Early and Wild Sly Cover of Otis!

This track can be found in “Singles Mixer Vol. 1”

I’m not sure I need to give much biographical information about Sly and The Family Stone.  You all have probably heard the story 50 times over (most likely because it’s a good story about a better than good band.) but I’ll give a brief once over then go out and do a little reading because there’s plenty out there both in print and on yr glowing internet monitors.

Sly, hailing from the American Southwest, landed in San Francisco preceding the massive upheaval of hippie-dom and having already worked in (mixed race) music groups began to distinguish himself as a producer and disc jockey for having an unusually broad palette (which at that time meant not just playing ‘white music’ or just playing ‘black music’) which he continued to draw on as he began to put together The Family Stone.

The record posted here is a byproduct of their early moments together but you can see the pastiche approach in full effect and in this case even more so because they’re taking apart the classic Otis Redding track ‘I Can’t Turn You Loose’ giving it an afro, putting on a leather vest, tye-dying it in their very distinct Family Stone way.  Sly’s vocal group background, the heavy funk/rock drumming of Errico and the funk of Larry Graham are all propelled by the frantic horn of Cynthia Robinson.

Interestingly, though having been recorded in 1967, the same year they released their debut album ‘A Whole New Thing’ this was not released until 1972 on Sly’s own Loadstone label.  Double interesting, check ‘Turn Me Loose’ from that album and try and tell me that track has no similarity (beyond just the title).  A clear appropriation of parts of this cover is mostly irrelevant because one of the beautiful things about Sly was his ability to see many influences and inspirations at once (not just in a drug induced kind of way) and come out with a very singular product that was definitely his and not just a watered down imitation of the things he came in contact with or were in vogue at the moment.

Sorry for the condition of the label but the music is in tact and quite a listen!  Thanks to the ever sage Josh Burkett at Mystery Train Records for hipping me to this record.