I just bought "Fresh" by Sly & the Family Stone and . . .

The fact that Sony hasn't reissued them inside the US is a fucking joke.

this is not a mistake. There *is* no title track - the tracklisting is intentionally misleading.

absurd

but if you're using these as paragons of funkiness, i think you've got more problems than i do.

enlighten us then funky messiah

absurd

OK OK. That's a little absurd. I got a little carried away with my love for Fresh :-)

Yeah, for real. If Fresh isn't a paragon of funkiness, I don't know what is. Whether you like the album or not...you have to admit it's about as funky as it gets.

this sounds exactly like my copy which, i guess, is the UK pressing. i can't imagine it sounding any more stripped down, etc.

i can't take 'dance to the music' out of my CD player... this album is so great! i don't care about how 'cynical' it was in concept and education, 'dance to the medley' is so exhilarating. the absolute to Fresh, but to be honest, they're my two favourite Sly LPs (have 'stand' on LP, but 'sex machine' bores me silly, and i *hate 'stoned cowboy' so much that it ruins Riot for me if i don't skip in time)

It's sad that he's just an old nut now. I don't understand the underwhelming response of many people to this record. It's not perfect, but most of it's great, starting from the first track; weak, quavering guitar that's almost confusing until you find how it ties with the rest— the crisp horns, the organ, all with his impeccably timed singing, and yes, procrati

natin'…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mld7eSaydI

Some people swear by it, but apart from "Que Sera Sera" I can't feel any affection or awe for Fresh at all.

Fromwhat I've heard the cover of Que Sera Sera was a riposte to a rumour that Sly had been having an affair with Doris Day. Assume the allegations were unfounded but it makes a good backstory.
Much like Tim Buckley working as Sly's chauffeur in the downtime between Starsailor & Greetings From L.A.
Or that Blue Afternoon by Buckley was largely written as material to offer to Marlene Deitrich, back when Burt bacharach was her musical director.

I don't understand the underwhelming response of many people to this record.

its generally accepted as the 2nd best 70s sly album after riot isnt it?

"Que Sera Sera" gives me chills!

― mcd (mcd), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 17:20 (5 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is my favourite sly album, i think. as mentioned above, i grew up on the UK CD, and I still prefer those versions - more ghostly, more stripped back.

Nobody updated the thread when the remasters appeared.
So, you can now get all the catalogue up to Small talk remastered & expanded. Think it's pretty well done, I got the box when it appeared.
Hadn't heard Small talk before & it was a lot better than I thought. Decent lp, which might have sounded better still if not relative to the preceding set of lps. Has violin all over it which is a new texture.

I can't remember which version of Fresh is on it.

You can now officially get the woodstock live set too. Think its currently the sole official live material released though.

There is live material circulating on the fileshare scene too. Think there are 5 or 6 sets dating back to '68 around. possibly more

There are 2 volumes of live video circulating on the filesharing/bootleg scene. I know I got it from tapecity, not sure where it would be now.

so I knew there was that weird "alternate mix" version of "Fresh" floating around. Did not know that there were demo/alternate mix versions from the "Back on the Right Track" sessions out there as well, which I inadvertently d/l'd today. Some interesting outtakes

link plz?

2nded.

i've said this multiple times on ilx, but the alt mixes of fresh (which were released on the official euro cd release) are the greatest.

'In Time' is the fucking greatest!

when you realize that riot is the greatest record ever but that there should be more of it, thats when you buy fresh

riot's peaks are higher, fresh's more consistent as a whole album.

I'm referring to "Back on the Right Track," btw. Already have the alternate version of "Fresh," which is easy to find if you know how to google.

alt version of Back on the Right Track

there appears to have been a french reissue that contained even more demos than the two extra tracks tacked on here, but I haven't seen it. fwiw I don't think these alt mixes/versions are better (in at least one case the vocal is inarguably worse) but they are interesting

Some people swear by it, but apart from "Que Sera Sera" I can't feel any affection or awe for Fresh at all.
feel the opposite way. i love all of this record, except que sera sera.

it's pretty much a throwaway. the vocal is kinda funny.

thanks for the link shakey!

but i really don't think que sera is throwaway! i find it really moving!

I still wanna know if the "que sera sera" cover sparked the Sly/Doris Day romance rumour, or if it was an ironic comment on it

weird rumor, wouldn't doris day have been over 50 at the time?

ok, important blog post:
Sly Stone, Doris Day, and the breakup with Larry Graham (repost)
http://aaronjjohnson.com/blog/2011/05/12/sly-stone-doris-day-and-the-breakup-with-larry-graham-repost/

according to the Sly "Off the Record" book (the greatest rock bio ever btw) it was an ironic comment on it, and the only reason there was a rumor at all was because of the Terry Melcher connection

ha xp

Damn, I've really gotta read "Off The Record" someday - I know you've made that "best bio ever" claim before on another Sly thread

yeah me too. looks like it's pretty cheap used on amazon...

Thanks Shakey!