SLY & THE FAMILY STONE - GREATEST HITS - 1970 QUADRAPHONIC LP Listen Track Here

$

25

Sly & The Family Stone ?– Greatest Hits
Columbia SQ Quadraphonic
12" LP VINYL EPIC RECORDS CATALOG ?– EQ 30325
In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album number 60 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Description: Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by American recording group Sly and the Family Stone, released on November 21, 1970, by Epic Records. Comprising five singles and their b-sides along with one additional single and one album track, it includes all of the singles from the albums Dance to the Music (1968), Life (1968), and Stand! (1969), and all of their charting B-sides. Three tracks released as singles in 1969 appear on album for the first time here: "Hot Fun in the Summertime", "Everybody Is a Star", and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)". The versions on this compilation are not the single mixes in all cases; some songs appear here in their album lengths and mixes. Greatest Hits was certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), having shipped five million copies in the United States. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album number 61 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

History:
Released in the midst of an eighteen-month stretch from late 1969 to late 1971, during which Sly & the Family Stone released no new material, Greatest Hits was designed by Epic Records to appease consumer demand and keep the band's name and music in the public's eye. Greatest Hits peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200, and was the band's most successful album sales-wise.

The songs from this album were remixed into Quadraphonic format in 1970 - Once as a test mix, and then again for proper release. Both the Test mixes and released mixes contain different running times and alternate or missing vocals/instrumentation to the original versions. Sly Stone and his engineers never got around to making standard stereo mixes of the three non-album singles ("Hot Fun in the Summertime", "Thank You" & Everyone's A Star"). Epic had to resort to taking the mono versions and making simulated stereo versions by electronically rechannelling the mono mixes' frequencies for the stereo LP. For years, the Quadraphonic LP of this album was the only way to find stereo mixes of the non-album singles. True stereo mixes of these three songs were finally done when the Sly & the Family Stone catalog was digitally remastered in the 1990s.

Critical Reception:
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 4.5/5 stars, Christgau's Record Guide A+, PopMatters 8/10, and The Rolling Stone Album Guide 5/5 stars. In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, music critic Jon Landau said that Sly Stone's style is "so infinite and revolves around so many crucial aspects that it has only come together perfectly on a handful of his singles", the best of which are compiled on Greatest Hits. Although he found occasionally "trite" music and lyrics, Landau felt that most of the songs "alone stand as a tribute to one of the most original and creative rock musicians." Music journalist Robert Christgau said that, although he has "doubts" about the band's studio albums, Greatest Hits is "among the greatest rock and roll LPs of all time", with "only one cut ('Fun')" wherein the lyrics are "merely competent". He said that Stone's political songs are "uplifting but never simplistic or sentimental", and found the rhythms particularly exceptional, calling them "inspirational, good-humored, and trenchant throughout". Christgau asserted that the music's flashy stereo separations, vocal sounds, and register alterations made Greatest Hits "the toughest commercial experiments in rock and roll history".

In a review upon the album's reissue in 2007, Andrew Gilstrap of PopMatters said that, although it is not comprehensive, the "slapped-together feel" may be "part of what makes Greatest Hits work so well, as if it was put together with the same freewheeling spirit that characterized the band." Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the album is "one of the greatest party records of all time", with music that is "rarely as vivacious, vigorous, and vibrant as this", and claimed that greatest hits albums "don't come better than this — in fact, music rarely does."

Track Listing:
All songs written by Sylvester Stewart, and produced and arranged by Sly Stone for Stone Flower Productions. Superscripts denote original album sources, referenced below.

Side One
A1 - "I Want to Take You Higher" – 5:22 c
A2 - "Everybody Is a Star" – 3:00
A3 - "Stand!" – 3:08 c
A4 - "Life" – 2:58 b
A5 - "Fun" – 2:20 b
A6 - "You Can Make It If You Try" – 3:39 c

Side Two
B1 - "Dance to the Music" – 2:58 a
B2 - "Everyday People" – 2:20 c
B3 - "Hot Fun in the Summertime" – 2:37
B4 - "M'Lady" – 2:44 b
B5 - "Sing a Simple Song" – 3:55 c
B6 - "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" – 4:47

Notes
a from Dance to the Music (1968)
b from Life (1968)
c from Stand! (1969)
"Everybody is a Star", "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" are all new to album.

Album Details
Released Date - November 21, 1970
Tracks - 12
Genre - Funk, R&B, Psychedelic & Rock
Length - 39:56
Label - Epic Records
Recorded: 1967-69
Produced by: Stone Flower Productions
Record Format 12" Vinyl Stereo
Manufactured By – Epic/CBS Records
Marketed By – Epic Records
Mastered At –Customatrix
Matrix / Run out (Run-out area 1-side) hand etched: PQ Stamped: AL-30325-2A
Matrix / Run out (Run-out area 2-side) hand etched: PQ Stamped: BL-30325-1C
Label, Side 1: EQ 30325 QAL 30325
Label, Side 2: EQ 30325 QBL 30325

Credits

Design [Album] – Teresa Alfieri
Engineer [Quadraphonic Remix] – Larry Keyes
Photography By – Stephen Paley
Producer – Sly Stone
Supervised By [Quadraphonic Sound Supervision] – Al Lawrence
Sly Stone: vocals, organ, guitar, piano, harmonica, and more
Freddie Stone: vocals, guitar
Larry Graham: vocals, bass guitar
Rose Stone: vocals, piano, keyboards
Cynthia Robinson: trumpet, vocal ad-libs
Jerry Martini: saxophone
Greg Errico: drums
Little Sister (Vet Stone, Mary McCreary, Elva Mouton): background vocals

Listen to: Sing a Simple Song - Track B5 on this album

Columbia SQ Quadraphonic: During the early 1970s, Columbia began recording in a four-channel process called quadraphonic, using the "SQ" (Stereo Quadraphonic) standard which used an electronic encoding process that could be decoded by special amplifiers and then played through four speakers, with each speaker placed in the corner of a room. Remarkably, RCA countered with another quadraphonic process which required a special cartridge to play the "discrete" recordings for four-channel playback. Both Columbia and RCA's quadraphonic records could be played on conventional stereo equipment. Although the Columbia process required less equipment and was quite effective, many were confused by the competing systems and sales of both Columbia's matrix recordings and RCA's discrete recordings were disappointing. A few other companies also issued some matrix recordings for a few years. Quadraphonic recording was used by both classical artists, including Leonard Bernstein and Pierre Boulez, and popular artists such as Electric Light Orchestra, Billy Joel, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, Barbara Streisand, Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, The Clash and Blue Öyster Cult. Columbia even released a soundtrack album of the movie version of Funny Girl in quadraphonic.

Album Condition: This stereo album cover is in mint condition and still contains its original shrink wrap. The inner sleeve is the original which includes a Record Collector's Guide to Quadraphonic sound and has a few wrinkles. The vinyl contains small scratch's and scuffs on both sides that cannot be felt to the touch. The record labels are clear and crisp with no writing, markings or spindle wear. This is the original, authentic, first US pressing. It is not a reissue, an import, cutout or a counterfeit pressing (see included images).

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