Album: Stand!
Year: 1969
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Because Sly Stone already had a surfeit of hit singles either written or on the horizon, a song as great as “Somebody’s Watching You” got relegated to “deep cut” status, sandwiched between “I Want To Take You Higher” and “Sing A Simple Song” on side one of Stand! (Side two would start out with “Everyday People” but be dominated by the 13:46 blues fuckjam “Sex Machine,” which is fun, but also more of a nod to the zeitgeist than the rest of of the record.)
Anyways, “Somebody’s Watching You” starts of with a quick burst of Freddie Stone guitar, and then almost instantly zips into the first verse, featuring some lovely harmonies by Sly and Rose Stone (I think), alternating lines with Larry Graham and Freddie Stone (I think) while Freddie plays funk rhythm licks. The point being that the verses almost play out as a call-and-response, even though they’re all addressing the same person.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #2258: Sly & The Family Stone – “Somebody’s Watching You”