''Stand!'' is the fourth album by

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

band

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul music, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel music, gospel, and R&B, becam ...

, released on May 3, 1969. Written and produced by lead singer and multi-instrumentalist

Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (March 15, 1943 – June 9, 2025), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, was an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the development ...

, ''Stand!'' is considered an artistic high-point of the band's career. Released by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

, just before the group's celebrated performance at the

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

festival, it became the band's most commercially successful album to date. It includes several well-known songs, among them

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

s, such as " Sing a Simple Song", " I Want to Take You Higher", " Stand!", and " Everyday People". The album was reissued in 1987 on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

and vinyl, and again in 2007 as a

remastered A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

numbered edition

digipack Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

CD with bonus tracks and, in the UK, as only a CD with bonus tracks. The album sold 500,000 copies in 1969 and was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in sales by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on December 4 of that year. It peaked at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and stayed on the chart for nearly two years. By 1986 it had sold well over 1 million copies and was certified platinum in sales by the RIAA on November 21 of that same year. It then went on to sell over three million copies, becoming one of the most successful albums of the 1960s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 118 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine's list of

the 500 greatest albums of all time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indu ...

, 121 in a 2012 revised list, and number 119 in a 2020 reboot of the list. In 2015, the album was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

and selected for inclusion in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...

. In 2015, ''Stand!'' was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

Production

''Stand!'' was recorded after ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'', 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 Frederick Jerome Stewart (born June 5, 1947), known professionally as Freddie Stone, is an American pastor and musician, known for being a member of Sly and the Family Stone. Career Born Frederick Stewart, he started playing music when he was ...

Larry Graham Larry Graham Jr. (born August 14, 1946) is an American bass guitar, bassist and baritone singer, with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. In 1980, he released the si ...

Rose Stone Rose Stone (born Rosemary Stewart, March 21, 1945) is an American singer and keyboardist. She is best known as one of the lead singers in Sly and the Family Stone, a popular psychedelic soul/funk band founded by her brothers, Sly Stone and ...

, 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 San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. 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 Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter ...

's ''Orchestration'' textbook, Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 69–71 unlike his erratic behavior and work after he became dependent upon

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

within a year of the album's success.Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 113–115

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. Most of the Family Stone was unavailable for the session at which this coda was recorded: Sly, drummer Gregg Errico and horn players Cynthia Robinson and Jerry Martini were augmented by session players instead. Errico recalls that many liked the gospel extension more than they did the song proper, and that; "People would always ask, 'why didn't you go there and let that be the song?'" The second track, titled "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey", has few lyrics save for the chorus ''Don't call me "

nigger In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...

", whitey/Don't call me "whitey", nigger'' and a single verse sung by Rose Stone. On " I Want to Take You Higher" Freddie Stone, Larry Graham, Rose Stone, and Sly Stone take turns delivering the lead vocal and all seven band-members deliver the shouted backing vocals. Sly Stone, Robinson, Freddie Stone, Graham, and Martini all play instrumental solos. On " Somebody's Watching You" Sly Stone, Graham, Freddie Stone, and Rose Stone deliver the vocal in unison. The song's slightly pessimistic tone would be expanded upon later in the band's career with " Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" and the ''

There's a Riot Goin' On ''There's a Riot Goin' On'' is the fifth studio album by the American funk and soul music, soul band Sly and the Family Stone. It was recorded from 1970 to 1971 at Record Plant Studios in Sausalito, California, and released later that year on No ...

'' LP, and would be a hit for the Family Stone's vocal group Little Sister, the first Top 40 single to use a

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

. " 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 The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

and

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

all recorded cover versions of the song. The track's guitar riff is heard on

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner was an American musical duo consisting of husband-and-wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocalists, the Ikettes. ...

's "Bold Soul Sister" (from ''The Hunter'', 1969),

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

's '' Band of Gypsys'' (1970) and

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

' '' 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.Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 132 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 ''

'' 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 Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

Legacy Legacy or Legacies may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline * '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics * ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press * ''Legacy ...

