Of every instrument that Sly Stone has mastered during his long and colourful career in music, perhaps the most significant is the recording studio. 20 years before the advent of computer-based recording, this maverick was pushing available recording technology to its limit. When he finally tired of the restrictions imposed by official facilities, Sly built his own, to satisfy his creative urge when, where and how he saw fit. It was the ultimate manifestation of the impulse that had transformed Sylvester Stewart of Vallejo, California into Sly Stone, titan of popular music.
Sly drew from gospel, R&B, rock, jazz, pop, folk rock, psychedelia and everything in-between, married them to a positive outlook tinged with humour, and stayed focused on achieving his goals, using the tools he had. In doing this, Sly Stone liberated black music – rhythmically, lyrically, sonically – but he did it all within the context of the song. That is the reason Sly’s music has been covered by the Beach Boys, why Sinatra accorded him respect, why Miles Davis would wait hours in the studio for a chance to watch him at work.
Featured here, we have some of his finest production output with cuts coming from Joe Hicks, Billy Preston and of course Sly and The Family Stone