Sly & The Family Stone – There's A Riot Goin' On

In 1971 Marvin Gaye asked: "What's Going On?" Sly answered the same year: "There's A Riot Goin On." Marvin's LP, of course, is a masterpiece. This Sly LP is not on that level, but brilliant at times and arguably more musically influential than Marvin's. Family Affair got some AM airplay (maybe even charted), but the album as a whole in opinion has been underappreciated for decades. The cover is brilliant. I still have my copy of this first pressing. As others have noted, the production is uneven, but so was Sly. You can just groove on this record or contemplate what exactly was "goin' on" in 1971.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a record that credited seven different engineers before. That's about the least unusual of all the bizarre things about this dense, insular, stoned, impenetrable funk masterpiece. Half the songs aren't more than half-formed, the same riff propels the final song of each side, at times the production is murky, other times, oddly compressed. But it all comes together into this strange beautiful masterpiece. "Runnin' Away", "You Caught Me Smilin'", "Thank You For Talking To Me Africa" and "Family Affair" are highlights, and "Spaced Cowboy" is hilarious. This pressing is acceptable, the overall sound is a bit muddy and murky, but that's more to do with the production. My copy plays nice and clean, with some light surface noise at times.

Album Revolution #4:

There are albums, and there are albums...."Sly & The Family Stone's" "There's A Riot Goin' On", is not just an album, it's a experience...

There are so many variables going into this...

"Sly" was letting things effect his relationships with the Band...I really don't know all the details, but it is very evident here...

Now, don't get me wrong, this album is the BOMB!!!!, but you can tell that except for a handful of tracks, this is a "Sly" project more than a "Sly & Family Stone" one...Even to that fact, this is another album that is an Ultimate Crown Jewel....

Be that as it may, the album starts JUMPIN' with "Luv N' Haight"...That one does sound like a total group effort...

"Just Like A Baby" sounds like a Druggy t, but at the same time, it sounds INFECTIOUS!!!!!!

"Poet", which describes "Sly" to the tee, is another slow downed t that sounds infectious as well....

"Family Affair", the Super Dooper Massive #1 HIT, is so cool, that it almost took over "Everyday People" as "Sly's" anthem (My kids love this one so much, that my oldest went and got her own copy)....When I was a kid, I thought that "Larry Graham" was the lead singer on there, only to find out that it was "Sly" singing in cuffed hands....

A lot of People, including Myself, was confused about the meaning of "Africa Talks To You "The Asphalt Jungle"....It didn't matter though, because it almost made People forget about the confusion, and just GET DOWN on the "Electro Funk"....

When I was a kid, I always wanted to know what "There's A Riot Goin' On" sounded like, only to find out that it was just a joke (Ha, Ha, Very Funny!!!)....

"Brave & Strong" continued the "Electro" assault...

One of the most sampled ts in history, "(You Caught Me) Smilin'", is a simple nice t, with very subtle Bass and Horns....

"Time", is VERY, VERY slow...To be honest with you, I don't know if "Sly" was high here or not, I just know that it's VERY, VERY, SLOW!!!!!

"Spaced Cowboy" is EXTREMELY kooky, but it is also heavily sampled....

"Runnin' Away" is an OUTRIGHT CLASSIC!!!! Once again, with subtle Bass and Horns (I guess by this time, "Sly" felt like less is more)....

And last but not least, "Thank You For Talking To Me Africa", is a Super slow Funk version of "Thank You (Faletettime Be Mice Elf Agin)"....The driving "Funk" is SOOOO DEEP, it was like "Sly" was trying to compete with either "Funkadelic" or "James Brown", who had "Bootsy Collins" at the time....

Yes, that was a lot but, it was worth it...

There were some drastic changes after this though..., Drummer "Gregg Errico" and Super Bass Man , "Larry Graham", left the group...."Sly", also had a lot of issues personally and professionally due to his Drug use...It is really sad to see, because to a lot of us Music People, really revere "Sly" as one of the greatest musical minds ever!!!!!

He would be able to continue on with sparks of greatness, but after only a couple more albums, it would never be the same...So sad!!!!!!

Very cool and hip that I own the first pressing of this as it's being reevaluated. Hope gen z gets on the sly train soon

My copy is CBS label (3eyes "360 SOUND") cat #KE30986 and in smaller text AL30986. Side 1 matrix is AL-30986 F629*...Side 2 matrix is BL-30986 F630. Rear outer sleeve states "Manufactured by Epic Records..."
Couldn't find it listed here. Anyone can shed some light, much appreciated!