Back on the Right Track | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 9, 1979 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1979 | |||
Genre | Funk, soul | |||
Length | 26:07 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. (BSK 3303) | |||
Producer | Mark Davis | |||
Sly and the Family Stone chronology | ||||
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Back on the Right Track is a studio album by Sly and the Family Stone, released by Warner Bros. Records in 1979. [2] The album was, as its title alludes to, an overt comeback attempt for Sly Stone. However, the album and its singles, "Remember Who You Are" and "The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry)", failed to live up to expectations.
Some of the original Family Stone members, including Cynthia Robinson, Pat Rizzo, Freddie Stone, and Rose Stone, make contributions to this album. Back on the Right Track was produced by Mark Davis. [3]
Back on the Right Track and the following studio release, Ain't But the One Way , were combined by Rhino Records into a compilation called Who in the Funk Do You Think You Are: The Warner Bros. Recordings in 2001.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [4] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B [5] |
Record Mirror | [6] |
Smash Hits | 2/10 [7] |
The Virgin Encyclopedia of R&B and Soul | [8] |
The Buffalo News called Back on the Right Track "a joyous, buoyant breakthrough album ... the music is as punchy as ever." [9]
All songs credit Sly Stone as songwriter; except "Remember Who You Are", written by Sly Stone and Hamp Banks
Hardcore Jollies is the ninth studio album by the funk rock band Funkadelic, released on October 29, 1976 by Warner Bros. Records, their first album to be issued on a major label. It is dedicated to "the guitar players of the world." Originally, the first side of the album was called "Osmosis Phase 1" and the second side was "Terribitus Phase 2." Hardcore Jollies was released one month after Funkadelic's final album for Westbound Records, Tales of Kidd Funkadelic, which was recorded during the same sessions.
The Electric Spanking of War Babies is the twelfth studio album by the American funk rock band Funkadelic, released in April 1981 on Warner Bros. Records. The title is an allusion to the Vietnam War and baby boomers. Sly Stone contributed to the recording sessions, singing lead vocals on "Funk Gets Stronger ".
Sly and the Family Stone was an American band originating from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, they were pivotal in the development of funk, soul, R&B, rock, and psychedelic music. Their core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, and included Stone's brother and singer/guitarist Freddie Stone, sister and singer/keyboardist Rose Stone, trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, drummer Greg Errico, saxophonist Jerry Martini, and bassist Larry Graham. The band was the first major American rock group to have a racially integrated, mixed-gender lineup.
Sylvester Stewart, better known by his stage name Sly Stone, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who is most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the development of funk with his pioneering fusion of soul, rock, psychedelia and gospel in the 1960s and 1970s. AllMusic stated that "James Brown may have invented funk, but Sly Stone perfected it," and credited him with "creating a series of euphoric yet politically charged records that proved a massive influence on artists of all musical and cultural backgrounds." Crawdaddy! has called him "the founder of progressive soul".
War is an American funk/rock/soul band from Long Beach, California, known for several hit songs . Formed in 1969, War is a musical crossover band that fuses elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, psychedelia, and reggae. According to music writer Colin Larkin, their "potent fusion of funk, R&B, rock and Latin styles produced a progressive soul sound", while Martin C. Strong calls them "one of the fiercest progressive soul combos of the '70s". Their album The World Is a Ghetto was Billboard's best-selling album of 1973. The band transcended racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic line-up. War was subject to many line-up changes over the course of its existence, leaving member Leroy "Lonnie" Jordan as the only original member in the current line-up; four other members created a new group called the Lowrider Band.
Freedom of Choice is the third studio album by the American new wave band Devo, released in May 1980 on Warner Bros. Records. The album contained their biggest hit, "Whip It", which hit No. 8 and No. 14 on the Billboard Club Play Singles and Pop Singles charts, respectively. Freedom of Choice peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
Dawn Silva is an American funk vocalist.
Graham Central Station was an American funk band named after founder Larry Graham. The name is a pun on New York City's Grand Central Terminal, often colloquially called Grand Central Station.
Stand! is the fourth album by soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, released in April 1969. Written and produced by lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, Stand! is considered an artistic high-point of the band's career. Released by Epic Records, just before the group's celebrated performance at the Woodstock festival, it became the band's most commercially successful album to date. It includes several well-known songs, among them hit singles, such as "Sing a Simple Song", "I Want to Take You Higher", "Stand!", and "Everyday People". The album was reissued in 1990 on compact disc and vinyl, and again in 2007 as a remastered numbered edition digipack CD with bonus tracks and, in the UK, as only a CD with bonus tracks.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the American group Sly and the Family Stone. It was first released on November 21, 1970, by Epic Records. The album includes all of the singles from the albums Dance to the Music (1968), Life (1968), and Stand! (1969).
