Sly & The Family Stone - 1976 - Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back

Sly & The Family Stone

1976

Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back

01. Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back 3:55

02. What Was I Thinkin' In My Head 3:58

03. Nothing Less Than Happiness 2:57

04. Sexy Situation 2:55

05. Blessing In Disguise 3:48

06. Everything In You 3:14

07. Mother Is A Hippie 3:01

08. Let's Be Together 3:36

09. The Thing 3:20

10. Family Again 2:46

Sly Stone: vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, various instruments

Cynthia Robinson: trumpet, vocals

Joe Baker: guitar, vocals

Dwight Hogan: bass, vocals

John Colla: alto and soprano saxophone, vocals

Steve Schuster: tenor saxophone, flute

John Farey: keyboards, percussion

Virginia Ayers: vocals, percussion

Anthony Warren: drums

Lady Bianca: lead and background vocals, clavinet

Vicki Blackwell: violin

Karat Faye: Engineer

plus:

Ed Bogas & Sly: string arrangements

Armando Peraza: timbales, congas

Peter Frampton: guitar on "Let's Be Together"

Sister Vet & Cousin Tiny: vocals

The original Family Stone had disbanded after the previous album and Sly formed a "New" Family Stone. In many ways Sly had received much criticism for falling into repeating his various songwriting styles previous to this album; so in one last ditch attempt he tried remaking his formula with a new band. If he'd been able to hold this group together, there is no telling whether they might have matured into a force to reckon with. What we are left with here is a casting of Sly's net in as many musical directions as possible for new inspiration; and though certainly varied, coming up lacking in the spark that made the original Family Stone such a mindblowing experience. Due to his lack of success staying off drugs and the lackluster success of this album; it is truly Sly's last gasp. The few albums after this have him pretending to be alright and cranking out increasingly paler versions of songs that had succeeded with the original band.

Several songs here still have something to sink your teeth into like the sweet mellow of "Blessing In Disguise," the p-funked "Mother Is A Hippie" and beyond a doubt the (Public Enemy sampled) amazing groove classic "Let's Be Together." "Sexy Situation" is pretty good as is "The Thing." Even "Family Again" has it's moments, but it's unfortunate lyrics simply make you compare it to the unbreakable standard the original band had set; a different lyric in this one crucial song, might have allowed people to accept this album for what it was. In this way, his bad judgement to not tout this as a completely different experiment, and focusing instead on equating this band with the other, opened himself to the worst kind of criticism. In fact, there is a depth to the instrumentation on this album, involving violins and such; that sometimes gives a unique impression of listening to a funky broadway musical. So many elements of this could have payed off, if he'd simply been able to maintain focus and keep his head in the right place.

Ah well, Sly's rise and fall has been the complete blueprint for Prince's success; as much in knowing what NOT to do, as in knowing what's golden. Some of the players on this album are of passing interest like; John Colla who was in Van Morrison's back-up band for a time and became a founding member of Huey Lewis & The News; as well as Lady Bianca, who had been performing with Frank Zappa, John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison; who's gone on to become Oakland's most high profile female Blues singer in the late 90's. Of course, there's Cynthia Robinson and Sister Vet (from the original band) as well as Peter Frampton on the best song. If you want to get this for the one classic, two greats, a pair of passable imitations and several strangely intriguing experiments; you'd better be a diehard fan like me.