Category Archives: Video

Suburban Legends: Dreams Aren’t Real But These Songs Are

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SuburbanLegends_DreamsAren'tRealBrassy, upbeat and joyous ska covers of classic Disney songs

Suburban Legends is a third-wave ska band (the first wave having been those from Jamaica, the second-wave being the British 2 Tone movement of the late-70s) that formed in Southern California in the late ’90s. Their new EP of classic Disney songs connects with both their earlier covers of “Under the Sea” and “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” and their tenure at the Disneyland resort. It was during the hundreds of concerts performed at Disneyland that the band experimented with dozens of cover songs, adding familiar, crowd-drawing titles to their set, while still maintaining their integrity as an original band. The six titles covered here are drawn from Cinderella (“A Dream is a Wish”), The Little Mermaid (“Kiss the Girl”), Pocahontas (“Colors of the Wind”), Toy Story (“You’ve Got a Friend in Me”), Beauty and the Beast and Duck Tails. The brassy arrangements are bright and fun, bridging the upbeat joy of ska with the craft of Disney’s songwriters. This EP will make a great stocking stuffer for Disney-loving kids or ska/pop-loving parents who can’t take one more spin of the original soundtracks. If you’ve ever stood in a long line for the Nemo submarine ride, and finding your toe tapping realize that the band on the Tomorrowland stage is really tearing it up, connecting with kids, parents and anyone else within earshot, you’ll know the sort of happiness that Suburban Legends brings to this EP. [©2013 Hyperbolium]

Suburban Legends’ Home Page

Greg Trooper: Incident on Willow Street

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GregTrooper_IncidentOnWillowStreetExtraordinary country, rock, folk and soul

If you didn’t know better, but you knew enough to have heard both Greg Trooper and Bob Delevante, you might swear they are brothers from different mothers. Their voices can sound so similar as to really complicate the actual brotherhood of Bob and Mike Delevante (a/k/a The Delevantes). Both Trooper and Delevante trade in country-rock, and each brings twang to the roots rock of their shared native New Jersey. Trooper adds a helping of folk and soul to the equation, giving him a range that encompasses the roots rock of Willie Nile, the heart of Arthur Alexander, Willy DeVille and the Hacienda Brothers, the emotional perception of Richard Thompson, and the character-driven stories of Nashville.

The opening “All the Way to Amsterdam” is a perfect example of Trooper’s songwriting talent, juxtaposing a drunken father with a child’s dream of escape. The song’s heart-rending hope is renewed in the quiet of night and dashed in the light of morning; but that same light illuminates the hope fostered by the ice of Amsterdam’s canals. The melody draws its own tears, but it’s the tone of Trooper’s voice (an instrument Steve Earle has said he covets), both concerned and stalwart, that gives the song its emotional punch. The country-soul of “Everything’s a Miracle” offers up a perfect combination of steel (Larry Campbell), organ (Oli Rockberger) and soulful guitar (Larry Campbell again!) to back a vocal whose heartbroken misery stems from an inability to accept happiness.

The album moves effortlessly between country, country-rock, country-soul and folk, with the richness of Trooper’s voice pairing easily with Lucy Wainwright Roche’s backing vocal on the acoustic “The Land of No Forgiveness.” Trooper’s songs aren’t as squalid as the album’s pulp cover art might suggest, nor is there a deep streak of noir’s irredeemable fatalism in his stories. Instead, he writes of troubled people, peels away at the layers of their problems and studies whether their obstacles are external or self-imposed. Some of his protagonists blame the world for their own shortcomings, but others internalize outside turmoil as if it were of their own making.

There’s salvation in the album’s gospel notes, but redemption is hard-earned rather than given. The self-loathing protagonist of “This Shitty Deal” need not apply, while the kindred spirits of “The Girl in the Blue” may just salve each other’s loneliness. It’s something of a mystery how an artist of Trooper’s artistic depth and peer respect (he’s had songs recorded by Billy Bragg and Vince Gill, and albums produced by Garry Tallent, Buddy Miller and Dan Penn), has built such a solid catalog (this is his twelfth album in a quarter century) in such relative quiet. With Stewart Lerman returning to the producer’s seat (he first worked with Trooper on 1992’s Everywhere), the results are a reward for the faithful and a treat for the uninitiated. [©2013 Hyperbolium]

Greg Trooper’s Home Page

Preview: Art Decade “No One’s Waiting”

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Art Decade, a Boston quartet fronted by singer-songwriter and orchestrator Ben Talmi, will release their second full length in September October January 2014. Think of ELO’s orchestral rock brought to  modern pop by Keane or Blind Pilot, with production by Sufjan Stevens and the Explorer’s Club, and a hint of Elliot Smith’s vocal tone. Check out the pre-release “No One’s Waiting” below, and check back for a full album review in January.

