Family

Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music. During the late '60s and early '70s, Sly Stone and his family of funkateers were one of the most popular outfits in the U.S. and beyond. Their blend of classic Soul and future Funk created the blueprint that many other bands still follow over four decades later. This box includes great albums like A Whole New Thing (1967), Dance To The Music (1968), Life (1968), Stand! (1969) and There's A Riot Goin' On (1971).

This two-CD package is a little more interesting than a typical reissue combination of two albums. Most importantly, it adds two bonus tracks, both from their pre-Music in a Doll's House 1967 single, "Scene Through the Eye of a Lens"/"Gypsy Woman," that had never been legitimately reissued on compact disc before….

The finest country songwriters understand that the best way to a big idea is often through a small detail. Consider the central gesture that dictates the action in Brandy Clark's beautiful song "I Cried," which appears on producer Dave Cobb's graceful compilation album Southern Family. Contemplating a grandfather's death and his wife's ensuing loneliness, Clark builds the song's chorus around the phrase, "I cried," her voice arching up into a tender, transcendent falsetto; in the next line, she takes the mood down again. "I tried to hold my head high, it ended up in my hands." That simple image so effectively captures the experience of living with grief: the attempt to show strength for others, for your own sanity, and the gradual, quiet, repetitive sag into vulnerability. Who hasn't experienced this moment at a funeral — or, as Clark describes, while simply talking on the phone with a fellow loved one left behind?