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I'm Back! Family & Friends

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I'm Back! Family & Friends
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 16, 2011 (2011-08-16)
GenreFunk
Length44:12
LabelCleopatra
ProducerSly Stone, Chris Lietz, Jürgen Engler
Sly Stone chronology
Ain't but the One Way
(1982)
I'm Back! Family & Friends
(2011)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic37/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The A.V. ClubD[3]
Entertainment WeeklyC[4]
Rolling Stone[5]
The Washington Post(unfavorable)[6]

I'm Back! Family & Friends is the second solo album by singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, released by Cleopatra Records in 2011. It contains remixes and covers of his old material, along with three new tracks.

Track listing

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All tracks composed by Sly Stone; except where noted

  1. "Dance to the Music" (featuring Ray Manzarek) – 3:01
  2. "Everyday People" (featuring Ann Wilson) – 2:58
  3. "Family Affair" – 3:19
  4. "Stand!" (featuring Carmine Appice and Ernie Watts) – 3:14
  5. "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" (featuring Johnny Winter) – 4:55
  6. "(I Want to Take You) Higher" (featuring Jeff Beck) – 4:44
  7. "Hot Fun in the Summertime" (featuring Bootsy Collins) – 2:54
  8. "Dance to the Music" (Extended Mix) – 6:39
  9. "Plain Jane" – 4:24
  10. "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" (Traditional; arranged by Sly Stone) – 4:18
  11. "Get Away" – 3:46

Bonus mixes

  1. "Dance to the Music" (Club Mix) – 4:12
  2. "Family Affair" (Dubstep Mix) – 4:44
  3. "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" (Electro Club Mix) – 4:32

Personnel

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  • Sly Stone - vocals
  • Ava Cherry, Eugene Henderson - backing vocals
  • Jürgen Engler - additional instruments
  • Chris Lietz - additional instruments

Critical reception

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Although expressing disappointment that most of the tracks were remakes of previous hits, Rolling Stone praised the new elements of the album: "a brass-and-organ-driven take on the gospel standard "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" and two originals: the gutbucket funk of "Plain Jane" and "Get Away," a gorgeous soul vamp with a refrain – "Keep singin' that melody!" – that whets the appetite for a full-fledged Sly comeback."[7]

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine was less positive, noting of the new tracks that they were "saddled with the same awful production that hobbles the re-creations, the same sticky, tacky, desperate replication of the past that only underscores just how long ago Sly's golden years were."[8]

The Washington Post's Allison Stewart was also unfavourable towards the release, stating that "Stone seems more like a visitor to these tracks, like somebody assembled them and he showed up sometimes. He sounds tired."[6]

References

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