Remasters are finally coming...


from Sony Legacy...

Scheduled release date is March 20.

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE – Legacy upgrades the catalog! (Epic/Legacy)

* In 1967, this interracial, mixed-gender combo harnessed all the disparate social and musical trends of the era and burst on the scene with a debut album that completely shook up the musical landscape with its fusion of soul, rock, R&B, psychedelia, and an emerging genre, soon to be dubbed “funk.” The sound was powerful and joyous, delivering everything one hoped to find in music -- the thrill of the new, a galvanizing groove, and lyrics that actually said something. This thrilling combination saw Sly permanently perched at the top of the album and single charts of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and quickly established his legacy as one of the most innovative artists in music history. 2007 will mark 40 years from the band’s first release, and Legacy is celebrating with a long-awaited upgrade of the Sly & the Family Stone catalog. Each of the seven studio albums will be available in limited-edition, lavish digipaks. Each title will feature restored and expanded packaging, including rare photos, memorabilia, and new liner notes by a diverse group of writers and artists. A bounty of bonus tracks -- many of them previously unreleased -- will be spread across all seven titles.


A Whole New Thing

Dance to the Music

Life

Stand!

There’s a Riot Going On

Fresh

Small Talk

It's about time!

Speaking of Sly, I'm going to have to check this out.

FAMILY STONE WITH SPECIAL LEGENDARY GUEST "COACH" SLY STONE

http://www.hob.com/tickets/eventdetail. ... ntid=42943

If memory serves, weren't some of these titles already remastered in the mid-'90s??

Yes, but only their early titles -- before Stand. These new remasters would have interested me once upon a time. But now that I have the two-disc Essential set from a couple of years ago ... not so much.
Chip

Something had to have been worked out or smoothed over between Columbia/Sony/Legacy and Sly. This news has taken me by surprise. I just hope it bodes well for the unreleased live show that was slated to be released 2 years ago to resurface and makes it through.

First of all, woo-hoo!

But does anyone else find this:
lavish digipaks
to be something of an oxymoron?

It will be nice to get a good sounding copy of "There's a Riot Goin' On". I have a Sony European import that has slightly better sound than the American or Edsel versions and at least restores the flag cover, but it still leaves a lot to be desired on the aural front. Including vinyl, it'll be the fifth time I'm buying this one -- and I'd kinda like it to be the last.

An upgrade of "Fresh" will be welcome also, although I don't remember it sounding all that bad.

RE: "lavish digipacks" - yeah, they suck. At this point though, I'm just glad that these are coming and there is going to be an attempt to put the correct cover image on each.

They say the lavish digipaks are limited edition.

Does this imply that a non limited jewel box version will follow?

Thank you (Fatellinme bout da ream masters agin).

Some of mine are remasters and some are Japanese, but I can see myself buying all seven all over again for the bonus tracks. Won't part with the old ones, though.

Just a warning: The cuts from There's a Riot Goin' On are the worst-sounding tracks on the Essential Sly set. I think it's just the nature of the recording.
Chip

Historical fact: Sly Stone used the same tapes to record over and over during the "Riot" sessions, hence the "worn" feel of the tracks.

Cocaine, PCP, groupies, and living in Bel Air will do that to you.

Kym,

Yeah, Sly may very well be popular music's biggest drug casualty.

There is an interesting book on the album.
Part of Continuum's 33 1/3 series.
Has anyone else read this, or other books in the series?

http://33third.blogspot.com/2006/03/new ... stone.html

I'm hooked on them.
Might have to start a separate thread just to discuss these books.

Live Sly from their prime would be very cool!

Hey, thanks for the warning Chip. I'm very well aware of the album's history and have read many of the stories (legends?) about the recording of this one.

My memory, though, of its aural characteristics when I was 13 and listening to it on a friend's folks not-bad stereo system, which heretofore had only been graced with Perry Como and Frank Sinatra records, is of it still sounding much better than any of the CD's (even "Essential"), especially on "Spaced Cowboy," "Runnin' Away" and "Luv 'N Haight". I get that it's always going to have that sort of…stoned fuzzy haze over the tracks (especially "Brave and Strong"), but I remember more dimension, much better stereo separation (especially on the "Luv 'N Haight" 'feels so good/don't want to move' female vocals at the end) and bottom to the whole thing. In fact, "Spaced Cowboy" would always elicit screams of 'turn down the bass!' from my friend's mom…in Italian (at least that's what we THOUGHT she was saying).

On a related note...
A small blurb appeared in today's Orange County Register announcing that tickets would go on sale tomorrow (Saturday @ 10AM)
for a rare one-off appearance at the House Of Blues by the legendary Sly & The Family Stone... featuring Sly Stone himself.
Tix are $40.

A show like this... will never happen again...

Steve

I wouldn't expect the sound to get any better than on Essential, since it's probably going to be mastered by the same guy (Vic Anesini). Yep, "stoned fuzzy haze" perfectly describes the sound -- and I would argue it is the perfect sound for this particular album.

It's funny you mention that no CD has approached the sound of that old Riot LP, because I have a similar recollection about a lot of my albums (the Allmans' Fillmore set, Steely Dan's Aja, Aerosmith's Rocks, etc.
Chip

Yeah, I posted about this earlier.
But it's past 10:00 and tickets don't appear to be on sale.
Just like Sly.

Sorry, GodsComic.
I missed your earlier post.

I wonder if the show was cancelled or what???
Maybe it will be rescheduled... or maybe, it already sold-out somehow.

Did you happen to call HOB and find out?


Steve