Art Decade’s Facebook Page

Various Artists: Country & Western Hit Parade 1966

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Various_CountryAndWesternHitParade1966The 1966 country jukebox of your dreams

The passing of decades often elides the full range of music that spun on jukeboxes and the radio. The commercial necessities of CD (and now MP3) reissue and oldies broadcasting further reinforce this narrow view with hit anthologies and playlists stocked primarily with superstars. What quickly recedes from earshot are the lesser hits and journeyman artists that made up the full context of the times. Faintly remembered are artists like Nat Stuckey, who regularly visited the Top 40 for more than a decade, but only cracked the top-ten a few times, and indelible acts like The Browns are usually recognized for their sole chart-topper, “The Three Bells,” rather than their other half-dozen Top 10s. Even country music’s superstars, such as Faron Young, Eddy Arnold and Ray Price, had so many hits that the bulk of their work is overshadowed by a few well-anthologized icons.

But the true soundtrack of a year’s music is a mix of hits, album tracks, superstars, journeymen, one-hit wonders, chart-toppers, regional breakouts and singles that barely grazed the Top 40. It’s this tapestry that gives a year, an era or a genre its full flavor. Bear Family’s twenty-six volume series Country & Western Hit Parade covers the years 1945 through 1970, one year per disc, interweaving chart classics with a wealth of lesser-anthologized, but equally influential releases. Each disc recreates the sound of its year by placing oft-repeated hits in the company of their lesser-known chartmates, providing context to the former and returning status to the latter.

The mid-60s were a transitional time for country music, with the Los Angeles-based Country & WesternMusicAcademy (later rebranded the ACM) exerting a West Coast pull with the introduction of their all-country awards show. In addition to Nashville’s cross-over pop, torch ballads, 4/4 Ray Price beats and a sprinkle of throwback honky-tonk, 1966 found Bakersfield in full flight, with Buck Owens in the middle of releasing fourteen-straight chart toppers and Merle Haggard starting a series of sixty-one Top 10s, including his first #1, “The Fugitive.” Billboard’s expanded country chart and a refined method of measuring radio play led to faster chart turnover, an increased number of charting titles, and greater opportunity for new acts to break through. Jeannie Seely had her first (and biggest) hit with “Don’t Touch Me,” Mel Tillis broke through with “Stateside,” and Tammy Wynette scored with her first single, “Apartment #9.”

At the same time, veteran acts were winding down or changing direction. The Browns’ “I’d Just Be Fool Enough” was their next-to-last Top 20, and Eddy Arnold fully committed himself to middle-of-the-road pop with “I Want to Go With You.” The latter, though written by Hank Cochran, has a chorus and strings that overwhelm the hint of country in Floyd Cramer’s slip-note piano. Waylon Jennings’ “Anita You’re Dreaming” still bore Chet Atkins’ countrypolitan touches (including a marimba played by Ray Stevens), and though it would be another half-decade until he fully broke free of Nashville’s control, the seeds were being planted. Loretta Lynn found her feisty, personal songwriting voice  with “You Ain’t Woman Enough” and her first chart topper, “Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind).”

In addition to charting entries, this volume includes Johnny Paycheck’s outré album track “(Pardon Me) I’ve Got Someone to Kill,” Dallas Frazier’s original non-charting single of “Elvira,” and the original demo of “Distant Drums” that (with the appropriate Nashville dubbing) became a posthumous chart topper for Jim Reeves. The list of artists is complemented by a who’s who Nashville and West Coast A-list session players and country songwriters that include Cindy Walker, Tompall Glaser, Harlan Howard, Hank Cochran, Bill Anderson, Loretta Lynn, Roger Miller, Merle Haggard, Mickey Newbury, Dallas Frazer, Mel Tillis, Jack Clement, Johnny Paycheck, Liz Anderson and Waylon Jennings. Bear Family’s exquisitely selected 31-tracks (clocking in at 83 minutes) are amplified by the label’s attention to detail in sound (original stereo except for 9, 12, 17, 22, 28 and 32), documentation and packaging. Each disc is housed in a hardbound book with 71 pages of liners, color photos and song notes. The set’s only disappointment is the unnecessarily difficult cardboard sleeve in which the disc is housed; deal with it once and keep the disc in a separate case. [©2013 Hyperbolium]

