LP Review: Stand!
Previous LP: Life (C+)
Next LP: There’s A Riot Goin’ On (A+)
Released: 1969
LP Charts: #3 R&B, #13 pop
Stand! was the (five-dollar word alert) apotheosis of Sly & the Family Stone’s vision of a beautiful multiracial America where folks could get along, if not always in complete harmony then at least in peace.
It also shows the cracks of that vision too.
I’m not the first to note this, but the unflinching optimism with hints of despair are terribly fitting since the album was recorded in 1968 and 1969 as the United States saw the assassination of MLK and RFK, the election of Richard Nixon’s law & order campaign, and escalating anti-Vietnam War protests.
“Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey” and “Somebody’s Watching You” are the first discernible fissures in the musical dream of Sly Stone, who as usual wrote every song on this album. Oh sure, he and the band had made somewhat caustic songs before, but they were typically done as calls for individuals and society to be better… or just humorous observations. There is an unsettling bite and nastiness to “Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey” that acknowledges perhaps we can’t get over our mutual animosities and instead will be stuck in a cycle of violation and retaliation.
Meanwhile, the bug-eyed “Somebody’s Watching You” is the first hint of paranoia-funk that would blossom fully on There’s A Riot Goin’ On. In turn, that would spurn a million copycat R&B/funk tracks, but we’ll get to that in our next album review…
There’s also an instrumental funk jam, “Sex Machine”, whose really good groove absolutely does not justify nearly 14 minutes of runtime. You need a great groove for that.
The other five songs are where we find that gorgeous optimism of the 1960s expressed in various ways.
“Stand!” (#14 R&B, #22 pop) is happily militant, like a hippie protest march slapped on vinyl wax as it urges the downtrodden to assert themselves.
Stand!
You've been sitting much too long
There's a permanent crease in your right and wrong
Stand!
There's a midget standing tall
And a giant beside him about to fall
“I Want To Take You Higher” (#24 R&B, #60 pop) is in the spirit of “Dance to the Music” where music itself takes on the form of a social movement. The Family Stone insists that nitty gritty beats meant to make you move will take you higher. Furthermore, they inquire don’t you want to get higher? You’d be a fool to not want music to inspire your soul to do and be better.
“Sing A Simple Song” (#28 R&B, #89 pop) merges “Higher” and “Stand!” by explicitly insisting the power of music can improve yourself and society.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I'm livin', livin', livin' life with all its ups and downs
I'm givin', givin', givin' love and smiling at the frowns
You're in trouble when you find it's hard for you to smile
A simple song might make it better for a little while
The drums and the guitar riff in this song are absurdly great. There’s an oft-sampled break at about the 2:15 mark where the horns strut for a bit. And the vocal interplay is some of the best the Family Stone would ever concoct. Quite clearly a song that birthed a million Earth, Wind & Fire feel-good platitude jams like “Shining Star”.
Man, this band really was influential…
“Everyday People” (#1 R&B, #1 pop) in my humble opinion should be America’s national anthem. I am a sucker for its lyrics that point out the diversity of this nation and the potential for division inherent in that. Therefore, we gotta acknowledge there are “different strokes for different folks” if we want to avoid petty and dangerous sniping and ideologies.
Furthermore, I love, love, love the lyrics on the bridges, which essentially amount to, “All y’all quit bullshittin’!”
There is a blue one who can't accept the green one
For living with a fat one, trying to be a skinny one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo-bee…
There is a long hair that doesn't like the short hair
For being such a rich one, that will not help the poor one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo-bee…
There is a yellow one that won't accept the black one
That won't accept the red one, that won't accept the white one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo-bee
The album concludes on a cliche: “You Can Make It If You Try”. Despite the eye-rolling phrase, the band performs the song with so much sincerity, you can’t help but believe in it. Perhaps given what he had seen of the United States in 1968 and 1969, Sly Stone was trying to convince himself of that mantra.
ALBUM GRADE: A-
Shoulda been an A, maybe even an A+ album! But the two longest songs are also the two weakest. Furthermore, the album totals 41 minutes. The six great and perfect songs clock in at 21 minutes. The two merely above average songs clock in at 20 minutes.
Anyways, hope you enjoy the optimism expressed here because Sly & the Family Stone are about to do a 180 into despair on the next LP. This was also the last time the whole band would be featured on the album cover as the band (and Sly Stone in particular) descended into chaos. Fitting that a fractured America would have a fractured Family Stone going forward.
Song Scores
Stand!: 9/10
Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey: 6/10
I Want To Take You Higher: 8/10
Somebody’s Watching You: 8/10
Sing A Simple Song: 10/10
Everyday People: 10/10
Sex Machine: 6/10
You Can Make It If You Try: 7.5/10
Previous LP: Life (C+)
Next LP: There’s A Riot Goin’ On (A+)