Sly & the Family Stone’s Earliest Live Recordings to Be Released

Close to 60 years since they were committed to tape, the earliest known live recordings of Sly & the Family Stone will be released this year.

Dubbed The First Family: Live at the Winchester Cathedral 1967, the collection of unearthed live cuts will be issued on July 18 via High Moon. 

They’ll be available as digital, vinyl and CD editions, with physical copies being issued with a booklet featuring never-before-seen photos, interviews with Sly Stone and original band members, and liner notes from producer Alex Palao. The CD edition will also feature their cover of Otis Redding‘s “Try A Little Tenderness” as an exclusive bonus track.

Recorded on March 26, 1967, the live set sees the influential group performing as part of their four-month residency at the Winchester Cathedral club in Redwood City, California. Recorded by first manager Rich Romanello, the tapes were soon shelved, but later rediscovered in 2002 by Dutch twins and band archivists Edwin and Arno Konings.

“The Winchester Cathedral recordings showcase a one-of-kind outfit that was already at the peak of its powers, long before it became internationally famous,” said Palao in a statement. “Sly is fully in command, while the unique arrangements and tighter-than-tight ensemble playing point clearly to the road ahead, and the enduring influence of Sly & the Family Stone’s music.” 

Alongside the announcement of the package, a preview of the record has been released by way of final track, “I Gotta Go Now (Up On The Floor)/Funky Broadway.”

Despite being recorded in March 1967, the live set features no tracks which would appear on their debut album – A Whole New Thing – when it arrived in October of that year. Largely comprising cover songs, only the opening track, “I Ain’t Got Nobody (For Real),” would be issued on one of the band’s albums, appearing on Dance to the Music in 1968.

Sly & the Family Stone would release a total of ten albums across their 19-year career, with the band coming to an end in 1983, and later being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Stone would release a solo album in 1975, with his most recent full-length release being 2011’s I’m Back! Family & Friends.

Earlier this year, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson directed the film Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), which provided a deeper look into the life and legacy of its titular musical mastermind.

“I wanted to investigate and interrogate the idea of Black genius. How is it different from the idea of genius in general? What is the effect of being saddled with that label? How much promise is built into it, how much fear and how much unreasonable expectation?” Questlove said in a statement. “Sly wanted to take you higher — I hope that this film also takes you deeper.”

Listen to “I Gotta Go Now (Up On The Floor)/Funky Broadway” below: