Vinyl of the Week - 20 June 2021

Life, Sly and the Family Stone

“If you have felt the conspicuous absence of something wonderful in your life, prepare now to have that vacuum filled..” This bold statement appears on the back of this week’s chosen album. A statement that was certainly intriguing enough for me to grab it from the crate of used vinyl I was browsing through one day, many years ago. I forget where it was, but I’m really glad that I did. Sly and the Family Stone formed in 1966 when Sly and brother Freddy merged their respective bands into one. Having sisters Rosie and Vet in the band definitely resulted in a tight unit. Life was their third album, released in 1968, and wasn’t a hit compared to their previous album, Dance To The Music, or indeed their next album, Stand. For what it’s worth, I actually like Life the best. There are very little studio effects and it relies on their brilliant music to get the message out. This record really set the scene for Stand and its themes of acceptance, inclusion and happiness; songs such as Fun, Harmony and title track, Life, really laying the foundation. When you listen to this album for the first time you’ll hear riffs and tunes that you’ll be certain you’ve heard before - and you probably have. Much has been sampled from this record over the years, the most famous being Fat Boy Slim’s ‘Weapon of Choice’ (you know, the one with the film clip that has Christopher Walken running all about the place at weird angles). I don’t think I can do a better job of summing up this album than that first sentence on the back cover. So I won’t attempt to. Suffice to say, it delivers as promised - DS