Going Underground

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DVD_GoingUndergroundIlluminting Paul McCartney’s avant-garde credentials

John Lennon may have ended up with the larger avant-garde cred, but this fascinating 153-minute documentary suggests it was Paul McCartney who first dug into the underground. Combining period footage (including clips of the Beatles, Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac, Pink Floyd and Soft Machine) and contemporary interviews with a number of ’60s scene-makers, the film demonstrates McCartney’s early interest and sponsorship of counterculture art and social activities, and the role he served in bridging the avant-garde into the mainstream. Beatles fans will recognize key moments in the group’s career, but may not know the roots of the invention and synthesis that brought “Tomorrow Never Knows” and other icons to fruition. Even lesser known is the role McCartney played in supporting key counterculture activities, such as Indica Books and Gallery, the Long Hair Times (and its successor the International Times), and the legendary Million Volt Light and Sound Rave.

The story begins with the late-50s emergence of youth culture in the UK, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the expressive freedom and bohemian romance of the Beats, the cutting edge jazz of the 1960s, and the growing influence of art school on music. The program gets to the Beatles at the thirty-minute mark, when John Lennon and George Harrison dip their toe in the underground at a birthday party for Allen Ginsburg. Lennon was then living in the suburbs with his first wife and child, and didn’t find an immediate resonance with the underground. McCartney, on the other hand, was a bachelor, living in London and being introduced to the works of John Cage by the family of Jane Asher, to Karlheinz Stockhausen and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop by George Martin, and to avant-garde books and art through his association with Indica.

McCartney’s intellectual pursuits, and his experiments in a home studio (something that would continue into his post-Beatles solo career) were absorbed by the Beatles, but reiterated to the market in pop song format. The reframing of avant-garde ideas, coupled with the Beatles unprecedented renown, made it seem as if these concepts were drawn from thin air. But as this film documents, there are many antecedents from which McCartney and the Beatles drew, brilliantly recontextualized and then released into the commercial mainstream. This might seem opportunistic, had the Beatles not completed the loop by feeding back into the underground. By the end of 1966 the Beatles had abandoned touring, Lennon had met Yoko Ono (at a private showing of her work at Indica), and McCartney provided the impetus for both TNK and the “Carnival of Light” sound collage.

The Beatles continued to slip avant-garde elements into their music, but 1967 turned out to be a year of changes. McCartney’s media appearances gave a more explicit view of his involvement with the underground, but by year’s end, with the death of Brian Epstein, he’d given himself over to running the group’s business. Lennon, on the other hand, had become much more deeply enmeshed with the avant-garde, and expanded its role on Beatles records with Revolution 9. Post-Beatles, Lennon strengthened his ties to political elements of the underground, but the avant-garde influences faded from his solo music. McCartney doubled-down on the mainstream with Wings, but continued to experiment in his solo outings.

McCartney’s role as a bridge between the underground and the commercial mainstream provides the central thesis, but the film’s subtitle is a bit misleading, as McCartney himself does not occupy the majority of the program’s screen time (there are, for example, major segments on Pink Floyd and Soft Machine).  The bulk of the continuity is provided by a mix of the era’s scene makers and contemporary musicologists, providing background information that is essential to understanding the avant-garde milieu in which the Beatles developed. No doubt many Beatles fans have already absorbed some or all of this material, but to those who only know the group through their records and publicity, the context for their musical experimentation will be eye opening. [©2013 Hyperbolium]

Rick Shea: Sweet Bernardine

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RickShea_SweetBernardineSemi-autobiographical singer-songwriter country-folk and blues

