Small Talk - Sly And The Family Stone

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TRACKS IMAGES LINER NOTES LYRICS CREDITS DISCOGRAPHY SLY WEBSITE

Photo: Jeff Mayer

http://www.slystonemusic.com


1. Small Talk (3:22)(S. Stewart-M. Silva)Master number: FCO 117723Also issued as Epic single 5-11140

2. Say You Will (3:18)(S. Stewart)Master number: FCO 113466

3. Mother Beautiful (1:59)(S. Stewart)Master number: FCO 113463

4. Time For Livin’ (3:17)(S. Stewart)Master number: FCO 113464Also issued as Epic single 5-11140Billboard Pop Chart #32Billboard R&B Chart #10

5. Can’t Strain My Brain(4:08) (S. Stewart)Also issued as Epic single 8-50033

6. Loose Booty (3:45)(S. Stewart)Master number: FCO 113465Also issued as Epic single 8-50033Billboard Pop Chart #84Billboard R&B Chart #22

7. Holdin’ On (3:38)(S. Stewart)

8. Wishful Thinkin’ (4:24)(S. Stewart)

9. Better Thee Than Me(3:34) (S. Stewart)Master number: FCO 113328

10. Livin’ While I’m Livin’(2:57) (S. Stewart)Master number: FCO 117711

11. This Is Love (2:53)(S. Stewart)

Tracks 1-11 originally issued as Epic album PE 32930

BONUS TRACKS:

12. Crossword Puzzle (3:47)(early version)(S. Stewart)Previously unreleased

13. Time For Livin’ (3:59) (alternate version)(S. Stewart)Previously unreleased

14. Loose Booty (2:05) (alternate version)(S. Stewart)Previously unreleased

15. Positive (2:14) (instrumental) (S. Stewart)Previously unreleased

All tracks recorded 1974All tracks stereo

Tracks 1-11 P 1974 Tracks 12-15 P 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT



Photo: GAB Archives/Shooting Star



Photo: Fred Lombardi



Photo: Sony BMG Archives



Photo: Jeff Mayer



Photo: Bob Gruen



Photo: Jeff Mayer



Original album art - Inside gatefold



Original album art - Back cover



ORIGINAL LINER NOTES

BEN EDMONDS LINER NOTES Grinning insanely from beneath a woolen tea cosy of a hat isSly Stone. Outrageous, alarming, courageous and charming unlike anybody else. Wholly unlike, for instance,

poetic, sensitive Sylvester Stewart. Sylvester the delicate poet.Sly, that gum-chewing street punk. But wait, what’s this?Sylvester is going to speak. “Right or wrong, good or bad,Sylvester Stewart and Sly Stone are the same person. Sometimesthey give you two names, your real one and your ‘also-known-as.’But we’re the same people—Sly, Sylvester, and the whole FamilyStone. We’re all one, you got that?”

Yeah, we got it, Sly, but maybe you shouldn’t have told us, for theSly/Sylvester dichotomy is surely one of the greatest publicitystratagems of all time. But, of course, there’s much more to SlyStone’s story than ploys and stratagems and like all the best stories, it begins at the beginning.

Sly was always around music, right from his early childhood.Schooldays were mostly spent trying to get bands together. Whilstin high school, he performed as lead singer with a band calledthe Viscanes, who recorded, and had a local hit with “YellowMoon” around California, which had been Sly’s home since agenine. Out of college, Sly got himself a producer’s job at AutumnRecords, and there directed hit records by such as BobbyFreeman, the Mojo Men, and the excellent Beau Brummels.Equally crucial in shaping the nature of Family Stone music wasSly’s subsequent position as a radio deejay. Born as the Stonersin 1966, Sly’s band reflected changing attitudes of dress and lifestyle just as accurately as did the Airplane, the Dead, Quicksilver,Moby Grape, and that whole roster of crazies. The musical

difference of course, was that Sly was black and had a far richertradition to build upon. Sly’s earlier work definitely represents athoughtful continuation of what had been happening in blackmusic, whereas the white bands effectively severed (for the mostpart) their own roots in folksong.

It’s often been observed that Sly achieved the first fusion of psychedelia and R & B, but that always seems like journalists’bull. Of course, Sly was liberated by the new attitudes that wereprevalent, but the music bears little relation to the loose, jamming extemporization of the San Francisco acid rockers.Closer to “I Can’t Turn You Loose” than “White Rabbit.” Lookingback, it’s difficult to see just why Sly appeared so innovative. Thefirst album, A Whole New Thing remains fairly dispensable. Ideasare there, but rarely developed. But something was happening.And that something manifested itself in one of the great pop singles of all time—“Dance To The Music.”