's 2007 reissue of the band's catalogue,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

said that "''Stand!'' revealed the magnificence of which this band would all too briefly be capable. 'Sex Machine,' which precipitated

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

'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 Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

fave 'Somebody's Watching You' to, yes you can, 'You Can Make It If You Try.'" Also appraising the reissue campaign, Peter Shapiro wrote in '' Uncut'' that ''Stand!'' was "the group’s true breakthrough" as its "seamless blend of rock, funk and soul, and the soaring mix of black and white voices, made crossover seem like Utopia." Commenting on the music's historical context, Shapiro added: The Jackson 5 covered both "Stand!" and "Want to Take You Higher" on their soundtrack album '' Goin' Back to Indiana'' (1971).

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock music, rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie (musician), Jim Beattie (guitar). The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simon ...

sampled "Sex Machine" on their cover of

the 13th Floor Elevators The 13th Floor Elevators was an American Rock music, rock band from Austin, Texas, United States, formed by guitarist and lead vocalist, vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug (instrument), jug player Tommy Hall (American musician), Tommy Hall, ...

' "Slip Inside This House" from their album ''

Screamadelica ''Screamadelica'' is the third studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was first released on 23 September 1991 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and on 8 October 1991 in the United States by Sire Records. The album marked a ...

'' (1991). Rapper

Ice-T Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), known professionally as Ice-T (or Ice T), is an American rapper and actor. He is active in both hip hop music, hip hop and heavy metal music, heavy metal. Ice-T began his career as an underground r ...

Body Count A body count is the total number of people killed in a particular event. In combat, a body count is often based on the number of confirmed kills, but occasionally only an estimate. Often used in reference to military combat, the term can also r ...

, and

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1985. The band's best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Perry Farrell, bassist Eric Avery, drummer Stephen Perkins and guitarist Dave Navarro. Jane's Addicti ...

performed "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" during the 1991

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...

tour and in the 1993

Perry Farrell Perry Farrell (born Peretz Bernstein; March 29, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician referred to as the " Godfather of Alternative Music". Farrell began his career with Psi Com in the early 1980s, before becoming the frontman ...

film ''

Gift A gift or present is an item given to someone (who is not already the owner) without the expectation of payment or anything in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is intended to be free. In many cou ...

''.

Track listing

All songs written, produced and arranged by

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) *"I Want to Take You Higher" (mono single version) *"You Can Make It If You Try" (mono single version) *"Soul Clappin' II" (previously unreleased) *"My Brain (Zig-Zag)" (previously unreleased instrumental)

Personnel

;Sly and the Family Stone *

– vocals,

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''vo''ice and en''coder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder wa ...

;

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

on "You Can Make it if You Try" *

– vocals,

, keyboards *

– vocals,

(except on "You Can Make it if You Try") * Greg Errico –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, background vocals on "I Want to Take You Higher" * Cynthia Robinson –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

, vocal ad-libs; background vocals on "I Want to Take You Higher" * Jerry Martini –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

; background vocals on "I Want to Take You Higher" * Little Sister (

Vet Stone Vet Stone (born Vaetta Stewart; May 2, 1950, Vallejo, California) is an American soul singer. She is the sister of Sly Stone, Rose Stone, and Freddie Stone. She was also a member of Sly & the Family Stone and Little Sister. Background Vae ...

Mary McCreary Mary McCreary is an American singer, pianist and composer. She has been a member of hit making recording acts, Little Sister and Leon & Mary Russell. She has recorded her own albums for the MCA and Shelter labels. As a session singer she has s ...

, 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 The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

: " 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

Sources

* Selvin, Joel (1998). For the Record: Sly and the Family Stone: An Oral History. New York: Quill Publishing. .

External links

Lyrics
at

Yahoo! Music Yahoo Music was a brand under which Yahoo provided music services including Internet radio, a digital music store, music streaming service, media player software, and original programming. Yahoo Music was sold to Rhapsody in early 2008. Pro ...

Sly and the Family Stone - ''Stand!'' (1969) album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Sly and the Family Stone - ''Stand!'' (1969) album to be listened
as stream on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

{{Authority control Sly and the Family Stone albums 1969 albums Albums produced by Sly Stone Epic Records albums United States National Recording Registry recordings United States National Recording Registry albums Progressive soul albums Psychedelic soul albums