue up the proper soundtrack of immortal funk jams yourself, Okayplayer will be GIVING AWAY 1 COPY OF THE HIGHER BOX SET EVERY THURSDAY throughout the series! You are welcome. Or in Stone terms: Neva Leadit Beesayed Wee Neva Did Nuttin 4 Ewe.
Sign up here for a chance to win a box set, watch Parts 3 & 4 below and scroll down for parts 1 & 2. Don't forget to check this space every upcoming Thursday for the next exciting chapters; same funk time, same funk channel.
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We kick off this Throwback Thursday of 9/19/13 with Part 1 & 2 of Sly & The Family Stone's recent reunion/interview, an historic convo that took place upon the release of the definitive Higher Box Set and found the band (sans bassgod Larry Graham--better known to some of you young ones as 'Drake's Uncle') listening to the newly and lovingly remastered tracks and sharing the back stories of their creation.
For Part 1, we could only start at the beginning, with Sly's transition from iconoclastic radio Disc Jockey to bandleader (yes, Sly's influential vocal style developed from a habit of butting in on other people's records and singing the news on-air) and the story of how he recruited his troops for an assault on the racial barriers of popular music as we (used to) know them. Then we proceed directly to the goods with Part 2: the story of the all-time party anthem "Dance To The Music." You are welcome. Watch below and don't forget to spread the funk and come back next Throwback Thursday for the next exciting installment.
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Sly & The Family Stone are indisputably one of the most influential groups in the history of popular music--breaking down racial barriers even as they joined James Brown and George Clinton in ushering in the funk era, if the Family Stone is sometimes hard to place within any one musical movement, it's only because they were truly a musical movement unto themselves. The cross-generational impact of the Stone groove (just ask Prince, D'Angelo, CeeLo Green, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Janelle Monáe, Outkast, Lenny Kravitz, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Cody ChesnuTT and countless others whose sonic life has been lived at least in part in Stone's shadow) has only been thrown in to sharp relief by the mercurial inaccessibility Sly Stone himself; the restless genius who gave the group its name and its focus. Stone's struggles with addiction, homelessness and--most recently the details of his questionable financial dealings--have all conspired to steal the spotlight from the group's music, without ever lessening the demand or interest in it.
On August 15, 2013, however, something changed. Upon the release of Higher box set (its the truth--a higher truth, get it?--cop it here via iTunes or Amazon) the elusive Sly sat down with an absolute majority of the Family Stone (Sly Stone, Cynthia Robinson,Vet Stone, Freddie Stone, Rose Stone, Jerry Martini and Greg Errico to be specific)to reminisce about their life as a group and the stories behind the making of the tracks collected therein. Topics touched on range from Sly's early career as a personality jock on San Francisco radio, his recruitment of various band-members, the inspiration for immortal lyrics like "Everyday People" and handy tips on how to make an outfit out of a cowskin rug. Best of all, Okayplayer is proud to announce that we'll be unveiling these conversations in their entirety over the next several weeks in a series of Throwback Thursday clips, kicking off tomorrow, Thursday 9/19. Watch the teaser clip below to get a taste of what's to come; like the man said: definitely not something that happens everyday.