Before he put it all together musically with Sly & the Family Stone, Sly Stone worked as a house producer for Autumn Records between 1963 and 1966, working with garage-styled folk-rock groups like the Beau Brummels and the Mojo Men, among others. He also turned out a half dozen or so solo singles, which form the basis of this collection. Nothing here is even remotely close to being in Family Stone territory (although the closing track here, the impressive "Take My Advice," comes close to that distinctive horn-driven soul/funk template that Stone would soon perfect), but it's by no means uninteresting, and shows Sly trying on an assortment of different stylistic hats, some of which work surprisingly well. The clear highlight is the two-part "Swim," Sly's own version of a song that Bobby Freeman would soon cover, sleek up, and take onto the pop charts. Also worth noting is a sharp take on Jimmy Reed's "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby," and fun if hardly original versions of Willie Dixon's "The Seventh Son" and Leiber & Stoller's "Searchin'," both done up in the then popular Johnny Rivers live-in-the-studio style. More revelatory than essential, but still fun to hear, these early and rare 45s show Stone moving toward the ground-breaking pop/soul/funk synthesis that would make him a star. ~ Steve Leggett

Rovi