There’s a Riot Going On

More than four decades after they first stormed the Pop and R&B charts in the winter of 1968 with “Dance To the Music” – a groundbreaking jam that has the distinction of being chosen for the Grammy Hall Of Fame, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’s “500 Songs That Shaped Rock,” and Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs Of All Time” – the music of Sly and the Family Stone is more vital than ever.

The band’s catalog (every single composition penned by Sylvester Stewart aka Sly Stone) includes their three career-defining RIAA gold Billboard #1 Pop/ #1 R&B smashes, “Everyday People,” “Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Again)” and “Family Affair,” and their signature Top 40 hits that began with “Dance To the Music” and went on to include “Stand!,” “Hot Fun In the Summertime,” “Runnin’ Away,” “If You Want Me To Stay,” “Time For Livin’,” and more.

Those songs not only inspired an era of youthful rebellion and independence, but also had a potent effect on the course of modern music in general. A dazzling fusion of psychedelic rock, soul, gospel, jazz, and Latin flavors, Sly’s music brought the next step – funk – to a disparate populace of hip artists. From Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, to the halls of Motown and George Clinton’s P-Funk, from Michael Jackson and Curtis Mayfield, down the line to Bob Marley, the Isley Brothers, Prince, Public Enemy, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Arrested Development, the Black Eyed Peas, the Roots, OutKast and on and on, Sly’s DNA is traceable to every cell of the musical stratosphere.

Since it took almost two years to make, the fifth album by bonafide superstars Sly and the Family Stone had everyone salivating in anticipation. Needless to say, Sly did not disappoint! 1971’s There’s A Riot Goin’ On finds the Bay Area-based genius getting funkier than ever before, even as his artistic vision becomes progressively darker. Some may have been disappointed that Sly didn’t simply re-create the chart successes of earlier singles, but who can argue with the flat-out brilliance of turning recent big hit “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” on its head to create the mind-boggling “Thank You For Talkin’ To Me Africa.”

Two of this hypnotic album’s best tunes “Family Affair” and “Runnin’ Away” were gigantic chart hits, and There’s A Riot Goin’ On hit #1 Pop/ #1 R&B within a few weeks of its release in November, proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that Sly Stone could totally deliver the goods! A transformative masterpiece, There’s A Riot Goin’ On was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999, and is ranked at #99 on Rolling Stone magazine’s ‘500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.’