ROCK Sex wants to get the message over to you now.
Sly Stone influenced everybody and here's more specific proof.
Today's relay baton is "If You Want Me To Stay". Besides its pulsing bassline, this Funk classic is known for the sped-up pitch of its vocal.
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE -"If You Want Me To Stay" (1973)
Here's New Wave cabaret chanteuse RONNY putting her own bend to it.
RONNY -"If You Want Me To Stay" (1981)
George Clinton obviously loves Sly and has done the song a couple different ways. In this song he produced for Bass Monster Bootsy, the melody comes into the finale with a vocal chant of "doot-doot-da-doot-doo"s (at 6:35).
BOOTSY'S RUBBER BAND -"Under The Influence (Of A Groove)" (1979)
A few years later that same chorale was used again when George produced an actual cover by Red Hot Chili Peppers, which featured Maceo Parker himself on sax.
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS -"If You Want Me To Stay" (1985)
At the same time, Prince was alluding to Sly a lot in various songs and fashions, and on this B-side he used the sped-up pitch trick.
PRINCE -"Love Or Money?" (1985)
The 45rpm song was designed so that you could play it 'normal' on the 45rpm, but it also worked slowed down at 33 1/3 to a slunky Funk mode.
(Ahhh, turntables. Let's see your MP3 player do that!)
NIKKA COSTA grew up at Sly's knee, literally. As a child she remembers Sly visiting her father, famed producer Don Costa, and sitting with her at the piano playing away. This breakthrough song of hers is a clear homage of love to "If You Want Me To Stay".
NIKKA COSTA -"Everybody Got Their Something" (2000)
Seems like everybody wants the song to stay because it has been covered by
MERCURY REV
KOBAYASHI KAORI
MICA PARIS
FANTASIA
SOULIVE
and grand dame ETTA JAMES.
Here it is interpolated as the basis for this conscious HipHop song.
GIFT OF GAB -"Up" (2004)
And this one, too.
DA DYSFUNKSHUNAL FAMILEE ft. Finsta Bundy -"Keep Me High" (2009)
Everybody is a star, one big circle going round and round, so let's finish with the song in Finnish.
SAMI SAARI -"Jos Sรค Tahdot Mรค Jรครคn (If You Want Me To Stay)" (2012)
© Tym Stevens
See Also:
• SLICE TONES: Sly Stone & His Infinite Influence!, with 5 Music Players
• "Everyday People" - Sly Stone > Joan Jett > Arrested Development
• "Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego!" - Funkadelic > Sly Stone > Beastie Boys
• "Sing A Simple Song" - Sly Stone > Jimi Hendrix > James Gang > P-Funk > Chili Peppers > Public Enemy
• "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" - Bill Withers > Diana Ross > Sly Stone > Zapp
• "If You Want Me To Stay" - Sly Stone > Bootsy Collins > Red Hot Chili Peppers > Prince > Nikka Costa
• Sly Stone's "I Want To Take You Higher" And Its Unending Influence!, with Music Player!
• Sly Stone > Prince
, with Music Player!
• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist
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1 comment:
This is a great article. I always thought EGTS sounded like IYWMTS, except _I_ thought it was a RHCP original. Ya learn something new every day! :)
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