When I was listening to Stand! on the way back to school last week, I kept remarking to myself about how varied each song was from the next.  Unlike the other two albums, which contain some degree of homogeneity across the list of tracks, Stand! remains constantly interesting from song to song.  Not only does each song have its own mood and message, but the textures and timbres used contrast beautifully when viewed in light of the preceding and subsequent songs.

One of Sly & the Family Stone’s greatest advantages, in my mind, is the number of talented singers in the band.  There are quite a number of vocalists, most notably Sly as the lead singer, Larry Graham (playing and singing bass), and two of Sly’s siblings, Freddie and Rose.  Lastly, there is a group of background vocalists, collectively titled “Little Sister”.  They employ all of these singers to great effect; the mass of voices and number of instruments (guitar, bass, drums, piano, organ, harmonica, and horn section) creates an overwhelming effect, let alone when paired with the visual overload of the group in a live setting.  It’s a spectacle, to say the least.

I don’t want to say too much more about the album in general, but I’m going to wait to discuss each of the songs.  Take a listen to the album over the next few days, and enjoy the aural celebration that is Stand!

School’s been out for a few weeks, and I’ve been taking it easy ever since.  I really need to be job searching a bit harder than I am now, so my weekend will be plenty busy in that aspect.  Currently, I’m enrolled in The History of the Blues (which will be the last class I have to take for my undergraduate career), and the class meets from 1:00 to 2:45 pm.  Suffice to say, my schedule is quite light, aside from listening to the class playlists a few hours each day.

In an effort to roust myself out of this lazy slump I seem to have fallen into, I need to get back into my musicology habits.  Therefore, it’s time to:

1. Blog!  I know I flaked last time I said I was returning to the Interwebs, but I’m going to make more of an effort this time.  I have plenty of topics to discuss, thanks to the enormous paper I was scrambling to finish a few weeks ago (I’m also considering posting a section of it on here, in case there is any interest in reading some well-researched theories and polished prose, instead of the rambling opinions I post on here).  This week, however, I want to first discuss Sly & The Family Stone’s hit album, Stand!, which I was thoroughly enjoying on an early morning drive back to Bloomington recently.
2. Read!  I also need to start up my Monthly Read again.  After that paper took up all of my reading time and energy for the month of April, it’s time to read a book of my own choosing.  The Monthly Read for June will be Blues People, by Leroi Jones (aka Amiri Baraka).
3. Listen!  Not that much needs to be said about this, honestly, but I have some good tunes to listen to these days, including Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, Laurie Anderson, and the Velvet Underground.  I’ve recently had an inexplicable blooming interest in the American art rock scene…
4. Study!  Lastly, I’ve decided that I would like to one day teach a music course on the history of popular music in America.  Now, when I say popular, I am NOT including rock ‘n’ roll (or at least parts of rock ‘n’ roll) in my definition, since rock music needs its own category and its own methods of study.  I want to teach a course on the most commercialized and industrialized music ever made.  I’m talking Tin Pan Alley, Brill Building, Motown, Disco, even the Ark Music Factory.  Assembly-line material, oh yes.  Why do I want to do this?  Because (spurred by my own love for doo-wop and Motown) I believe that even music made with commercial ideals over artistic ideals can still be great, as long as the listener is able to remove themselves from any notions of intent, time, or success.  Pop music can be good music; just listen to Dion & The Belmonts, Leslie Gore, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, or Carole King.  While the gist of pop music can often be dismissed as fluff, there are some real hidden gems.  Therefore, I want to build a curriculum for a class like this.  It will involve a playing list, materials, syllabus and schedule, that sort of thing, and I feel like it will be a good resource for graduate applications and interviews in the future.

I finally finished my enormous paper–final length, 27 pages (not that 27 pages is that long, compared to a dissertation [or a book, for that matter, which I hope to write one day]).  Suffice to say, I’m done researching and writing for the moment, so I’ll be able to get back to blogging soon.  My paper has given me a wealth of information that I can talk about, so I’ll have plenty to discuss in the upcoming weeks.

However, since it is nearly midnight, I must go to bed.  New post on Monday; I’ll see you then.

Later.