This track has that singular, brittle, stripped-down funk-box sound that would distinguish many of the tracks on Theres a Riot Goin On.

A daring and innovative artist, Sly Stone was never afraid to try something different and unique with his sound, and he embraced new technology in his recordings.

He was one of the first big-name artists to incorporate drum-machine beats into his music.

Starting in the early 1970s, he began using an early analog drum machine called the Maestro Rhythm King MRK-2 (aka the funk box) on some of his tracks.

And he famously employed funk-box beats on tracks for Sly the Family Stones groundbreaking album Theres a Riot Goin On (1971), including their 1 hit Family Affair.

So for better or worse, Sly pretty much brought the drum machine into mainstream music with Riot.

And in addition to the Family Stone tracks, Sly also used funk-box beats for songs that he produced for artists on his short-lived imprint label Stone Flower Productions (1969-71).

The label was set up by Slys manager David Kapralik with distribution by Atlantic Records.

A new compilation titled Im Just Like You: Slys Stone Flower 1969-70 explores Slys first experiments with the funk box.

On November 4, independent label Light in the Attic Records released the LP version of the 18-track collection, which features tracks that Sly wrote, arranged and produced for Stone Flower signees Joe Hicks, Little Sister and 6IX.

Additionally, the LP has an early version of Just Like a Baby, a song that would later appear on Theres a Riot Goin On.

Its interesting to hear this future Riot track in its early incarnation.

Im Just Like You: Sly Stones Flower 1969-70 also contains ten previously unissued tracks that are newly remastered from the original tapes.

This album captures Sly as he was making the transition to a more dark, minimalist sound, which would define Theres a Riot Goin On.

This new sound was worlds apart from the largely upbeat, optimistic and anthemic tracks found on the bands previous album releases.

These Stone Flower recordings served as Slys testing ground for the evolution of his new sound.

The album features two versions of Youre The One by all-female RB trio Little Sister, which was fronted by Slys youngest sister Vaetta Stewart.

The early version of the song has a much different arrangement from the recording that was eventually released to radio.

And the final version (Youre the One, Parts 12) was released as a single and became a hit.

The percolating funksoul track climbed to 4 on the RB charts and 22 on the pop charts.

The album also contains Little Sisters stripped-down funk-box driven cover version of Family Stone track Somebodys Watching One, as well as the trios full-band version of the song.

The bare-boned, funk-box version of the song was released as a single and also became a hit, charting at 8 on the RB charts and 32 on the pop charts.

Additionally, Im Just Like You features tracks Sly wrote and produced for soul singer Joe Hicks, including the soulful, hard-groovin cut Im Goin Home and its B-side Home Sweet Home.

Another noteworthy Hicks track on the album is Life Death in GA (parts 12).

Sly Family Stone Discography Rar