There had been, and would continue to be, other places to makepolitical/social statements—“Don’t Burn Baby,” “Stand!,”“Everyday People,” “Family Affair,” “Babies Makin’ Babies.”

But for a few months in 1968 Sly brought people together in thediscotheques of the world with a slab of outgoing and electrify-ing trivia. “All we need is a drummer, for people who only need abeat.” Thump, thump, thump. Yet on closer examination, the songis put together with an almost mosaic-like intricacy. Multilayeredvoices, squiggling horns and brother Freddie Stone’s guitar rocking out down low in the mix. And that bass. Always that bass.Fragmented and jerky, it’s the one element that has remained

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constant throughout Sly’s recordings, and is one of the most widely imitated of his innovations.

While a few hippies could identify with the mohair Motown trip, Slywas welcomed with open arms right across the board. He was asfunky as anything else played in the discos, yet the music wasintelligent enough to warrant serious investigation and dissection, and to top it all, Sly looked fabulous. Visually asarresting as Jim Morrison and with a lot more panache and talent.“Everyday People” went gold, as did the Stand! album, which contained not only the Black Pride anthem in its title track, butalso the apocalyptic “I Want To Take You Higher,” later to becomeone of the high points at Woodstock. Ah, yes, Woodstock. Certainlyone of Sly Stone’s finest hours. What could be a better antidote tothree days of mud, rain, and dysentery than Sly’s ecstatic exuberance? Half-a-million clenched fists and peace signs risinginto the air in a massive human tidal wave of approval. In 1970,Sly released just one single, the strangely titled “Thank You(Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” b/w “Everybody Is A Star,” and inrecordings this was the final fling of the old spirit. Silence followed its release. Epic put out a Greatest Hits package to fillthe hole.

But in late 1971 There’s A Riot Goin’ On shocked the critics andaudiences into a new awareness of what Sly was about. More than

anything the album represents the renaissance of SYLVESTER thepoet and innovator. Reactions varied from disgust to disappoint-ment to a wary enthusiasm. Phrases like “blown it” occurred a lotin reviews, as did “genius” in a couple, but whatever, Sly up-ended popular music with this album and its influence hasbeen more widespread than probably most folk realize. FromStevie Wonder to the Temptations, to Miles Davis and that pletho-ra of jazz rockers that include Herbie Hancock, Weather Report,and the whole American MOR jazz market. Almost single-handedly,too. For apart from drums, horns, and sporadic interjections fromBobby Womack and Billy Preston, Riot is instrumentally all Sly,right down to those juddering, shuddering bass spasms. Don’t youbelieve, either, that the album is a chronicle of loneliness andmisery, for the whole thing is stamped with Sly’s sense of humour,even though it is the creation of Sylvester’s inventive mind. Lyricalslyness allied to instrumental brilliance. Follow that.

Sly did, of course, with Fresh, where he combined humour (as inSister Rose’s goofing up on “Que Sera, Sera”), with the complexi-ties of Riot and just a touch of the old Stand! period’s ass-kickingfunk. And that’s the story so far. The first part of the continuingsaga of Sly Stone versus Sylvester Stewart. You’re holding the nextchapter in your hands.

—Steve Lake, Melody Maker


BEN EDMONDS LINER NOTES

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Dance To The Music and Stand! anticipated the coming offunk, There’s A Riot Goin’ On helped birth it, and Freshcreated a sonic template for modern R&B—all in a halfdecade. But with the same rapidity that Sly reinvented ourshared understanding of soul, he somehow lost his own inthe process.

With any great run of albums (think Rolling Stones, ’68-’73,or Stevie Wonder, ’72-’76), there is apotheosis and there isaftermath. It’s near impossible even for Sly’s most ardentapologist to reconcile the visionary paranoiac of Riot withthe placid balladeer of Small Talk. Intimately soulful as it is,Sly just didn’t seem to be as fiercely groundbreaking as he’dbeen before.

However, the spare sound on Small Talk is refreshing afterthe muddied, multi-layered approaches of Riot and Neverhas so much groove been coaxed from so little instrumenta-tion as on the title track, which pulses forward with barely asolid beat, with Sly rapping about cooing to his son...or washe coyly dismissing rumors of his artistic demise...?

