Five Good Covers: “Family Affair” (Sly and the Family Stone)

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

This week brings the news that Sly Stone has passed away, leaving many anthems and antics to remember him by. His passing comes at a time when Sly is fresh in mind, though several decades past his productive years. That’s due in part to the release, just a few months ago, of Sly Lives!, Questlove’s documentary about the artist, and his earlier doc Summer of Soul, featuring Sly and the Family Stone at the Harlem Cultural Festival. In part it’s thanks to Sly himself, since his own long-awaited memoir came out in 2023 and is still being processed. And in part he’s fresh in mind because Sly’s music was just so timeless, his performances so indelible.

Even if you can’t name more than one or two of Sly Stone’s hits, his influence is inescapable. When you dance to the music–any music, particularly dance music of the last 30 years–it’s likely he’s in that music’s DNA. Sly directly shaped the sound and sensibility of performers like Michael Jackson and Prince who went on to eclipse Sly himself in popularity. (Prince acknowledged the debt in his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction speech.) It’s largely through Prince’s influence that the Sly vibe pulses through the music of today’s strongest performers. Sly’s mark wasn’t only on the dance-floor, either: he was also a huge influence on Miles Davis, and without Sly’s template there’d be no Bitches Brew, or jazz fusion as we know it.

The most enduring of Sly Stone’s hits for me is “Family Affair” from There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971). “Family Affair” is the most successful of all Sly’s singles, and yet artists haven’t covered it to death. In fact, it’s a little surprising that artists have covered it at all, because it’s that unique. One of the most genre-defying songs of its era, it’s at once a deeply personal snapshot–recorded as the Family Stone ensemble was unraveling–and a comment on societal decay, the generational and racial divides roiling the country as ’60s optimism gave way to despair. “Family Affair” signaled a new dark direction for Stone, with its stark sonic palette stripped of the exuberance and lush orchestration that defined his earlier recordings.

The song features the groundbreaking use of a drum machine. It highlights keyboard work by Sly’s good friend Billy Preston (who had a knack for stepping in when great bands were falling apart). There’s a vocal marked by a remarkably grainy texture and a confessional tone. (It ultimately admits to nothing, and Sly’s voice despite its intimacy has a cold and distant feel.) The refrain by Sly’s sister Rose is almost airy and light in comparison, as if the vocal styles reflect the two different children Sly sings about in the first verse (“One child grows up to be somebody who just loves to learn…”).

Subsequent verses describe emotional traps within and without the family:

You can’t leave, ’cause your heart is there
And you, you can’t stay, ’cause you been somewhere else

Sly’s words circle back on themselves and cancel out:

You can’t cry, ’cause you’ll look broke down
But you’re cryin’ anyway ’cause you’re all broke down

He’s caught up in contradictory desires; he could see the downfall coming, perhaps. These lines were weighty the day the record came out, and they only get heavier the more you know about the way Sly’s entrapment in addiction destroyed his circle, his family, and his career.

After this song, sadly, the story for Sly was mostly a story of chaos and breakdown. He made recoveries, yes, but never made a comeback. The irony is that he outlived so many of the artists who followed his model–Gil Scott-Heron, Michael Jackson, Prince–and still never found that second wind. But Questlove said it in his documentary, and the words stand true even with this week’s sad news: “Sly Lives.”

Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers–Family Affair (Sly and the Family Stone cover)

The godfather of go-go music, a sub-genre of funk, Chuck Brown re-invents Sly’s anthem in this celebratory take. The West African polyrhythms are relentless. Forget any menace in the original, this rendition is about being joyous, an infectious sense of family in the best and broadest sense of the word. The “peace and love” call-and-response with the audience is the main message here.

Paul Weller–Family Affair (Sly and the Family Stone cover)

The angular leader of The Jam and Style Council slashes into his version by turning-up volume, tempo, and intensity. Punk-funk but with steamy Hammond B-3 organ, lots of wah-wah, and hard-driving hand percussion. Not until the outro do you get a blast of Weller’s abstract and stinging guitar lines. Bonus: Carleen Anderson (formerly with James Brown) singing the refrain.

Iggy Pop–Family Affair (Sly and the Family Stone cover)

Iggy’s no stooge to bring bassist Bootsy Collins in to drive this unexpected remake from 2020. (There’s only one bassist funkier than Collins, and that’s Larry Graham of the Family Stone [and later Prince’s band]). It’s strange to think that Iggy and The Stooges and Sly and the Family Stone were recording their music at the same time. Pop approaches “Family Affair” in his semi-lounge act way, and I love the way he riffs on the “you can’t cry” bit of the song over the drum machine breakdown.

Keb’ Mo’–Family Affair (Sly and the Family Stone cover)

Working somewhat in the dance party vein of Chuck Brown, Keb’ Mo’ brings guitar, swirling keyboards, lots of harmony singing (’cause it’s a family affair, y’all), and a massive beat to the live version of his arrangement. It really grooves, with a swinging lope that’s all Keb’ Mo’s own.

Steve Winwood–Family Affair (Sly and the Family Stone cover)

With funkmaster Nile Rodgers on guitar, and Narada Michael Walden all over the track, Winwood goes all out here on the one cover from Junction Seven (his seventh solo studio album). He softens the blow of one of Sly’s harshest lines with a modest rewrite (fair), but otherwise you hear the wholehearted love in his heart for this song. Too bad the track ends with the “party people,” an overwrought and unnecessary misfire.

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