It’s been four years since this Southern California roots musician released Shelter Valley Blues, and he’s evidently spent the time touring and developing original material for this new album. Titled after Shea’s childhood hometown of San Bernardino, the album spends time with both family and local lights, sketching a biography that recounts experience, history and legend. Shea’s first-person narratives are sung in present tense, but filled with the considered detail and romanticism of retrospection. His images of an East L.A. musician’s lodging provide a noirish setting for “Mariachi Hotel,” and the true headlines of “Gregory DeFord” are turned into an elegy that’s as much for all those crushed by the recession as for the title character. The album includes low blues, folk and honky-tonk, all sung in an unassuming delivery that leaves the lyrics to do the work. The backings generally stick to acoustic textures, but the title track does bust out a compelling electric guitar solo. Shea’s storytelling shows Merle Haggard as a primary influence, but it’s clear that he’s also connected with contemporaries like Dave Alvin, whose King of California pairs very nicely with this new album. [©2013 Hyperbolium]

Rick Shea’s Home Page

The Paley Brothers: The Complete Collection

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PaleyBrothers_TheCompleteRecordingsA revised retelling of should-have-been power pop stars

The Paley Brothers – Andy and Jonathan – had the experience, original material and connections to make a much bigger splash than managed in the mid-to-late-70s. Having threaded individually through the Boston rock and New York punk/new wave scenes, their work as a duo charmed power-pop aficionados, but had little commercial impact. Their records with Seymour Stein, Jimmy Iovine, Earle Mankey, Phil Spector and the Ramones failed to ignite widespread notice, and their primary catalog – a four song EP and an album on Sire – has been unevenly reissued since its 1978 release. Surprisingly, this first-ever twenty-six track anthology, curated by the brothers themselves, tells a slightly different story than the original releases; but its alternate takes and mixes may offer some clues to the original lack of commercial rewards.

The collection’s lack of fidelity to the brothers’ original releases is both a blessing and a curse. The eleven previously unreleased tracks offered here, including two from a live date with Shaun Cassidy at Madison Square Garden, flesh out a fuller picture of the Paleys’ time as recording artists, and the alternate takes and mixes provide an aural view that went unheard at the time. But the alternates don’t always best the originals, and the lack of clear attribution creates a shadow of revisionism. The Paley’s may prefer these versions, and there is great merit in letting them out of the vaults, but replacing dear artifacts without so much as a note (the credits source the EP and album without any indication that some tracks are different recordings, and most are different mixes) is a disservice to those seeking clean digital copies of the originals, as well as to those who’d be enticed by the alternates.

With the album having been reissued in 2009, what’s still missing from the digital domain are the previously released versions of the duo’s 1978 Ecstasy EP. What’s here are mono mixes of “Ecstasy,” “Rendezvous,” “Hide ‘n’ Seek” and “Come Out and Play” that, while often more crisp than the vinyl release, are not always better. The alternate take of “Rendezvous,” in particular, hasn’t the Spector-inspired grandeur of the previously released version, and “Come Out and Play” is offered here at the edited length that appeared on the album. To be sure, the alternates are a gift to the Paleys’ fans, but offering them in lieu of the originals renders this “complete” collection incomplete, and leaves fans to find and transcribe original vinyl.

That said, the newly released material here is terrific. Opening the set are two previously unreleased originals from 1979, the bouncy Beach Boys-styled “Here She Comes” and the love-poor (but vocal-rich) “Meet the Invisible Man.” The latter, produced by Andy Paley, features a driving guitar line, brilliant harmonies and a coda that brings to mind the Beatles’ Revolver. Also from 1979 is “Boomerang,” with Brian Wilson adding his vocal to the background, the rock rave-ups “She’s Eighteen Tonight” and “Spring Fever,” the rare Paley Brothers ballad, “Sapphire Eyes,” the blink-and-you-missed it surf-styled “Jacques Cousteau” (though not the single’s B-side “Sink or Swim“),  and a faithfully sweet cover of the theme song to the supermarionation show, Fireball XL5.

In 1978 the Paleys had opened for Shaun Cassidy (who, in addition to fine bubblegum, waxed Wasp with Todd Rundgren), and two covers from their August stop at Madison Square Garden show how easily the brothers added Everlys-styled harmonies to Bobby & His Orbits’ Zydeco-tinged 1958 rocker “Felicia” and Tommy Roe’s 1966 smash “Sheila.” The remaining rarities are a cover of Richie Valens’ “Come on Let’s Go” and the Phil Spector-produced “Baby, Let’s Stick Together.” The former was recorded in 1977 with the Ramones while Joey Ramone was laid up in the hospital, and may be the Paley’s most broadly known single, as it was included on the soundtrack to Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. The latter was waxed at the temple of the Wall of Sound, Gold Star, with the Wrecking Crew kicking up the beat from Spector’s previous production of this title with Dion.

