It's a family affair

What’s your family like? Mine has, at times, been very close and then bam; distant for years. We’re currently in the happy afterglow period right now and had a really nice gathering the other night in celebration of one of those memorable birthday numbers. Shhhhh, while it wasn’t mine, I still can’t tell.

We are family; Adam, Jeffy, Josh & Me

Anyway, it got me thinking. We’re hurled into this world with a preconceived set of relatives; siblings, cousins, uncles, grandmothers… we share some experiences, both individual and collective, we attend birthdays, dinners, weddings, funerals, and other social gatherings, and how many of these folks do we ever get to know and connect with. And really, does it even matter. For the most part we didn’t do the choosing, they were just part of the welcome basket that was delivered on day one of this great adventure.

Family Affair by Sly & the Family Stone was released on the 1973 album, There’s A Riot Going On and despite my personal memories of a rueful experience at the Golden Arches at Corbin Plaza combining psychedelics and French fries (yeah, as bad as it sounds), it remains a solid track.

Sly had obviously moved away from the sunny optimism of Dance to the Music and I Wanna Take You Higher (I bet Beck studied this song and the album before recording Guero).

Sly & The Family Stone - I Want To Take You Higher

In any case, Family Affair is a pretty dark affair. Packed with dense textures (dig how they cut the bass and still deliver a funky bottom), a really clean guitar tone and a merciless vocal by Mr. Stewart, containing two of the greatest howls on record.  And yet, it’s still feels upbeat and positive in some weird way.

Family Affair

Kind of like an evening with 50 family members with whom you have very little in common besides a couple of deceased Prussian relatives.