It’s no small irony that Small Talk features several songs offamilial love and a joyous photo of Sly and his wife KathleenSilva (whom he married on stage at Madison Square Gardenon June 5, 1974) and their baby, Sly, Jr., on its cover. The

image signaled rebirth and commitment, but the album wasto be the last true affair for The Family Stone. Still, whereFresh relied on the metronomic precision (and presence) ofdrum machines, Small Talk grew from a group sound.

Sly clearly wanted it this way. He leaves studio chatter in onover half the tracks, breathing an air of spontaneity from thesessions, as if the tape was just rolling and the band wasfinally having a good time again. Freddie and Rose continued expertly to augment their wayward brother’sprodigious talents, while longtime trumpeter and soon to bebaby’s-mama Cynthia Robinson never left Sly’s side. (Slyand Silva’s marriage would last all of five months). Thealternate cuts included herein show pre-worked and re-worked versions of master takes, the musicians feelingout their own parts in the process.

True, some songs were more mellow than expected (anotherof the album’s either/or aspects). Yet for every tune takendown one notch too many, the band drops it twice as hard onthe one. Witness, unbelievers, Small Talk’s centerpieces:“Can’t Strain My Brain,” “Loose Booty,” and the merciless“Better Thee Than Me.”

Continually aware of current culture, Sly gives the nod to theother forefathers of funk. The phased bass line at the end of



ALEX STIMMEL LINER NOTES

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To hardcore fans, there is no figure as vexing and impenetrable as Sly Stone.


“Say You Will” (played by the unsung hero of both Fresh andSmall Talk, Rusty Allen) recalls the sonic skeleton of GeorgeClinton’s Parliament, while the unreleased instrumental“Positive” shows Sly slicking some licks from James Brown’ssignature brand of body heat.

Sly was still crafting his own sound like the perfectionistartisan he was. The minute-and-a-half outro of “LooseBooty” begged even then for an MC to rhyme over it; 20 yearshence, the Beastie Boys would reconfigure the tune as“Shadrach,” one of the highlights of Paul’s Boutique. As heslid further out of touch, the man still had his finger on thepulse.

Also notable is the prominence of strings, both real and synthesized. Violinist Sid Page is even credited as a bandmember. Sly uses the section to great effect as part of thewhole, allowing it to cushion the mood, augment vocal lines,create melodies, or sting on riffs once reserved for horns.It’s here that we must acknowledge Sly Stone as the producer-genius that he was. While detractors hear his ’70ssound as too slick or sleek, these were intentional productiontraits that Sly himself pioneered, not to mention engineered.The perfectly round wah tones and crisp snare hits practically gave mainstream soul its sound, even as hissongwriting grew more complex, with deep harmonic shiftsand snaky, shaky melodies.

The bright message music of the early days makes one finalreturn in the raucous, vengeful “Time For Livin’” (which wasa Top 40 hit), but as always, shadows darted just beneaththe glistening funk. One can hear Sylvester Stewart beggingSly to come back down to earth, as if he feared what mightcome next: “Time for changin’—rearrangin’ / …meet astranger / Pretty soon he might not give a damn.”

Small Talk is unparalleled for the access that Sly gives us tohis psyche. Despite the chaos of his life, it is an altogethermore restful record than its predecessors. There’s room to breathe in the space that defines the unrelenting syncopation, a place to be free, to get “away from mentalstrain,” as he wails on “Say You Will.”

Sly Stone’s lamentable arc from sardonic prophet to recluseis one of the great tragedies of popular music in the 20thCentury. The Family Stone officially disbanded in 1975, andHigh On You, Sly’s next record, would be the first of severaldisappointments as a solo artist, released at increasinglylong intervals, until nothing more came at all. As the lastgreat record of a musical visionary, Small Talk stands as Sly& The Family Stone’s final mark of epochal influence.

