Sly And The Family Stone – The First Family: Live At The Winchester Cathedral
★★★★
HIGH MOON
The embryonic Sly And The Family Stone served as house band at Californian club The Winchester Cathedral through the first four months of 1967, and this recording of a typical Saturday night evidences a collective perfecting their own amalgamation of everything soul had been, and anticipating what funk might become.
The sound quality is akin to a great bootleg – vocals suffer during I Ain’t Got Nobody, the only Sly original here – but the energy and impact of the group is brilliantly intact. Highlights are many: the vocal breakdown midway through Lou Courtney’s Skate Now anticipates the magic of You Can Make It If You Try; a breathless dash through Can’t Turn You Loose remakes Stax in Stone’s own image. A closing Funky Broadway, meanwhile, will leave you jonesing for the time machine to take you back to this swarming dancefloor.
Sly And The Family Stone Live At The Winchester Cathedral is out July 18 on High Moon.
ORDER: Amazon | Rough Trade | HMV
Track List:
I Ain’t Got Nobody
Skate Now
Show Me
What Is Soul
I Can’t Turn You Loose
Baby I Need Your Loving
Pucker Up Buttercup
Saint James Infirmary
I Gotta Go Now (Out On The Floor) / Funky Broadway
“I couldn’t get through to Sylvester, because Sly was in the way. The demon was always stronger…”
Get the latest issue of MOJO to read our tribute to Sly Stone, the genre-mashing genius whose peak, multi-hued music preached unity and transcendence before his world darkened and drugs took over. “Sly still had all these amazing creative talents…” his friends and collaborators reveal. More info and to order you copy HERE!
Photo: Getty/Michael Ochs Archive