A snippet of music history will hit the shelves on July 18 with the new Sly & The Family Stone album The First Family: Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967. Featured in Questlove’s documentary Sly Lives! (AKA The Burden Of Black Genius), it’s the earliest known live recording of the legendary funk band. Ahead of the album’s release, High Moon Records has shared a new track from the record, a cover of Otis Redding’s “I Can’t Turn You Loose.” You can check it out below.
Per the album liner notes, “I Can’t Turn You Loose” was first recorded in 1967 and stayed on the group’s setlist “as late as the end of 1968,” later “turned sideways to become ‘Turn Me Loose’ on A Whole New Thing.” Sly & The Family Stone drummerGreg Errico commented of the demo recording, “I think it was one of the early ones in development, and you’re trying different things out. That song just happened to be there at that time.”
From December 16, 1966, to April 28, 1967, Sly & The Family Stone served as the house band for the Redwood, CA venue Winchester Cathedral, where their first manager Rich Romanello recorded the live demo album. When they signed to Epic Records later in ’67, Romanello put the tapes into storage, where they would remain for 35 years. The tapes were rediscovered by Sly & The Family Stone archivists Edwin and Arno Konings and restored by Grammy-nominated producer Alec Palao. Per a press release, the upcoming album includes a deluxe booklet with liner notes from Palao, “featuring exclusive interviews with Sly Stone and all of the original band members, never-before-seen photos, rare memorabilia, and more.” High Moon Records shared the first track from the record, “I Gotta Go Now (Up On The Floor)/Funky Broadway,” just days before the death of the group’s iconic frontman in June of this year. You can listen to the new song above, and check out the full tracklist for Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967 below.
The First Family: Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967
