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 Keep It Simple
Van Morrison
Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
Another Country
Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Yes - Their Definitive Story
Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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Sly And The Family Stone
CLASSIC ALBUM REVIEW – 1973
When this was released, Sly Stone was more fried than ‘fresh’. There’s no “Boom shakka lakka lakka” here. There’s no “Hot Fun in the Summertime.” Fresh was released while Sly slid, hurting his career (and that of a few promoters as well) by missing gigs and behaving unpredictably. To hear the difference between his early hits and this stuff, cue up “Keep On Dancin’,” a deeply lazy groove that exemplifies what might happen if you arrange a dance track while on heroin. Occasionally, Sly Stone simply meanders, like on “Let Me Have It All” and “Frisky”, but in other places he seems much more lucid. “Thankful Thoughtful” expresses joy for surviving years of excess, which is a sentiment that was quite poignant at the time.
At times, Sly turns his skewed mannerisms and turns them into gold. The album’s leadoff track, “In Time,” is as funky as grits (okay, fried grits). The guitar plays a dry, angular riff that is nearly atonal, but it becomes the hook that supports Sly’s spaced-out rhymes. Forget most of the lyrics – this guy is almost as fried as Syd Barrett here, but his musical instincts are on full bore. “If You Want Me To Stay” sounds like the work of an artistic visionary in complete control of his senses. Unfortunately, things are different on “I Don’t Know (Satisfaction),” which suggests the Stones tune – in a Devo-sort of way – without any riff. More bizarre is the cover version of Doris Day’s signature tune, “Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)”. I mean, what’s he thinking? In the end, what matters is that Sly still keeps things interesting, but you can tell that he’s fraying at the edges.
Grade: 
 
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