The Paley’s have stated that this is not an album reissue, which is fine, but without proper annotation, the changes elide rather than augment. Sorting out what’s actually here (and more importantly, what’s not) is basically impossible. To their credit, the mostly mono mixes of the album tracks improve upon the dated, booming production and vocal processing of the original album vinyl. The 16-page booklet includes liner notes by Gene Sculatti, terrific memories from Sire Records chief, Seymour Stein, and rare photographs that provide visual context for the Paleys’ place in the musical milieu of the 1970s. This is a must-have for Paleys fans, and a good, if not historically complete introduction for those who missed them the first time around. [©2013 Hyperbolium]

Sly & The Family Stone: Higher!

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SlyAndTheFamilyStone_HigherCareer-spanning box with mono singles, rarities and unreleased tracks

Sly and the Family Stone’s catalog has never been difficult to find. In addition to dozens of compilations (one of which, 1970’s Greatest Hits, was their first album to top the charts), the band’s original albums have been remastered and reissued with expanded track listings. The remastered albums have themselves also been anthologized as The Collection. But there’s more to Sylvester Stewart than the Family Stone and there’s more to the Family Stone’s catalog than the albums. Pulling together pre-Family obscurities, hit singles (many in their punchy mono single mixes), album cuts, live performances and previously unissued material creates an arc of musical discovery that paints a wholly (or holy) different picture than hearing the material in separate installments.

This box set opens with five sides Stewart (not yet Stone) recorded for San Francisco’s Autumn label in 1964 and 1965. Stewart served as a staff producer for Autumn, helming sessions for the Beau Brummels, Mojo Men, Great Society and others (see Precious Stone, Listen to the Voices, The Autumn Records Story and Dance With Me for more of his production work), and his first sides riff on the hit single, “C’mon and Swim,” he’d written and produced for Bobby Freeman. The B-side, “Scat Swim,” cut a deeper groove than the plug side, and his next single, “Buttermilk (Part 1),” was a catchy blue-soul instrumental, with Stewart playing all the instruments, including organ and harmonica leads. The unreleased “Dance All Night” and his last single for Autumn, “Temptation Walk,” show how early (and easily) Stewart began mixing pop, soul, blues, R&B and jazz into his original stew.

After leaving Autumn, Stewart quickly assembled what was to become Sly and the Family Stone, and waxed the 1967 demos that would land them a contract with Epic. In the wake of the group’s later success, two of the tracks, the original “I Ain’t Got Nobody (For Real)” and a cover of Otis Redding’s “I Can’t Turn You Lose,” were released on the Loadstone label. The former is powered by Larry Graham’s insistent bass line and topped by the Family Stone’s trademark trumpet-sax combination of Cynthia Robinson and Jerry Martini. The group began recording for Epic (at the same Golden State Recorders at which Stewart had produced for Autumn Records) in mid-1967, and the fruits of these initial sessions fill out disc one, starting with their first A-side, “Underdog,” and its two B-sides, “Higher” (from early promo singles) and “Bad Risk.”

Despite a fresh sound that crackled with the energy of its multiple roots, neither the single nor the album A Whole New Thing made a commercial impression at the time; it wasn’t until “Dance to the Music” was recorded in September that the Family Stone had their first hit in the can. Launched in January 1968, “Dance to the Music” quickly established the group’s revolutionary combination of pop, rock, soul, funk and gospel, and shifted the course of pop music. Other acts quickly latched onto elements of the sound, but none could match Stewart’s output as a songwriter or the band’s approach as a unit. The group was sufficiently prolific as to leave fully-finished masters in the vault, including the four that end disc one. Here you’ll find the band trying out previously unheard original songs, experimental vocal arrangements, and repurposed lyrics and melodies.