Cynthia Robinson was an American musician, best known for being a founding member of Sly and the Family Stone, for which she was the trumpeter and a vocalist. Her voice and presence were featured in the hits "Dance to the Music" and "I Want to Take You Higher." Questlove of the hip hop band the Roots has called Robinson the original "hypeman."
A Whole New Thing is the debut album by funk/soul band Sly and the Family Stone, released in 1967 on Epic/CBS Records. The album was released to mixed criticism and failed to make an impact from a commercial standpoint and did not chart. CBS Records executive Clive Davis prevailed upon band leader Sly Stone to create a more commercial album; the result was the album Dance to the Music. Unlike later Sly and the Family Stone albums, A Whole New Thing was recorded live in the studio instead of being overdubbed and featured less of a pop feel than later releases such as Dance to the Music and Stand!. The lead vocals are shared between Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, and Larry Graham; Rose Stone would not join the band until they began work on Dance to the Music.
Fresh is the sixth album by American funk band Sly and the Family Stone, released by Epic/CBS Records in June 1973. Written and produced by Sly Stone over two years, Fresh has been described as a lighter and more accessible take on the dense, drum machine-driven sound of its landmark 1971 predecessor There's a Riot Goin' On. It was the band's final album to reach the US Top 10, entering the Billboard Album Chart on June 30, and their last of three consecutive number-one albums on the R&B chart. In 2003, the album was ranked number 186 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Small Talk is the seventh album by Sly and the Family Stone, released by Epic/CBS Records in 1974. This album was the final LP to feature the original Family Stone, which broke up in January 1975.
"I Want to Take You Higher" is a song by the soul/rock/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, the B-side to their Top 30 hit "Stand!". Unlike most of the other tracks on the Stand! album, "I Want to Take You Higher" is not a message song; instead, it is simply dedicated to music and the feeling one gets from music. Like nearly all of Sly & the Family Stone's songs, Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart was credited as the sole songwriter.
High on You is the first solo album by singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, released by Epic/CBS Records in 1975. The Family Stone broke up in January 1975 after a disastrous booking at the Radio City Music Hall. At this point, most of the band members parted company with Stone, except for trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, his brother guitarist Freddie Stone, and backup singers Little Sister. With subsequent recordings, Stone returned to using the name of his former band, although they were largely solo recordings.
Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back is the eighth studio album by American funk/soul/rock band Sly and the Family Stone, released by Epic/CBS Records in 1976. This album is an effort to return the idea of the "Family Stone" band to singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone's work, after his previous album, High on You, was released without the Family Stone name. It also reflects the beginnings of change in the concept of "Sly and the Family Stone". The original Family Stone had broken up in 1975, and a new Family Stone was assembled for this album: the only holdover is stalwart Family Stone trumpetist Cynthia Robinson. Vet Stone and Elva Mouton, both formerly members of Family Stone backing band Little Sister, are credited as providing "additional background vocals", and John Colla is credited as providing "alto and soprano saxes, vocals". Colla would go on to become a founding member and integral part of "Huey Lewis and The News", both producing and penning such hits as "Heart of Rock & Roll", "Power of Love", and "If This Is It".
Ain't but the One Way is the tenth and final studio album by Sly and the Family Stone, released by Warner Bros. Records in September 1982. The album began its existence as a collaborative project between Sly Stone and George Clinton, a sequel to Stone's appearance on the 1981 Funkadelic album The Electric Spanking of War Babies. While working on Ain't but the One Way, Clinton and Funkadelic quarreled with and eventually left Warner Bros. Records, and Sly Stone went into self-seclusion and could not be found. Producer Stewart Levine was assigned to take control of the project, and do what he could to complete an album. Upon its 1982 release, Ain't but the One Way underperformed and marked the end of Sly Stone's tenure with Warner Bros. Records.
Game, Dames and Guitar Thangs is the debut album by Parliament-Funkadelic lead guitarist Eddie Hazel. The album was released on July 29, 1977. It was Hazel's only album until his death in 1992, when it was followed by several posthumous releases.
There's a Riot Goin' On is the fifth studio album by American funk and soul band Sly and the Family Stone. It was recorded from 1970 to 1971 at Record Plant Studios in Sausalito, California and released later that year on November 1 by Epic Records. The recording was dominated by band frontman/songwriter Sly Stone during a period of escalated drug use and intra-group tension.
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