“There’s A Riot Goin’ On” by Sly and The Family Stone - album review

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TJR says

“What’s going on?” asked Marvin. “There’s a riot going on” replied Sly. Slow and low, these stark and dark urban grooves reflected political assassinations, police brutality, the decline of the civil rights movement and social disillusionment. The main man was going through a period of personal turmoil, under pressure from record execs, his own group and his black brotherhood to deliver and to represent. It was enough to drive the man to hard drugs – but he finally emerged with a solid follow-up to 1969s “Stand!”, with a sound which had quite clearly moved on from there. According to the other Family Stone members, most of the album was performed by him alone, overdubbing and sometimes with the use of a drum machine. For the album’s major piece, “Family Affair”, and some other selections, Stone enlisted several other musicians including Billy Preston, Ike Turner, and Bobby Womack instead of his bandmates. Family Affair? Oh, the irony. In his contemporary review for Rolling Stone magazine, music journalist Vince Aletti got it right away, describing this work as “the new urban music… not about dancing to the music, in the streets. It's about disintegration, getting fucked up, nodding, maybe dying. There are flashes of euphoria, ironic laughter, even some bright stretches but mostly it's just junkie death, oddly unoppressive and almost attractive in its effortlessness”. I'm into this head-nodding, look-tough thing…

The Jukebox Rebel
26–Jan–2016

Tracklist
A1 [04:01] 7.0.png Sly and The Family Stone - Luv n’ Haight (Sylvester Stewart) Disco / Funk
A2 [05:12] 6.5.png Sly and The Family Stone - Just Like A Baby (Sylvester Stewart) Blues Rock / Soul Rock
A3 [03:01] 6.7.png Sly and The Family Stone - Poet (Sylvester Stewart) Disco / Funk
A4 [03:06] 7.5.png Sly and The Family Stone - Family Affair (Sylvester Stewart) Disco / Funk
A5 [08:45] 7.0.png Sly and The Family Stone - Africa Talks To You ’The Asphalt Jungle’ (Sylvester Stewart) Disco / Funk
A6 [00:04] 0.0.png Sly and The Family Stone - There’s A Riot Goin’ On (Sylvester Stewart) n-a
B1 [03:28] 5.5.png Sly and The Family Stone - Brave & Strong (Sylvester Stewart) Disco / Funk
B2 [02:53] 5.1.png Sly and The Family Stone - (You Caught Me) Smilin’ (Sylvester Stewart) R n B
B3 [03:03] 5.8.png Sly and The Family Stone - Time (Sylvester Stewart) Soul Ballad
B4 [03:57] 6.8.png Sly and The Family Stone - Spaced Cowboy (Sylvester Stewart) Disco / Funk
B5 [02:51] 4.9.png Sly and The Family Stone - Runnin’ Away (Sylvester Stewart) Disco / Funk
B6 [07:14] 6.4.png Sly and The Family Stone - Thank You For Talkin’ To Me Africa (Sylvester Stewart) Disco / Funk

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