Music Culture & Society; Part 1

(The following is an essay originally submitted as an assignment on 23rd of May, 2013
The end result of which was a B-)

There’s a Riot Goin’ On – Sly and The Family Stone

Recorded in the aftermath of the 1960s, There’s a Riot Goin’ On is unmistakeably one of the most influential albums both for its musical experimentation and its rich socio-cultural significance. As an answer to political developments of its time, surrounding the African American civil rights movement, and the Vietnam war and also to the radical changes in the music industry, increasingly demanding more artistically driven popular music, Sly and the Family Stone created a sound that shaped the idea of Black music forever and gave a voice to a new generation.

One of the most prominent features of There’s a Riot Goin’ On and of course, the overall sound associated with Sly and the Family Stone is that, as a multi-cultural band consisting of members of mixed races, the resulting sound clearly reflects a certain unity to all the individual elements, an serves as answer to the previously separated genres of white and black music.
The Funk sound, as a whole, immediately resembles the soul and groove of a distinctly black music scene and Sly and the Family Stone are in no way an exception to this. Their sound, right down to the very instruments which are used, reflect the R&B scene of the late 1950s and 1960s. The Percussive Slap Bass of Larry Graham is often quite reminiscent of the bass lines used in James Brown songs and its prominence reminds the listener of the warm prominent bass tones of Motown recordings such as ‘My Girl’ by the Temptations or  ‘Mustang Sally’ by Wilson Pickett. The Drums are Rhythmic and consistent throughout the song, rarely straying or changing, it keeps the beat consistent which again is an important feature in a lot of black American R&B music.

As well as the bass lines and the drum beat, the backing vocals and melodic harmonies provided by Little Sister, the backing harmony group of Sly and The Family Stone are often reminiscent of Motown acts such as Diana Ross and the Supremes, or Aretha Franklin’s backing group the Sweet Inspirations.  The soulful harmonies are an important factor of a lot of R&B Music which finds its roots in gospel music.

The sound also resembles soul of the 1960s in ways such as its little to no harmonic complexity, and the overlapping layers of sound that fit together to complete the ‘groove’ of the final song. In songs such as ‘Family Affair’ the lyrical content consists of rather James Brown-like vocal phrases, short in length with lots of repetition. Whilst Funk as a genre consists of various elements of Soul and R&B, There’s a Riot Goin’ On shows various signs of being influenced by very distinctly British music. More specifically, The White British Working class Music.

Prior to Beatle-mania and the British invasion, It was common for black R&B acts such as the Motown artists to sing onstage, either as part of a group or with a backing group consisting of four of five black men or women in matching outfits moving and dancing in a synchronised order to the music being performed. The best examples of this are The Temptations, The Four Tops or The Supremes. It was another important part of the unique style that had been adopted by the Motown Record Company. This all changed radically when the so called British invasion and Beatle-mania era started. Then, with bands such as the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and the Yardbirds, the ‘stars’ were suddenly taking a more active role in the instrument playing part of the music too. Sly and The Family Stone, shaped around this and stood as an answer to these radical changes. When they emerged, they had rejected the old ways of Black R&B Music and the style coined by Motown for a more active, instrument playing style, which was an important and interesting advancement at the time.

As well as this, There’s a Riot Goin’ On uses a lot of Distortion and Modulation effects such as added distortion on the guitars and Vocals, and a Wahwah pedal being used quite prominently on the guitar parts. These effects had been used before, by various bands such as Led Zeppelin or The Who but never to the extent that Sly Stone had used them in the Album. The Wahwah sound more or less dominates the guitar parts throughout the album, which eventually became an important defining feature in a lot of funk music, and Sly Stone’s vocals are drenched in a distortion effect that creates a distinct raspy, gritty sound as it begins to peak which at some instances makes it almost difficult to hear what is being said, but in general, adds a certain raw tone to the overall sound. Such features as these originated from White musicians and the band bringing them together and incorporating the elements of Soul and R&B is a key to the more artistic driven popular music sound that Sly Stone was aiming towards.

The Album also includes various elements in the instrumentation and playing style which show it is a response to the influence of the British invasion for example, the Bass played by Larry Graham becomes more of a lead instrument, similar to the style in which John Entwistle of The Who or John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin played the Bass. Prior to the 1960s it would have mainly been used to thicken up the bottom end and leave more of the freedom to the soloist, but during the 60s, the progressive rock style bass would provide the melody line or would often take improvised solos. The Organ also features quite heavily in There’s a Riot Goin’ On; the organ was quite frequently used in songs by The Doors and became a unique part of their sound. The main theme and Ideas of There’s a Riot Goin’ On is prominent throughout the album, making it a Concept album. Like Tommy by The Who and Sgt.Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles, the whole Album tells its story as a whole unit, although different songs tend to introduce different Ideas, the Concept remains consistent throughout. The Concept album was, at the time, becoming increasingly popular as the music industry drifted towards finding a more deeply artistic driven side to popular music.

The fact that Sly and The Family Stone had brought together the influence of both white and Black Music, gave a voice to the new developments in society as well as the music industry. The unity of elements taken from both white and black music reflected and supported the idea of unity and equality in which the African American Civil rights movement were fighting for during the Mid to Late 1950s and 1960s. Since There’s a Riot Goin’ On was recorded between 1970 and 1971, not long after the events of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jnr., it is obvious that it stood for and supported the civil rights movement.  The concept of family and unity is even obvious from the band’s choice of name; Sly and the Family Stone.

As well as the African American Civil rights movement, at the time of recording There’s a Riot Goin’ On America was fighting in the Vietnam War. The very title of the album suggests that there were poor relations between the US and the communist forces in Vietnam which had effectively started the ‘riot’ of the war. There’s a Riot Goin’ On is also a response to Marvin Gaye’s Vietnam fuelled concept album What’s going on.

In conclusion, There’s a Riot Goin’ On stands as one of the most culturally significant and influential albums because of how it reacted to such strong political developments of its time, such as America’s involvement in the war in Vietnam, the various achievements of the African American civil rights movement, to the ever changing face of the music industry, increasingly demanding more artistically driven popular music, and also because it successfully brought together elements of musical styles that had previously been separated by racial segregation. Sly and the Family Stone gave a voice to a new generation; the new family.