Sly & the Family Stone tribute show
(Band Name: Carlton J. Smith & friends)
At B.B. King's Blues Club ñ NYC (7/05/02)
At 8:10pm, the Sly Stone tribute began with
some footage of an early Sly & the Family Stone performance....as a matter of
fact, all throughout the set, the band stopped playing to show more and more of
Sly's performance and interviews!
The band beganwith an unfamiliar tune called "You're The One"
featuring the funky saxophone riffs of Thomas Hutchings, Jr! "Family
Affair" was full of funky rhythm guitar shit along with some great vocals
by Carlton Smith!! Two more songs, "Plain Jane" and "Fight to
Break Up" finished the first part of the set.
The second part began with a long drumroll a la "Stand" followed by
the music of "Everyday People". Mehuman Johnson came out and did very
good vocals to the music of "Stand"!
The band did an instrumental version of "Thank You For Talking to Me
Africa", before Greer Morrison did the vocals to "Babies Makin'
Babies"ÖÖa strong vocalist Ms. Morrison definitely isÖ..as strong as the
funky synthesizer riffs!!
Aisha Hosley did the vocals for "Que Sera Sera"Ö.the chorus was
slowly paced out and there was a good guitar solo!
Kyle Turner provided some extra-funky bass "in your face" and some
funky vocals for "If You Want Me to Stay" and and a little of
"Thank You Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin"Ö..there was a woman in the
audience who sang the shit out of that song! Of course, she ended up onstage
showcasing her talent!
Eddie Sanabria did some amazing lead vocals on the slow song
"Sylvester", with narration by Carlton Smith! The organ sounded
beautiful on that and "Mother Beautiful"Ö.the backing vocalists also
sounded beautiful! The chorus was a bit more uptempo than the rest of the song.
Remonia Dixon commanded lots of audience participation for "Everyday
People" (I think I was one of the "yellow" ones)ÖÖher vocals
were definitely top-notch!!
Chennette Barreto vocally tackled "You Caught Me Smilin'" (with some
good drumming) and "Runnin' Away".
Daniella Cotton came out vocally tackled "Fun" (which featured some
great sax work) and "Thankful & Thoughtful"Ö..the bass riffs were
overpowering and funky!!!
Another vocalist, a full-figured guy in a suit, did the vocals for
"Poet" with some great lyrical flow in his rapsÖÖthe words were deep!
The second half of "Poet" featured music from the track "Don't
Call Me Nigger, Whitey"!!
A trio from Philadelphia named THREE came out and did "You Can Make It If
You Try"Ö.very excellent, top-notch vocals along with some funky rhythm
guitarisms and horns!! They also did "Everybody is a Star".
After the band got "some" folks in the audience singing, "Don't
Call Me Nigger, WhiteyÖ..Don't Call Me Whitey, Nigger" (yeah, that's
right!!), the 4-song finale to the set began with twenty-plus people onstage,
including one Dr. Brookenstein! Later, the personnel onstage increased to
include some relatives, well-known funk top-dogs like Bob Davis of SOUL PATROL,
and a couple of fans. The band tackled "Dance to the Music" (with
every musicians showing off their funky music chops), "Sing a Simple
Song", "I Want to Take You Higher" and "Thank You
Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin"!! The show was over at 11:15pm.
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