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* Compilation *

Recorded: 1968-1970 G, 1968-1973 A

Released: October 1970 G, 1981 A
G Greatest Hits, A Anthology

Rating: 4.438 (average of 8 ratings for ‘Greatest Hits’)

Genre: R&B > funk

Quotable: --

Album Tracks:

  1. Dance to the Music
  2. M’Lady
  3. Life
  4. Fun
  5. Sing a Simple Song
  6. Everyday People
  7. Stand!
  8. I Want to Take You Higher
  9. Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey *
  10. You Can Make It if You Try
  11. Hot Fun in the Summertime
  12. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
  13. Everybody Is a Star
  14. Family Affair *
  15. Runnin’ Away *
  16. You Caught Me Smilin’ *
  17. Thank You for Talkin’ to Me Africa *
  18. Babies Makin’ Babies *
  19. If You Want Me to Stay *
  20. Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) *

Notes: * These are bonus tracks added on to Sly & The Family Stone’s Greatest Hits to form the Anthology compilation. The above track listing reflects the running order of Anthology, which organized the tracks chronologically. Here’s the original order for Greatest Hits:

1. I Want to Take You Higher 2. Everybody Is a Star 3. Stand! 4. Life 5. Fun 6. You Can Make It if You Try 7. Dance to the Music 8. Everyday People 9. Hot Fun in the Summertime 10. M’Lady 11. Sing a Simple Song 12. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Sales:

sales in U.S. only 5 million G, -- A
sales in U.K. only - estimated --
sales in all of Europe as determined by IFPI – click here to go to their site. --
sales worldwide - estimated 5 million G, -- A

Peak:

peak on U.S. Billboard album chart 2 G, -- A
peak on U.K. album chart --

Singles/Hit Songs:

  • Dance to the Music (1/27/68) #8 US, #7 UK, #9 RB
  • M’Lady (7/27/68) #93 US, #32 UK
  • Life (7/27/68) #93 US
  • Everyday People (11/30/68) #1 US, #36 UK, #1 RB. Gold single.
  • Sing a Simple Song (11/30/68) #89 US, #28 RB
  • Stand! (4/12/69) #22 US, #14 RB
  • I Want to Take You Higher (4/12/69) #38 US, #24 RB
  • Hot Fun in the Summertime (8/9/69) #2 US, #3 RB
  • Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (1/3/70) #1 US, #1 RB. Gold single.
  • Family Affair (11/6/71) #1 US, #15 UK, #1 RB. Gold single.
  • Runnin’ Away (2/5/72) #23 US, #17 UK, #15 RB
  • You Caught Me Smilin’ (4/22/72) #42 US, #21 RB
  • If You Want Me to Stay (6/30/73) #12 US, #3 RB. Gold single.

Awards:

Rated one of the top 1000 albums of all time by Dave’s Music Database. Click to learn more. One of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Albums of All Time

Greatest Hits/ Anthology
Sly & The Family Stone
Review:
“For a time, it seemed as if Sly Stone would change the world, and it's only because his music was so ambitious that we forget, sometimes, that he did just that” Cantwell). Sly & the Family Stone “made intelligent party music that crossed boundaries and became AM radio staples” (Linden). “Too pop savvy to be merely a funk band, and too damn funky to be just a rock band, Sly and his multicultural crew” (Linden) “played funk-based jams, but always with touches of soul, blues, rock, and lots and lots of pop, a synthesis that spoke to its time even as it predicted the future” (Cantwell).

“Greatest Hits…summariz[ed] Sly & the Family Stone’s joyous hit-making run on the pop and R&B charts” (Erlewine G) over the course of their first four albums. This collection also adds “the non-LP singles Hot Fun in the Summertime, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), and Everybody Is a Star, possibly the loveliest thing they ever recorded” (Erlewine G).

“Technically, only four songs here reached the Top 10, with only two others hitting the Top 40, but judging this solely on charts is misleading, since this is simply a peerless singles collection” (Erlewine G). “Music is rarely as vivacious, vigorous, and vibrant as this, and captured on one album, the spirit, sound, and songs of Sly & the Family Stone are all the more stunning. Greatest hits don't come better than this — in fact, music rarely does” (Erlewine G). “It's one of the greatest party records of all time” (Erlewine G).

While Greatest Hits is a brief blast of 12 of the finest singles of the rock & roll era” (Erlewine A), Anthology goes for a sweeping, definitive overview” (Erlewine A). “Anthology essentially replicates…Greatest Hits and adds singles from There's a Riot Goin' On and Fresh…Where Greatest Hits didn't follow chronological order, Anthology presents every single in the order it was released” (Erlewine A).

“Either compilation functions as an excellent introduction, but Anthology is more comprehensive, giving it the edge as a first purchase” (Erlewine A).

Review Source(s):

Last updated March 28, 2008.