- Alex Stimmel



ALEX STIMMEL LINER NOTES

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SMALL TALKIt’s the way you soundThe reason for how I feelIt’s the way you get downI can tell you’re real

Small talk, how you doin’ boySmall talk, how you doin’ boy,

small talkWhat you doin’ boy, small talk

Small talkGet on down, small talkI like it, small talk, small talk

Don’t let him crySmall talk, don’t let him cryDon’t let that boy crySmall talk, don’t let him cryDon’t, don’t let that little boy crySmall talk

SAY YOU WILLGive a damn y’allWe’re not pleasing meWounded Knee in vainIf I’m free to seeAway from mental strainSay you will, I will

When you get up to get downOn something bad for youOh your luck is sound; alright me

and youSay you will, I will

A whole lot of nothing is way too coldChili con carne, a little bit of something about

a day too oldA hippopotamus is way too fat for meIf you hip a lot of us, some of us gonna get,

bound to getDamn if don’t be free

Give a damn y’allSay you will, I will

It’s the way you die that makes life worth living,When Superfly saysThanks for the time you’re givingSay you will, I will

A wooden nickel don’t pay my billsA chip on the shoulder, not good for SylA leaky bottom won’t last too longA freaky lot of them, will never sing my

freaky song.Give a damn y’allSay you will, I will

MOTHER BEAUTIFULWho’s the one who finally takes the pain

With you, with youSuffers even when it’s you to blame

With you, with youMother Beautiful in my thoughtMother Beautiful could never be bought

Who’s the reason for my daddy’s grinIt’s true, it’s true

Any season and she’s my best friendIt’s true, it’s true

Mother Beautiful any hourMother Beautiful deserves another showerSometimes I say mamaI say mother dearSometimes I call you motherShe’s hereMother my dearMother Beautiful

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TIME FOR LIVIN’Time for livin’—time for givin’No time for makin’ up a monster to sellTime for livin’—time for givin’ No time for breakin’ out a lie to tell

Ain’t nobody got to spell it for meAin’t nobody got to yell I can seeAin’t nobody got the pain I can hearBut if I have to I will yell in your ear

Time for livin’—time for givin’No time for runnin’ over anyoneTime for livin’—time for givin’No time for passin’ tons of fun

Ain’t nobody got to spell it for meAin’t nobody got to yell I can seeAin’t nobody got the pain I can hearBut if I have to I will yell in your ear

Time for changin’—rearrangin’ No time for Pete to pass the buckRearrangin’ meet a strangerPretty soon he might not give a damn

Ain’t nobody got to spell it for meAin’t nobody got to yell I can seeAin’t nobody got the pain I can hearI will yell in your ear

Time for changin’ rearrangin’

CAN’T STRAIN MY BRAINCan’t strain my brainI know how it feels to worry all the timeCan’t take the painI know how it feels to hurry for just a dime

This pleasure was made for us to seeThat we’re gonna have to be free

Keep on running when you feel a pulling backYou’re going slow

Don’t stop funning—if you’re real you’ll neverSlack you gotta go


Can’t strain my brainWhen I feel somebody trying to bring me down

Won’t take the lameDon’t you know you’ll never catch me lying down

Can’t bust a man if he feels to make iteasier to see

Can’t trust a land when it tries to take the lovingout of me


Can’t strain my brainCan’t take the lameDo you know my name

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LOOSE BOOTYShadrach Meshack Abednego

When you’re tryin’ to flee fromAny fakin’ grinTell you what to do funGet in the frame of mind I’m inFind yourself some room toLet it all hang outGet into some dancin’Do what it’s all about

Loose booty

Life can be confusin’Any given dayAnd if you feel like losin’Get on out the wayResults will be amazin’ Here’s all you doMinutes turn to days inDoin’ what I do

Loose booty

Now I got to get onSee you in the mindDon’t want to see you fret onLeave the blue behindYou owe it to yourself andPlus and all is free

Feels good to relax andShake it off like me

Loose booty

Shadrach Meshack Abednego

HOLDIN’ ONHoldin’ on—the trials are takin’

The files are fakin’

Holdin’ on—let me ask you an answerWould you fancy a dancer

I’m a soldier

Holdin’ on—doin’ fine like I told youBetter listen while I scold you

Holdin’ on—thru tryin’ my OuijiBe around if you need me

I’m a soldier

Holdin’ on—I’m doin’ what I want to

Holdin’ on—when you feel like it

I’m a soldier

WISHFUL THINKIN’You got that rightWishful thinkin’ kind of led the classYour high school was a gasBut don’t let it be the end of you

Oh you got that rightWishful thinkin’Trying to bear the crossYou can’t outsmart the bossDon’t let it be the end of you

Oh you got that rightWishful thinkin’Playin’ with the moonRelax we’ll get there soonDon’t let it be the end of you

You got that rightWishful thinkin’Thinkin’ of youWishful thinkin’Playin’ with the moonRelax we’ll get there soonDon’t let it be the end of you or meWishful thinkin’Playin’ with the moonRelax we’ll be there soonDon’t let it be the end of you or meOh wishful thinkin’You got that right

