Small Talk (Exp) [Limited Edition, Original recording remastered]

Sly & The Family Stone | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 24, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition, Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000MZHVMI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,551 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Track listing 1. Small Talk 2. Say You Will 3. Mother Beautiful 4. Time For Livin' 5. Can't Strain My Brain 6. Loose Booty 7. Holdin' On 8. Wishful Thinkin' 9. Better Thee Than Me 10. Livin' While I'm Livin' 11. This Is Love 12. Crossword Puzzle - (previously unreleased, Bonus Track/Early Version) 13. Time For Livin' - (previously unreleased, alternate take, Bonus Track) 14. Loose Booty - (previously unreleased, alternate take, Bonus Track) 15. Positive - (previously unreleased, instrumental, Bonus Track)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SHADRACH/MESHACK/ABEDNEGO!!!!!, April 13, 2007

By 

Andre S. Grindle "Andre' Grindle" (Brewer Maine) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Small Talk (Exp) (Audio CD)

'Small Talk' represents as 180 degree turn from the sound Sly & The Family Stone presented onFresh.The overall rhythm section is far sparer and relies on live drumming rather then a rhythm machine.Also Sly adds a light string section to many of the songs which even though they are in the backround make their presense known.On the title track Sly utilizes the sound of his baby Sly Jr as a pure rhythm element,something Stevie Wonder and Prince would utilize in a similar way in the future,but Sly's vocals on it are a almost nil.On "Say You Will" and "Mother Beautiful" Sly actually concentrates on warm (almost wholesome) musings on love and family,the former even utilizing a Moog synthesizer for the first time on a Sly record.Then we are on to "Time For Livin'"-now that is what this album is usually remembered for Sly throwing Rusty Allen's bass a little more to the front and again musing on his new family other then the Family Stone.On "Can't Strain My Brain","Holdin' On","Wishful Thinkin'" and "Better Thee Then Me" the Family Stone offer up a series of sparse,crawling grooves that are sponaneous to the point that studio chatter and cues are left running.On the other hand...there's "Loose Booty".One of THE very best Sly songs ever-it's main lyrical chant coming from the biblical story of three Jewish men involved with King Neberkenezzer-the story of basically marching to your own drum and that is what the song is all about anyway;the meanest,loopable groove and horn blasts possible;funk royalty in the highest!Hip hopper after hip hopper has used it as a BASE,never mind a sample and it almost wipes the floor off of everything else here.But luckilly doesn't completely do that because "Livin' While I'm Livin'" throws a hard rocking funk at you that almost goes back to Sly's first days of success."This Is Love" is the most obvious ballad on the album and is very beautiful.As for the the bonuses each has something distinct to offer.The first is a more vocally arranged take on "Crossword Puzzle" from the forthcoming High on You.On the other hand you also get versions of "Time For Livin'" and "Loose Booty" that are far rawer and less arranged,the former of which actually features a nice extended violin solo by Sid Page.There's also the unreleased instrumental "Positive",incredibly funky and jamming.Overall 'Small Talk' is nothing like Sly's previous two albums;it's incredibly funky but at the same time the lyrics are more about turning inward and the overall sound seems much softer.It does seem like the closing of a chaper for Sly Stone (and commercially this was) but in the musical age to come there were some who were curious just as to what Sly and his Family Stone were up to.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I can see why they left this out of print for so long, November 17, 2007

By 

finulanu ""the mysterious"" (Here, there, and everywhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Small Talk (Exp) (Audio CD)

Sly with strings? What? Now that's just plain saccharine, that is. I mean, even when they're subtle, they're not used tastefully, and when they dominate the song ("Mother Beautiful"; the small hit "Time for Livin'"; "Wishful Thinkin'"), they really bog the record down. Now to be fair, strings or no strings this is not one of Sly's better moments at all. "Loose Booty" is clever, all right, and "Say You Will" is catchy as anything else the man ever committed to tape. Still, this is a lacking release: none of the fun found on Fresh; none of the intriguing darkness of There's a Riot Goin' On, nothing half as uplifting as Stand!, and it doesn't have the variety of Life. The funk is listenable but unimaginative ("Holdin' On"; "Can't Strain My Brain", title track; "Better Thee Than Me"), I already discussed the several bad ballads, and what happened to the lyrics? In spite of that, there are little flashes of brilliance everywhere (the sax part on "Better Thee"), and there really isn't much truly pitiful stuff on this album. Proceed with caution, though: It was only recently put back in print, and for a good reason. Don't touch this unless you've heard Sly's better albums first.

3.0 out of 5 stars A Respectable Release, August 26, 2011

By 

Thirty-Ought Six "music fiend" (West Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Small Talk (Exp) (Audio CD)

After the triumphs of Stand!, Riot and Fresh, Sly begins coasting alot on this record. While he still possesses a penchant for writing funky melodies and hooks(Loose Booty, Say You Will and Time For Livin'), Small Talk is the beginning of Sly's descent into mediocrity and sub-par qualities within his songwriting ability. The use of strings adornes 90% of the record and although it does work well for certain numbers like Say You Will, Time for Livin' and Mother Beautiful, the majority of the presence of strings takes away or perhaps gets in the way of most of the songs' impacts sonically and seems nothing more than an additive stacking of filler. The upbeat funk of Livin While I'm Livin' seems forced and unnatural; the title track has some interesting funk passages, but the arrangement given makes the track have an unfinished or incomplete feel. Better Thee Than Me is yet another number that has a forced quality to it as if Sly was simply writing music for the sake of getting the record done as an obligation.

There are some other tracks that have a momentary flash of inspiration; such as Holdin' On with its incessant funk groove, and Can't Strain My Brain which has a building quality to its simplicity as this track grows on you after repeated listens. This is Love closes out the record on a positive note and uses the backing singers Little Sister to a most great advantage as the song harkens back to a somewhat doo-wop/Motown feel in its melody and arrangement. The remastered edition contains some noteworthy tracks in the form of an early version of Crossword Puzzle(which showed up on Sly's first official solo album High on You), an instrumental Positive, that has an addictive groove interlaid within its construction, and different mixes of Time For Livin' and a single mix of Loose Booty. Overall, Small Talk is a respectable release, but one can't help to wonder that cracks were beginning to show within Sly's talents as a writer and performer; and High on You, his next release, would be an improvement over this, yet, unfortunately, would turn out to be his last noteworthy artistic statement. 3 stars