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Avg: 4.5 (136 ratings)
- Date Released: April 24, 2007
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Pop
- Label: Epic/Legacy
- Copyright: Originally released 1969. All rights reserved by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Everything good about funk and psychedelic rock at the same time
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We Say...
In May 1969, when Sly and the Family Stone's fourth album was released, pop music desperately needed a convincing message of unity, and a mixed-gender, mixed-race, mixed-genre band of freaks from San Francisco was perfectly placed to deliver it. Stand! was a brilliant piece of politics: it didn't try to gloss over the racial tensions of its moment, it just acknowledged them and tried to move past them.
The title song universalizes a word with civil rights and gospel overtones; most of "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" is cross-talking voices distorted to the point where they've abandoned words for pure tone; "Everyday People" reels off difference-based distastes to a nanny-nanny-boo-boo melody to underscore how dumb they are.
More enduringly, though, the album is a brilliant piece of music. The band's trick of alternating singers, line by line, to give the effect of a crowd spontaneously bursting into song is still galvanizing. "I Want To Take You Higher," a single-chord pulse with uncountable whirling chants and solos and ululations layered on top of it, is everything good about funk and psychedelic rock at the same time.
Within a year or so later, Sly Stone and his mortal shell Sylvester Stewart would start to confront their demons more directly, but the message of Stand! is joy and hope, and forty years later, it's still radiant. -
They Say...
Stand! is the pinnacle of Sly & the Family Stone's early work, a record that represents a culmination of the group's musical vision and accomplishment. Life hinted at this record's boundless enthusiasm and blurred stylistic boundaries, yet everything simply gels here, resulting in no separation between the astounding funk, effervescent irresistible melodies, wildly psychedelicized guitars, and deep rhythms that were tight, yet expansive, popping in knotty cadences while never coming close to losing the groove. Add to this a sharpened sense of pop songcraft (that was developing into a sophisticated art form by this time), elastic and instinctual band interplay, and a flowering of Sly's political consciousness that didn't need to be hidden by calls for dancing and other social forms, and the result is utterly stunning. Yes, the jams ("Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey," "Sex Machine") wind up meandering ever so slightly, but they're surrounded by utter brilliance, from the rousing call to arms of "Stand!" to the unification anthem "Everyday People" to the unstoppable "I Want to Take You Higher." All of it sounds like the Family Stone, thanks not just to the communal lead vocals but to the brilliant interplay of instruments, voices, and rhythms assembled so tightly. Each track is distinct, emphasizing a different side of the band's musical personality. As a result, Stand! winds up as a creation that is infectious and informative, invigorating and thought-provoking -- stimulating in every sense of the word. Few records of its time touched it, and Sly topped it only by offering its opposite the next time out. [Legacy's gorgeously remastered reissue of the album includes five bonus cuts. There are mono single versions of the title track and "I Want to Take You Higher," as well as a beautiful unissued single version of "You Can Make It If You Try," a freaky instrumental called "My Brain (Zig-Zag)," and the unreleased "Soul Clappin' II."]
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| 01. |  |
Stand! |
3:08 |
|
| 02. | |
Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey |
5:58 |
|
| 03. | |
I Want To Take You Higher |
5:22 |
|
| 04. | |
Somebody'S Watching You |
3:20 |
|
| 05. | |
Sing A Simple Song |
3:56 |
|
| 06. | |
Everyday People |
2:22 |
|
| 07. | |
Sex Machine |
13:46 |
|
| 08. | |
You Can Make It If You Try |
3:38 |
|
| 09. | |
Stand! |
3:08 |
|
| 10. | |
I Want To Take You Higher |
3:01 |
|
| 11. | |
You Can Make It If You Try |
3:38 |
|
| 12. | |
Soul Clappin' II |
3:26 |
|
| 13. | |
My Brain (Zig-Zag) |
3:19 |
|
13 Total Tracks, 58:02 Total Length
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Credits
- Larry Graham - Bass // Larry Graham - Vocals // Larry Graham - Author // Larry Graham - Group Member // Steven Berkowitz - A&R // Greg Errico - Drums // Greg Errico - Author // Greg Errico - Group Member // Jerry Goldstein - Executive Producer // Phil Macey - Engineer // Jerry Martini - Saxophone // Jerry Martini - Vocals // Jerry Martini - Author // Jerry Martini - Group Member // Brian Ross-Myring - Engineer // Don Puluse - Engineer // Cynthia Robinson - Trumpet // Cynthia Robinson - Author // Cynthia Robinson - Group Member // Freddie Stone - Guitar // Freddie Stone - Vocals // Freddie Stone - Author // Freddie Stone - Group Member // Rose Stone - Keyboards // Rose Stone - Vocals // Rose Stone - Author // Rose Stone - Group Member // Bob Irwin - Reissue Producer // Vic Anesini - Mastering // Fred Lombardi - Photography // Jim Cummins - Photography // Rob Carter - Art Direction // Rob Carter - Design // Glenn Stone - Executive Producer // Barney Hoskyns - Liner Notes // Sly & Freddie - Guitar // Sly & Freddie - Arranger // Sly & Freddie - Keyboards // Sly & Freddie - Vocals // Sly & Freddie - Producer // Sly & Freddie - Author // Sly & Freddie - Group Member // Stephen Paley - Photography // Lisa Buckler - Project Director
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