50 years ago: “Everyday People” hit #1

Everyday People Sly & the Family Stone

Writer(s): Sly Stone (see lyrics here) First Charted: November 30, 1968 Peak: 14 US, 12 CB, 11 HR, 12 RB, 1 CL, 36 UK, 2 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 7.1 video, 201.89 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Sylvester Stewart, aka “Sly Stone,” was musical from the start. He saw a recording studio for the first time when he was four years old, singing “On the Battlefield for My Lord” with his family’s gospel group the Stewart Four. In regards to growing up with music, he said, “That’s all I had to play with. No toys.” FB In high school, he recorded the song “Yellow River” as a member of the vocal quintet the Viscanes. In junior college, he learned music composition, which led to work with Autumn Records FB producing hits “Laugh Laugh” and “Just a Little” for white pop group the Beau Brummels RS500 and Bobby Freeman’s “Come on and Swim.” FB He then worked as a DJ in San Francisco saying of the time, “I was into everyone’s records. I’d play Dylan, Hendrix, James Brown back to back so I didn’t get stuck in any one groove.” RS500 That taste for diversity played out when he formed the racially-integrated Family Stone. In a time when jeans and tie-dye ruled the psychedelic scene in San Francisco, Stone’s stage act was marked by elaborate costumes, glitter, and stage movements. FB He found a wide audience with “Everyday People,” a song with a “gospel message of brotherhood, couched in dance funk” FB which preached that “everyone is essentially the same, regardless of race or background.” SF It is “one of the most beguiling and literate songs about racial harmony.” TC As he said, “What I write is people’s music.” RS500 That message was drilled home with the main line of the chorus: “I am everyday people,” a line sung by himself, his sister Rosie, his brother Freddie, and Larry Graham – echoing the idea that “each of them (and each listener as well) should consider himself or herself as parts of one whole.” WK The song’s diverse appeal is echoed by the wide range of acts to cover the song: Belle & Sebastian, Jeff Buckley, Aretha Franklin, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Peggy Lee, Dolly Parton, Billy Paul, Pearl Jam, the Staple Singers, the Supremes & Four Tops. In 1992, rap group Arrested Development had a top ten hit with an adapted version of the song called “People Everyday.” WK Musically, the song featured what member Larry Graham said was the first use of the slap bass technique, in which the player slapped the strings with his thumb so that they collided with the frets, which became a staple of funk. WK/sup> Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Sly & the Family Stone FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 251. TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Page 532. RS500 Rolling Stone (2003). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 7/11/2023.

Sly & the Family Stone hit #1 with There’s a Riot Goin’ On

First posted 3/28/2008; updated 12/1/2020.

There’s a Riot Goin’ On Sly & the Family Stone

Charted: November 13, 1971 Peak: 12 US, 12 RB, 31 UK, 4 CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: R&B/funk

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Luv N’ Haight Just Like a Baby Poet Family Affair (11/6/71, 1 US, 15 UK, 1 RB, gold single) Africa Talks to You “The Asphalt Jungle” Brave and Strong You Caught Me Smilin’ (4/22/72, 42 US, 21 RB) Time Spaced Cowboy Runnin’ Away (2/5/72, 23 US, 17 UK, 15 RB) Thank You for Talkin’ to Me Africa Total Running Time: 47:15 The Players: Sly Stone (vocals, multiple instruments) Rose Stone (vocals, keyboards) Billy Preston (keyboards) Jerry Martini (tenor saxophone) Cynthia Robinson (trumpet) Freddie Stone, Ike Turner, Bobby Womack (guitar) Lary Graham (bass, backing vocals) Greg Errico, Gerry Gibson (drums) Little Sister (backing vocals)

Rating: 4.115 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings) Quotable: “One of the great radical albums, and definitely the funkiest.” – Blender Magazine Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “It’s easy to write off There’s a Riot Goin’ On as one of two things – Sly Stone’s disgusted social commentary or the beginning of his slow descent into addiction. It’s both of these things, of course.” STE “Riotis one of the great radical albums, and definitely the funkiest” BL even as “Stone was teetering on the brink of self-destruction.” BL “His music never sounded more eclectic and expressive” BL and “civil disobedience never sounded like so much fun.” BL “Pigeonholing it as either winds up dismissing the album as a whole, since it is so bloody hard to categorize. What’s certain is that Riot is unlike any of Sly & the Family Stone’s other albums, stripped of the effervescence that flowed through even such politically aware records as Stand!. This is idealism soured, as hope is slowly replaced by cynicism, joy by skepticism, enthusiasm by weariness, sex by pornography, thrills by narcotics.” STE “Joy isn’t entirely gone – it creeps through the cracks every once and awhile and, more disturbing, Sly revels in his stoned decadence. What makes Riot so remarkable is that it’s hard not to get drawn in with him, as you’re seduced by the narcotic grooves, seductive vocals slurs, leering electric pianos, and crawling guitars. As the themes surface, it’s hard not to nod in agreement, but it’s a junkie nod, induced by the comforting coma of the music. And damn if this music isn’t funk at its deepest and most impenetrable.” STE “Every subsequent beat revolutionary, from De La Soul to Beck, owes him.” BL “This is dense music, nearly impenetrable, but not from its deep grooves, but its utter weariness.” STE “Sly’s songwriting remains remarkably sharp, but only when he wants to write – the foreboding opener Luv N’ Haight, the scarily resigned Family Affair, the cracked cynical blues Time, and You Caught Me Smilin’. Ultimately, the music is the message and while it’s dark music, it’s not alienating – it’s seductive despair, and that’s the scariest thing about it.” STE

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Sly & the Family Stone BL Blender Magazine’s 100 Greatest American Albums (10/08) STE Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide