HIGH BIAS -- reissues

High Bias refreshed

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE
The Essential Sly & the Family Stone
(Epic/Legacy)
FISHBONE
The Essential Fishbone
(Columbia/Legacy)
Though rarely acknowledged as such, at least not anymore, Sly & the Family Stone was one of the most important musical ensembles in 20th century music. Producer/songwriter/frontman Sylvester Stewart's San Francisco-based band had become, by the time of its appearance at Woodstock, the culmination of 60s pop music, a groundbreaking, universally appealing, even life-affirming blend of pop, soul, psychedelia, funk and rock, grounded as much in street-hardened reality as in sunshine-fueled optimism. The racially and sexually integrated group put out a series of masterful albums that hold up better than anything from the era, with the possible exception of the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, and even then Sly's work avoids sounding dated; the Stoners' work still sounds fresh 30 years later. Countless bands have attempted the band's bias-free stew of black and white, R&B and pop, the counterculture and the mainstream, but few—so very few—have ever come close. Even Sly Stone himself couldn't better his own work, making a few desultory records in the late 70s and early 80s that sounded like a mediocre Sly cover band, then disappearing into a haze of drugs and obscurity. But most of his records remain in print, and thus Sly's work can continue to influence and inspire new generations.

Sony Legacy began a remastering campaign for Sly in the late 90s, re-releasing the first trio of Family Stone albums A Whole New Thing, Dance to the Music and Life before legal issues ground the program to a halt. But with the release of The Essential Sly & the Family Stone the contractual clouds have apparently lifted. The remastered sound brings out the sparkle and nuance in the 35 songs on the two disks, making Sly's recorded work sound better than ever. Disk one covers most of the hits, from gospel-frenzied stompers like "Dance to the Music," "M'Lady" and "Stand!" to psychedelic soul ravers like "I Want to Take You Higher" and "Everyday People," from the groundbreaking funk classic "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)"—one of a mere handful of songs in recorded history that can stand up to thousands of listens (and may we just reiterate the genius of bassist Larry Graham)—to more sedate fare such as "Everybody is a Star" and "Hot Fun in the Summertime" (the piano line of which Phil Collins, ahem, borrowed for the Genesis hit "Misunderstanding"). A few deeper album cuts—the soul revival shout "Underdog," the proto-Prince nugget "Love City," the sneering wah-wah'ed psychedelia of "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey"—round out this smile-inducing disk.

Disk two is less shiny, though that has little to do with the quality of the work, which is drawn from his 70s albums. In 1971 Sly released the landmark There's a Riot Goin' On, a stunningly moody, darkly cynical exploration of the band's prior themes filtered through a lens of drug abuse and disillusionment. The album has for years been available only in shoddy CD reissues using an alternate cover; Essential helps ease the pain by not only including eight of the record's eleven cuts but by using the original American flag cover as its representation in the liner notes. Distinctively warped funk tunes like "Poet," "Luv N'Haight" and the massive hit "Family Affair" reflect Sly's growing disenchantment with the rhetoric of peace and love, while still maintaining a serious groove. "Runnin' Away," "Just Like a Baby" and "(You Caught Me) Smilin'" sound almost like the easy-listening soul of the 70s, but with a cynical edge that makes them bittersweet. The slowed-down, stoned-out remake of "Thank You"—here called "Thank You For Talkin' to Me, Africa"—is downright spooky. This is where "Back Stabbers" and P-Funk comes from, folks. This work alone is enough to make disk two required listening, but there's more, choice cuts taken from Sly's post-hits output Fresh, Small Talk and High On You. (Songs from Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back, his last album for Epic, are omitted, as are any tunes from his two desultory Warner Bros albums.) Ace pop tunes like "If You Want Me to Stay" and "I Get High On You" and social commentary like "Babies Makin' Babies" and "Skin I'm In" may not quite hit the heights of his earlier work, but are still solid slices of Stoneiana. The Essential Sly & the Family Stone actually lives up to its title. Michael Toland [buy it]

If there is any band that could have been the banner-waver for Sly's populist musical fusion, it should have been Fishbone. OK, the L.A. collective isn't sexually or racially integrated physically, but musically the band takes Sly's winning formula—equal parts rock, funk, soul and pop—and builds on it as only kids growing up in the 80s could have, adding punk, metal and ska to the mix. Like the Family Stone, Fishbone knows how to integrate horns into its music without letting them overpower the arrangements. Also like the Family, the Boners have multiple singers and often use a round-robin approach to the vocals. This kind of complete disregard for musical boundaries was in large part what made Sly Stone great. Add to that a shit-hot stage presence and a very Family Stoned devotion to both social commentary and partying and Fishbone is Sly's natural successor.

Somehow, though, it never happened. Oh, the band had lots of critical and creative successes, of which The Essential Fishbone is crammed to burstin'. From the heavy funk rock of "Fight the Youth" and the band's infamous cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Freddie's Dead" to the rhythm insanity of the ska/funk of "Lyin' Ass Bitch" and "Cholly," from the soulful folk of "Change" to the horny funk of "Bonin' in the Boneyard," from the angry rock & roll of "Sunless Saturday" to the indescribable hybrid that is "Party at Ground Zero," Fishbone frequently shines with the same brilliance and passion as its forebear. Especially notable is "Everyday Sunshine," the band's great hit that wasn't, a virtual tribute to Sly that sounds like a long-lost Family Stone song. For some reason, though, Fishbone's music never caught on with the public in the same grand way as Sly's. By the time the Boners were ready to conquer the world, that world had fragmented into genres and ideologies that discouraged co-mingling; only a cult audience got it. By the time the group had established itself in a position to take over the world, it was rocked by its own internal dissension, including the irreplaceable losses of songwriters Kendall Jones and Chris Dowd; now the Bone releases a mediocre record every once in a while and sustains itself by touring, its moment in the sun long past. But, as with Sly, the band still has great records available for happy consumption; consider The Essential Fishbone your sign pointing the way. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of:
Sly & the Family Stone: early 70s Temptations, Philly soul, Curtis Mayfield
Fishbone: Parliament/Funkadelic, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Prince