In case there are, among the readers of this blog, people that have not heard Sly Stone's version of "Que Sera", le voila: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQZNkzP4kYw&feature=related. There's a lot to be enjoyed with this one, and a lot to be learned too. The first thing that strikes me is the phrasing, both by Sly and his sister Rose. For example, it's interesting how the held notes of a multi-syllabic word are always on the last syllable ("When I was just a little..."), and never is the meaning of the words contradicted for a musical effect (Stephen Sondheim would approve). Rose's tone, in both the musical and linguistic senses of the word, is impeccable, and Sly's free-form harmonizing on the choruses is another highlight worth many listens. It's everything a cover tune should be. There may be some as good, but there aren't any better.

By the way, Sly is apparently at work in the studio, which is brilliant news. More info and links to hear some recent work can be found here: http://www.slystonebook.com/.

"Family Affair", the number one hit from 1971 for Sly and the Family Stone, is a song that gets covered a lot, and every time I hear it done, I want to hear the original again right away. I do admire the taste shown by anyone who would do one of their tunes, but on this one Sly's lead vocal performance (as well as the second vocal by his sister, Rose) is so distinctive and informed by so much musical and life experience that I'm surprised that anyone would take it on. Lyrically, the song is a powerful discussion of where the fault lines appear in lives put under extreme pressure: the home life.

Imagine a time when a number one hit could generate this amount of feeling and empathy without resorting to sentimentality (by which I mean unoriginal and/or dishonest thinking). And if you think I'm just being nostalgic, have a look at the current Billboard charts. Anyway, here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YZpbYqOw4o&feature=related

It's easy to see now that Sly and the Family Stone was one of the most important groups of all time. In some ways, in fact, they might be at the top of the list. Their attitude was to synthesize all the disparate elements that had come before them, not only the musical ones, but also in terms of race, gender and outlook, and to provide a model of what an intelligent, inclusive, fun-loving society might look like in the future. It could be argued that philosophically speaking, no one tops them. It could also be argued that very little of today's pop music, rock and roll or r&b hasn't been influenced by them. The song that exemplifies all of this best is probably "Everyday People", from Stand!, their masterpiece from 1969 (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hcgoLojOVo). Tomorrow, another of their great succession of singles, but one of a considerably different tone.