Sly & The Family Stone - The Woodstock Experience

It’s pretty safe to say that just about everyone at Woodstock was high, but I don’t think anyone was higher than Sly Stone on Sunday August 16, 1969. That includes Jimi and Jerry “Captain Trips” Garcia. Sly was riding high on the charts with the incredible Stand! album and was starting to get really carried away with cocaine and his ego.

Listening to the full performance of Sly & The Family Stone’s full set from Woodstock, it’s easy to see why he got so nuts. Here’s a band at their peak kicking ass at 3:30AM waking up all the hippies and forcing them to boogie. If you could control over half a million people you’d get a little weird, too.

If this had been released in the aftermath of the Woodstock festival it would be rated as one of the greatest live albums ever.

After a brief tune up, Sly fires up a chant of “hey hey hey” and the band comes crashing in with a ferocious version of “M’Lady.” What a blast of fresh air it must have been to hear this music after a full day of psychedelic rock guitar solos. Music like this forces you to stand up and get down and forget all about the silly hippy dancing. There’s never been a band that sounds like this before or since. Sly’s mix of pop, rock, soul, gospel and funk caused everyone from Miles Davis to The Beatles to stop and rethink their shit. Larry Graham’s bass playing revolutionized the instrument and the way he locks in with the incredible drumming of Greg Errico is unmatched to this day. Sly, his sister Rose on keyboards, brother Freddie on guitar blend their voices like the Staple Singers on acid. Add to that the simple but effective horns of Jerry Martini and Cynthia Robinson and you’ve got the sound that changed the world.

“Sing a Simple Song,” “You Can Make It If You Try,” “Everyday People” and “Dance To the Music” are faster and louder than the studio versions but sacrifice none of the groove. Turn it up loud enough and you can literally hear all the brain cells exploding in harmony. They run all the songs into each other building it up to the climax of the “Music Lover/Higher” medley that’s one of the stand outs of the original Woodstock movie. Sly brings the band down and starts up a call and response saying “I wanna take you higher” and the crowd roars “HIGHER!” When the band comes back in the crowd goes nuts. This is all a set up for an insane 10 minute version of “I Want To Take You Higher.”

Disc 1:

1. Stand! 3:07
2. Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey 5:57
3. I Want To Take You Higher 5:22
4. Somebody'S Watching You 3:20
5. Sing A Simple Song (Single Version) 3:55
6. Everyday People (Single Version) 2:21
7. Sex Machine 13:46
8. You Can Make It If You Try 3:38




Disc 2: The Woodstock Performance 16th august 1969



1. M'Lady (Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair) 7:46
2. Sing A Simple Song (Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair) 5:13
3. You Can Make It If You Try (Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair) 5:36
4. Everyday People (Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair) 3:15
5. Dance To The Music (Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair) 4:28
6. Medley: Higher/Music Lover (Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair) 7:50
7. I Want To Take You Higher (Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair) 6:43
8. Love City (Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair) 6:04
9. Stand! (Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair)

Thank you for seeding :o)

check this out
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xlup9_woodstock-1969-sly-the-family-stone_music