Sly And The Family Stone - The First Family: Live At The Winchester Cathedral 1967

スライ＆ザ・ファミリー・ストーン、1967年3月26日にカリフォルニア州レッドウッドシティのウィンチェスター大聖堂で行なった初期のライヴ音源『The First Family: Live at Winchester Cathedral 1967』が High Moon Records よりリリース！

スライ＆ザ・ファミリー・ストーンは、黒人と白人、男性と女性、ロックとソウルなど、あらゆるレベルで真のパイオニアでした。彼らはポピュラーミュージックのあらゆる先入観を打ち砕き、世界がかつて目撃した中で最も革新的で影響力のあるアーティストの一人となりました。

『The First Family: Live at Winchester Cathedral 1967』は、ファミリー・ストーンのオリジナル・ラインナップによる前例のないライブ・パフォーマンスです。エピック・レコードとの契約直前、そして「Dance To The Music」でチャートに躍り出る1年前に録音されました。この魅力的な録音は、スライ・ストーンの才能を、刺激的で雰囲気のあるヴィンテージ・ソウル・カバーで解き明かしています。そこには、グループの急成長期にまもなくお馴染みとなるアレンジ、モチーフ、そして陶酔させるようなエネルギーが散りばめられています。クエストラブのドキュメンタリー『SLY LIVES!（別名：The Burden of Black Genius）』によってスライへの関心は高まっていますが、ファミリー・ストーンの伝説的な才能の真髄を初期から体験するには、この歴史的なドキュメントを聴く必要があります。

Sly & the Family Stone werent much like anyone else when they rose to fame in the late 60s. They drew enthusiastically from soul, blues, rock, and psychedelia while juggling the ingredients in a unique manner that paved the way for the new world of funk. They were also a racially and sexually integrated band at a time when that was essentially unheard of, and they delivered a singular blend of defiance and optimism that was a superb match for their tight, razor-sharp performances. They were a group so ferociously innovative that it was difficult to imagine where they came from and how they made it happen, but The First Family: Live at the Winchester Cathedral 1967 offers a fascinating and exciting glimpse of them in their embryonic stage. The First Family was assembled from recently rediscovered and restored tapes of one of Sly & the Family Stones first-ever gigs, performed in March 1967 at the Winchester Cathedral, an all-ages nightclub in the San Francisco Bay Area. These tapes dont sound quite like the band that would release their debut album, A Whole New Thing, just seven months later, but they clearly were on to something special, and they were already capable of delivering a compelling and surprising show. The most important thing that sets this apart from what Sly & the Family Stone would become is that, except for the opening track, "I Aint Got Nobody," the set list is all covers, and the absence of Sly Stones songwriting makes a huge difference, putting the rock side of their formula lower in the mix. The influence of James Brown is far more audible here as well, with the horn section of Cynthia Robinson, Jerry Martini, and Freddie Stone nailing the stop-start dynamics of Browns classic era as Slys keyboards carry the minimal melodies over the rhythm sections infallible groove. You also wouldnt hear Robinson getting a seven-minute solo feature on "Saint James Infirmary" much longer after this, though she delivers it with a jazzy confidence. Their version of Lou Courtneys "Skate Now" offers a preview of the vocal tricks Sly and the band would use so effectively on "Dance to the Music" a year later, and they were capable of taking familiar numbers like "Baby I Need Your Loving" and "I Cant Turn You Loose" and filling them with a spirit and passion a typical cover band could never imagine. On the night this show was taped, Sly & the Family Stone were already a group who could put on a killer show and deliver something fresh and innovative. Time, talent, and hard work would do the rest over the next year, and The First Family allows us to hear Sly & the Family Stone when they werent one of the most important bands of their time -- yet. ~ Mark Deming