Stand!

Stand! was recorded after Life, a commercially unsuccessful album. Although the Family Stone's single "Dance to the Music" was a top ten hit in early 1968, none of the band's first three albums reached above 100 on the Billboard 200. Stand! reached number thirteen and launched Sly Stone and his bandmates Freddie Stone, Larry Graham, Rose Stone, Cynthia Robinson, Jerry Martini, and Greg Errico into the pop music mainstream. Much of the album was recorded at Pacific High Recording Studios in San Francisco. The band's A&R director and photographer Stephen Paley recalled how "together" Sly Stone was while working on Stand!, constantly referring to Walter Piston's Orchestration textbook, unlike his erratic behavior and work after he became dependent upon cocaine within a year of the album's success. ==Songs==

Stand! begins with the title track on which Sly sings lead, a mid-tempo number launching into a gospel break for its final forty-nine seconds. and would be a hit for the Family Stone's vocal group Little Sister, the first Top 40 single to use a drum machine. "Sing a Simple Song" urges the audience to "try a little do re mi fa so la ti do". Diana Ross & the Supremes, The Temptations and The Jackson 5 all recorded cover versions of the song. The track's guitar riff is heard on Ike & Tina Turner's "Bold Soul Sister" (from The Hunter, 1969), Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys (1970) and Miles Davis' A Tribute to Jack Johnson (1971). "Everyday People", already a number-one hit single in the United States by the time of the album's release, opens Side B. The most familiar song on the album, "Everyday People" popularized the expression "different strokes for different folks". Sly Stone, Rose Stone and Cynthia Robinson sing lead and Larry Graham introduces the slap-pop style of bass he expanded on "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)". "Sex Machine" is a thirteen-minute jam that features Sly scatting through amplified distortion and allows each band member a solo. Gregg Errico's drum solo closes the song and the band members are heard bursting into laughter during the final seconds. Stand! concludes with "You Can Make It If You Try", sung by Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, and Larry Graham. Sly Stone instead of Larry Graham played the bass. It was, at one point, planned for a single release in mid-1969, following up "Stand!", but this was dropped in favor of the non-album track "Hot Fun in the Summertime". The unused mono single mix was later included on the 2007 CD reissue. ==Critical reception and legacy==

Reviewing for Rolling Stone in July 1969, Alec Dubro observed a "very evident sense of moral purpose" in the content and a rawness in its brand of soul music, which he said "depends on sheer energy more than anything else". Overall, he found the album provocative and "effective", recommended "for anyone who can groove on a bunch of very raucous kids charging through a record, telling you exactly what they think whether you want to hear it that way or not." In the same magazine, covering Epic-Legacy's 2007 reissue of the band's catalogue, Robert Christgau said that "Stand! revealed the magnificence of which this band would all too briefly be capable. 'Sex Machine,' which precipitated James Brown's, wah-wahs on a bit, but everything else is etched in Stone, from the equally precipitous 'Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey' to the Chaka Khan fave 'Somebody's Watching You' to, yes you can, 'You Can Make It If You Try.'" ==Track listing==

All songs written, produced and arranged by Sly Stone for Stone Flower Productions. Side one • "Stand!" – 3:08 • "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" – 5:58 • "I Want to Take You Higher" – 5:22 • "Somebody's Watching You" – 3:20 • "Sing a Simple Song" – 3:56 Side two • "Everyday People" – 2:21 • "Sex Machine" – 13:45 • "You Can Make It If You Try" – 3:37 2007 limited edition CD reissue bonus tracks • "Stand!" (mono single version) - 3:08 • "I Want to Take You Higher" (mono single version) - 3:01 • "You Can Make It If You Try" (mono single version) - 3:38 • "Soul Clappin' II" (previously unreleased) - 3:26 • "My Brain (Zig-Zag)" (previously unreleased instrumental) - 3:19 ==Personnel==

;Sly and the Family Stone • Sly Stone – vocals, organ, guitar, piano, harmonica, vocoder; bass guitar on "You Can Make it if You Try" • Rose Stone – vocals, piano, keyboards • Freddie Stone – vocals, guitar • Larry Graham – vocals, bass guitar (except on "You Can Make it if You Try") • Greg Errico – drums, background vocals on "I Want to Take You Higher" • Cynthia Robinson – trumpet, vocal ad-libs; background vocals on "I Want to Take You Higher" • Jerry Martini – saxophone; background vocals on "I Want to Take You Higher" • Little Sister (Vet Stone, Mary McCreary, Elva Mouton) – background vocals on "Stand!", "Sing a Simple Song", "Everyday People" and "I Want to Take you Higher" ;Technical • Don Puluse, Brian Ross-Myring, Phil Macey – engineering ==Chart history==

Album Singles • "Everyday People" • Epic single 10407, 1968; B-side: "Sing a Simple Song" • "Stand!" • Epic single 10450, 1969; B-side: "I Want to Take You Higher" • Later reissued in 1970 with sides reversed. ==References==