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BETTER THEE THAN MEBetter thee than me, if you’re in bad weatherBetter thee than me, if you are heavy featherWould you stop to scare a funny religionWould you hop to dare a dummy’s decision

Better thee than me I’m stroking and hopingBetter thee than me ’cause you’re jokingBetter thee than me, help the bear I can make itBetter let me be, while you fake itBetter stop your pouting, if it’s strength

that’s workingBetter change your routing, if the trail is jerking

I’m trying to stay but you’re jivingBetter thee than me, if you won’t respect me

LIVIN’ WHILE I’M LIVIN’Remember the tasteRemember the waste of the waterThe nicer the son

The closer we come to our fartherTo kiss who you hate

Could get you a date with a chippyMissin’ it straight

Could be your fate if you slippin’(Slippy brickin’)

Livin’ while I’m livin’Smellin’ the flower

Is tellin’ the hourI shoulda

People the powerAre tellin’ the sourI wouldaTakin’ the timeAnd facin’ the kind

Is a winnin’Fakin’ your mind

Your achin’ behindIs beginnin’

THIS IS LOVEThis is loveI might as well admit itThis is loveI’d rather tell than quit it

This is love I feel it when we’re togetherThis is loveI’d rather do it, I’d rather

All selections by Sylvester Stewart, except“Small Talk” by Sylvester Stewart and W. Silva.© 1974 (Renewed) Mijac Music (BMI). All rightson behalf of Mijac Music administered byWarner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI).

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ORIGINAL LP CREDITS

MUSICIANS: Sly Stone—Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, BassFreddie Stone—Vocals, Guitar Rose Stone Banks—Vocals, KeyboardsCynthia Robinson—Trumpet Rusty Allen—Bass Vet Stewart—Vocals, KeyboardsJerry Martini—Saxophone Pat Rizzo—Flute, SaxophoneBill Lordan—DrumsSid Page—Violin

Produced and arranged by: SLY STONE/Co-production—BrotherFreddie Stone/Strings arranged by Ed Bogas (with the help ofme)/Assistance on keyboards by Truman Thomas A/K/A TrueGubmint. Engineered by: Tom Flye A/K/A “Superflye,” RogerDollarhide A/K/A Boy Rodgers (of the Paramount Recording Studio inL.A.), Lee Wong A/K/A Dr. Pepper, Willie Greer A/K/A William Greer,and Sylvester Stewart A/K/A Sly Stone, assisted by Bob Edwards,Mike Stone and Bobby Hughes./Re-mix Engineers: Flye, Stewart,and Jimmy Douglas for “Time for Livin’,”/Mastered by GeorgeHorn/Quadraphonic Remix Engineer: John Stronach/Recorded at theRecord Plant in Sausalito, and my homes in New York andCalifornia./Thank you David Froelich and thank you Clive Davis,regardless./Do you know Bubba?/Album designed by John Berg, JonVan Hammersveld. Photos by Norman Seeff. Special thanks to StevePaley for everything in the future and the past.

REISSUE CREDITS

Executive Producers: Jerry Goldstein and Glenn Stone for Even St. Productions, Ltd.Produced for Reissue by Bob Irwin Mastered by Vic Anesini at Sony Music Studios, New YorkLegacy A&R: Steve Berkowitz

Project Direction: Lisa BucklerArt Direction and Design: Rob Carter

Billboard chart information courtesy of Joel Whitburn.

C 1974, 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT / P 1974, 2007SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT / Manufactured and Distributedby Epic, A Division of SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT / 550Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022-3211 / “Epic,” E, “Legacy”and l Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. Marca Registrada. / WARNING: AllRights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.

www.legacyrecordings.comwww.slystonemusic.com



THERE'S A RIOT GOIN' ONORIGINALLY RELEASED: 1971

FRESHORIGINALLY RELEASED: 1973

SMALL TALKORIGINALLY RELEASED: 1974

THE ESSENTIAL SLY & THE FAMILY STONERELEASED: 2002

DIFFERENT STROKES BY DIFFERENT FOLKSRELEASED: 2005

A WHOLE NEW THINGORIGINALLY RELEASED: 1967

DANCE TO THE MUSICORIGINALLY RELEASED: 1968

LIFEORIGINALLY RELEASED: 1968

STAND!ORIGINALLY RELEASED: 1969

GREATEST HITSORIGINALLY RELEASED: 1970

ALBUMS


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Small Talk - Sly And The Family Stone

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