The July-August 1967 session tracks continue on disc two, showing the wealth of great material produced before the band finally hit with “Dance to the Music.” Two of session tracks (“What Would I Do” and “Only One Way Out of This Mess”) were previously issued on the expanded edition of A Whole New Thing, but three more are included here for the first time: an inventive cover of the pop-folk song “What’s it Got to Do With Me,” an early take on the autobiographical “Future and Fame” and the Freddie Stone-sung deep soul ballad “I Know What You Came to Say.” All five session tracks are as good as the material that made the original album, but the lack of early commercial success doomed this extra material to a long stay in the vault.

The band’s commercial breakthrough is finally heard six tracks into disc two, with the ecstatic three-minute mono single mix of “Dance to the Music.” The song is, quite literally, a brilliantly catchy tutorial on the sound being created before the listener’s very ears. As memorable as are the mono singles, stereo album sides like “Ride the Rhythm” more expansively show off the band’s inventive arrangements and tight musicianship as they explode across the soundstage. Disc two finishes out with album tracks from Dance to the Music, the previously unreleased “We Love All,” the obscure mostly-instrumental French-language single “Danse a la Musique” (and it’s even stranger Chipmunk-voiced B-side, “Small Fries”), the unreleased B-side “Chicken,” and exuberant sides from Life, including mono single masters for “Life” (with a different lead vocal track than the album cut) and “M’Lady.”

Disc three opens with the band’s second smash single, the #1 “Everyday People” and its charting flipside, “Sing a Simple Song.” These tracks, along with “Stand!” (offered here in a live recording) and “I Want to Take You Higher,” powered the commercial success of the band’s third album. As with their debut, the band recorded a lot more material during the album sessions than they could issue, and disc three includes another helping of previously unreleased bonuses, including unused instrumental backings. The group became a hot live act, essayed here with performances from the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, and scored in 1969 as singles artists with “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” “Everybody is a Star” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” all heard here as mono singles.

The final disc open with the band’s next album, There’s a Riot Goin’ On, including album tracks and all three of its singles. Ironically, though the album yielded the hit “Family Affair,” it was recorded in large part by Stone alone, with overdubs by Family members and other hired-hands (including keyboard player Billy Preston). The album hasn’t the organic sound or joyous mood of the band’s earlier material, and the sonics of 1971 overdubbing and the use of a drum machine on several tracks subdues the group’s underlying funk. By 1973 the group’s membership was beginning to change, including new drummers, a replacement for the departed Larry Graham, and the addition of a third horn player. The group’s singles (including “If You Want Me to Stay” and “Time for Livin'”) continued to chart in the Top 40, as did their final two albums Fresh and Small Talk.

By 1975 Sly had disbanded the Family Stone and begun to record as a solo artist backed by hired musicians. His album High on You, expands beyond the musical boundaries of the Family Stone, adding steel guitar and other touches that hadn’t been heard on the band’s releases. Disc four closes out with selections from Stone’s solo work, from the then-newly formulated Family Stone’s Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I’m Back, and a pair of previously unreleased tracks, “Hoboken” and “High.” The box set lingers a bit more over the first-half of the group’s career, rushing through the latter half in a single disc, but that’s in balance with the band’s rise to fame, the peaking of their invention, and the view most listeners will have of their career.

This is a well thought out anthology, touching on Stewart’s pre-Family solo work, the Family’s rise to fame, their chart domination and fire as a live act, their eventual end and Sly Stone’s return to solo work. Along the way there are iconic hit singles, B-sides and album tracks, seventeen previously unreleased tracks and a large helping of original mono single mixes. The only real omission from this set are the studio versions of “Stand” and “I Want to Take You Higher!,” each of which are included among the live tracks. The mono mixes will be greatly appreciated by fans who have already completed their collection of the expanded stereo album reissues. For those without any of the group’s catalog on-hand, your surround sound-trained ears may find the stereo hits more immediately satisfying; check out the album reissues, or the anthologies Greatest Hits or Essential.

In addition to the mono mixes and unreleased tracks, the set’s 104-page book is its own star. The book includes finely written liner notes, an informative timeline, rare photographs, reproductions of labels, sleeves and posters, and revelatory track-by-track comments from the Greg Errico, Larry Graham,  Jerry Martini, Cynthia Robinson, Sly Stone and many others. In addition to the standard 4-CD set, there are several variations: an Amazon exclusive that adds a fifth disc (and parallel MP3 downloads), a vinyl LP edition (with its own Amazon exclusive variation) and a single disc highlights. [©2013 Hyperbolium]

Sly Stone’s Home Page