Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

060: Sly and the Family Stone - Fresh (1973)

“When I first heard of Sly & the Family Stone, I got a little pissed off ... He [David Kapralik] said, ‘I have this new guy, Sly ... you know, he's kinda like your group.’ Then he took me back there and played the records, and I'll tell you what I said ... ‘this is the baddest sucker I've ever heard in my life.’”

George Clinton, inducting Sly & the Family Stone into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Sly & the Family Stone was in many ways the quintessential American band (and John’s pick as the greatest American band), a rags-to-riches-to-rags story of a San Francisco group that rose from obscurity to worldwide popularity and acclaim, only to implode from intraband conflicts and the excesses of fame. The 1973 album Fresh captures the band right before collapse, after it had survived a transformation from an optimistic 60s psychedelic soul act to a top-notch 70s cocaine funk act, and it’s both an excellent album in its own right and a fascinating prism through which to examine the band’s career as a whole. Join John (host), Rich (moderator), Phil, and Ben as they examine an album adored by George Clinton, Miles Davis, and Brian Eno alike, and an album that even makes "Qué Será, Será" sound cool.

Miscellany

  • In the interest of precision, John’s ranking of Sly & the Family Stone as his favorite American band specifically excludes solo artists (i.e. Bob Dylan doesn’t count in this assessment).

  • One of the trickiest aspects of Sly & the Family Stone’s career to navigate in any serious discussion of the band is Sly Stone’s drug addiction, which is a critical element in understanding the band’s development and eventual collapse but is also one of the saddest tragedies in the history of American popular music. We did our best to find a balance between acknowledging that some of the stories relating to his addiction and effect on the band are perversely amusing, on the one hand, and not veering into disrespect for how his condition negatively affected his life and relationships, on the other. If we didn’t strike the right balance, then we apologize.

  • The story mentioned in the episode regarding Larry Graham’s departure, specifically how it related to a fight that his entourage and Sly Stone’s entourage got into over a rumor related to a hitman, sounds on the surface like the sort of thing somebody would invent in a Wikipedia article just to mess with people, but it actually comes from an oral history provided to Joel Selvin of SFGate back in 1998. A link to the story has been provided below and is well worth reading. 

Other links

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • John McFerrin (host)

  • Rich Bunnell (moderator)

  • Phil Maddox

  • Benjamin Marlin

Fresh tracklist

  1. In Time

  2. If You Want Me To Stay

  3. Let Me Have it All

  4. Frisky

  5. Thankful N’ Thoughtful

  6. Skin I’m In

  7. I Don’t Know (Satisfaction)

  8. Keep on Dancin’

  9. Qué Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)

  10. If It Were Left Up to Me

  11. Babies Makin’ Babies 

Other clips used 

Sly & the Family Stone:

  • Thank You for Talkin’ to Me Africa

  • I Want to Take You Higher

  • Dance to the Music

  • Underdog

  • Dance to the Medley

  • Love City

  • Stand!

  • Everyday People

  • Luv N’ Haight

  • Family Affair

  • Sing a Simple Song

  • Babies Makin’ Babies (Alternate Mix)

  • Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

  • Somebody’s Watching You

  • My Gorilla is My Butler 

Others:

  • Digital Underground - The Humpty Dance

  • De La Soul - Eye Know

  • TLC - What About Your Friends

  • Jungle Brothers - J. Beez Comin’ Through

  • Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Anger in the Nation

  • Dr. Dre - Deep Cover

  • Del the Funky Homosapien - Worldwide

  • KRS-One - Sound of da Police

  • 2Pac - Temptations

  • Alanis Morissette - Thank U

  • Duran Duran - I Wanna Take You Higher

  • Duran Duran - I Wanna Take You Higher Again

  • Miles Davis - Go Ahead John

  • Venetian Snares - 2 Dollars

  • The Red Hot Chili Peppers - If You Want Me To Stay

  • Little Sister - Somebody’s Watching You

  • Prince - The Ballad of Dorothy Parker

  • Eddie Money - Baby Hold On

  • Doris Day - Qué Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)

  • Miles Davis - Black Satin

  • Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information

  • D’Angelo - 1,000 Deaths

Band/album personnel 

  • Sly Stone - vocals, organ, guitar, bass guitar, piano, harmonica, etc

  • Freddie Stone - vocals, guitar

  • Rose Stone - vocals, piano, keyboard

  • Cynthia Robinson - trumpet

  • Jerry Martini - saxophone

  • Pat Rizzo - saxophone

  • Rusty/Rustee Allen - bass guitar on “In Time,” “Let Me Have it All,” “Keep on Dancin’”

  • Larry Graham - bass guitar on “Qué Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” and “If It Were Left Up to Me” (uncredited)

  • Andy Newmark - drums

  • Little Sister (Vet Stone, Mary McCreary, Elva Mouton) - Vocals

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

  • Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

  • Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

  • The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

  • Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

  • Herbie Hancock - Hornets

  • Kraftwerk - Autobahn

  • Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

  • Sly & the Family Stone - In Time 

You can buy or stream Fresh and other albums by Sly and the Family Stone at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.

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