Sly Stone’s hit-making era lasted all of six years — from the end of 1967 to the end of 1973 — but the music he made over that half-decade helped map the future. The singer, songwriter, producer and style icon, who died Monday at 82, came up as a DJ in San Francisco before putting together the Family Stone: a multiracial band of men and women that melted the lines between funk, R&B, pop and psychedelic rock. The group’s music went on to influence multiple generations of artists, among them Prince, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Outkast and the Roots; as a source of countless samples, Stone’s songs represent a crucial part of hip-hop’s DNA. Here, in the order they were released, are 10 of his essential recordings.
‘Dance to the Music’ (1967)
Stone is said to have hated his breakout single, which he supposedly made at the behest of Clive Davis after the record exec requested something more commercial than the Family Stone’s coolly received debut LP, “A Whole New Thing.” Six decades later, though, “Dance to the Music” still communicates a sense of boundless joy — even as it puts across a flicker of doubt about going so nice-and-smiley. Yowls trumpeter Cynthia Robinson in the song’s bridge: “All the squares, go home!”
‘Everyday People’ (1968)In the pantheon of catchphrases sprung from pop songs, few loom larger than “Different strokes for different folks,” a perfectly casual bit of come-together sociology from the first of the Family Stone’s three Hot 100-topping singles. Also worthy of canonization: Larry Graham’s thrumming one-note bass line. Twenty-four years later, Arrested Development put “Everyday People’s” groove back on the charts in its “People Everyday.”
‘Sing a Simple Song’ (1968)Funk as pure — and as low-down — as funk gets.
‘Stand!’ (1969)It’s impossible to say too much about Stone’s rhythmic innovations. But the title track from his 1969 LP — a platinum-seller enshrined in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry — is perhaps his most impressive harmonic achievement, with a key change in the verse that lends a touch of melancholy to the song’s message of protest.
‘I Want to Take You Higher’ (1969)Issued as the B-side of the “Stand!” single, this bluesy psych-rock barnburner went on to become the high point of the Family Stone’s set at Woodstock: a pummeling barrage of brass and wah-wah delivered at around 4 in the morning.
‘Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)’ (1969)Stone’s second No. 1 boasts two indelible riffs likely familiar even to listeners born a decade or two after “Thank You” came out: In 1989, Janet Jackson sampled the song’s pulsating guitar lick for “Rhythm Nation”; in 1995, Brandy borrowed Graham’s pioneering slap-bass part for “Sittin’ Up in My Room.”
‘Everybody Is a Star’ (1969)True to its title, this shimmering midtempo number features strong lead-vocal turns by Stone, Graham and his siblings Rose and Freddie. (That said, Rose Stone all but steals the show.)
‘Family Affair’ (1971)
Stone’s 1971 album “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” is widely regarded as a turn toward a darker style shaped by the musician’s drug use and his political disillusionment. And certainly the dry croak of his singing voice in the LP’s lead single suggests he’d enjoyed healthier times. Yet the musical invention at play in “Family Affair,” which spent three weeks atop the Hot 100 — and helped drive “Riot” to Stone’s only No. 1 showing on Billboard’s album chart — makes clear that he hadn’t lost his creative drive: It’s a startling piece of experimental R&B with Billy Preston on organ, Bobby Womack on guitar and a primitive drum machine coughing up a mutant funk beat. Beautiful if foreboding.
‘If You Want Me to Stay’ (1973)With Stevie Wonder having supplanted him as soul music’s premier visionary, Stone was flailing by the mid-1970s, and not unself-consciously: It’s easy to interpret his final Top 20 pop hit as a warning to the record industry that he’s prepared to take his ball and go home. (“You can’t take me for granted and smile / Count the days I’m gone / Forget reaching me by phone / Because I promise I’ll be gone for a while.”) Funny — or is it? — how free he sounds.
‘Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)’ (1973)A churchy rendition of Doris Day’s signature song by a man who truly knew too much.
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