STAND!

Stand!, the fourth album from Sly & the Family Stone, could have almost pulled double-duty as a greatest hits package for the band. Laced with sure-fire winners, this 1969 LP put Sly and Co. firmly on the road to super-stardom. Four of the album's seven songs, including the Hall of Fame tracks "Everyday People" and "I Want To Take You Higher," shot straight into the national charts. This visionary work also introduced far-sighted FM radio stations to the goosebump-inducing sounds of "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey," a song that accurately portrayed racial tensions in America in a manner that no one could have seen coming. On a musical level, the band was now tight as a cork in a bottle of vintage wine. No doubt about it: Stand! has to be the tastiest m lange ever of rock, politics, funk and soul!