Sly & The Family Stone / Higher! 4CD box set with unreleased rarities

Epic/Legacy (ie Sony) are to release Higher! a four-CD deluxe box set celebrating the music of Sly & The Family Stone.

This career-spanning package will feature 17 previously unreleased tracks, alternate versions, mono singles, demos, instrumental and live performances from concerts and TV appearances. A 104-page book comes as part of the set, and the discs and book will reside in a ten-inch square deluxe slip-case.

The book sounds excellent, featuring fully comprehensive liner notes, an illustrated timeline of Sly’s career, track-by-track annotations, rare photography, 45 rpm label and picture sleeve repros, vintage concert posters and ticket stubs from Sly & The Family Stone shows.

Higher! includes 77 tracks in total and is released on 26 August 2013. See track listing below for more details.

Purchasing notes: As well as the 4CD box set, US Amazon is offering an ‘exclusive’ (and expensive) 8LP+CD package, with the bonus CD said to contain “6 more extremely rare and previously unreleased tracks”. There is also a ‘best of the box’, 16-track, single CD ‘highlights’ edition which manages to squeeze into its running order a few of the unreleased gems. The UK box set is available for pre-order at the time of writing for a decent price of £39.

4CD Box Set

• • UK Pre-order: Higher!
• • USA Pre-order: Higher!
• • GERMANY Pre-order: Higher!

Japanese 4xBlu-Spec CD2 box set

• • CANADA Pre-order: Higher!

8LP+CD Vinyl box set (bonus CD Amazon.com exclusive)

• • UK Pre-order: Higher [8LP Vinyl]
• • USA Pre-order: Higher! (8LP/1 CD Box Set)
• • CANADA Pre-order: Higher! (Vinyl)
• • GERMANY Pre-order: Higher! [Vinyl LP]

1CD ‘Highlights’ release

• • UK Pre-order: Higher! The Best of the Box
• • USA Pre-order: Higher! (Highlights)
• • CANADA Pre-order: Higher: The Best of the Box
• • GERMANY Pre-order: Higher! Best of the Box

Higher! –  Sly & The Family Stone full track listing:

Disc One (1964-1967):

• 1. I Just Learned How To Swim by Sly Stewart (Autumn Records single, 1964)
• 2. Scat Swim by Sly Stewart (Autumn single, 1964)
• 3. Buttermilk (Part 1) by Sly (Autumn single, 1965)
• 4. Dance All Night by Sly and Freddie (1965, originally unissued)
• 5. Temptation Walk by Sly (Autumn single, 1965)
• 6. I Ain’t Got Nobody (For Real) (Loadstone single, 1967)
• 7. I Can’t Turn You Loose (Loadstone single, 1967)
• 8. Higher (mono Epic single master, promo only, 1967)
• 9. Underdog (mono Epic single master, 1967)
• 10. Bad Risk (mono Epic single master, 1967)
• 11. Let Me Hear It From You (mono Epic single master, 1967)
• 12. Advice (A)
• 13. If This Room Could Talk (A)
• 14. I Cannot Make It (A)
• 15. Trip To Your Heart (A)
• 16. I Hate To Love Her (A)
• 17. Silent Communications (1967, previously unissued)
• 18. I Get High On You (version one, 1967, previously unissued)
• 19. I Remember (1967, previously unissued)
• 20. My Woman’s Head (instrumental demo, 1967, previously unissued)

Disc Two (1967-1968):

• 1. What’s That Got To Do With Me (1967, previously unissued)
• 2. Fortune And Fame (1967, previously unissued)
• 3. What Would I Do (1967, originally unissued, B)
• 4. Only One Way Out Of This Mess (1967, originally unissued, B)
• 5. I Know What You Came To Say (1967, previously unissued)
• 6. Dance To The Music (mono Epic single master, 1967)
• 7. Ride The Rhythm (C)
• 8. Color Me True (C)
• 9. Are You Ready (C)
• 10. Don’t Burn Baby (C)
• 11. We Love All (D)
• 12. Danse A La Musique by The French Fries (mono Epic single, 1968)
• 13. Small Fries by The French Fries (mono Epic single, 1968)
• 14. Chicken (mono Epic single master, 1968)
• 15. Into My Own Thing (E)
• 16. Life (mono Epic single master, 1968)
• 17. Love City (1968, previously unissued mono mix)
• 18. M’Lady (mono Epic single master, 1968)
• 19. Dynamite! featuring Johnny Robinson on vocals (1968, previously unissued)
• 20. Undercat (instrumental, 1967, previously unissued)

Disc Three (1968-1970):

• 1. Everyday People (mono Epic single master, 1968)
• 2. Sing A Simple Song (mono Epic single master, 1968)
• 3. I Get High On You (version two, 1968, previously unissued)
• 4. Wonderful World Of Color (instrumental, 1968, previously unissued)
• 5. Pressure (originally unissued, F)
• 6. I Want To Take You Higher (mono Epic single master, 1969)
• 7. Seven More Days (originally unissued, F)
• 8. Feathers (instrumental, 1968, previously unissued)
• 9. Somebody’s Watching You (G)
• 10. Sex Machine (G)
• 11. Hot Fun In The Summertime (mono Epic single master, 1969)
• 12. Everybody Is A Star (mono Epic single master, 1969)
• 13. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (mono Epic single master, 1969)
• 14. Stand! (LIVE at the Isle of Wight Festival, August 30, 1970, H)
• 15. You Can Make It If You Try (LIVE, same as track 14, H)
• 16. Dance To The Music (LIVE, same as track 14, previously unissued)
• 17. MEDLEY: Music Lover / I Want To Take You Higher / Music Lover (LIVE, same as track 14, previously unissued)

Disc Four (1971-1977):

• 1. Luv N’ Haight (Epic single master, 1971)
• 2. Family Affair (I)
• 3. Brave & Strong (Epic single master, 1971)
• 4. Runnin’ Away (Epic single master, 1971)
• 5. (You Caught Me) Smilin’ (Epic single master, 1971)
• 6. Spaced Cowboy (I)
• 7. You’re The One featuring Little Sister (LIVE on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, September 1973, previously unissued)
• 8. In Time (J)
• 9. If You Want Me To Stay (Epic single master, 1973)
• 10. Frisky (Epic single master, 1973)
• 11. Skin I’m In (J)
• 12. If It Were Left Up To Me (Epic single master, 1973)
• 13. Time For Livin’ (Epic single master, 1974)
• 14. Can’t Strain My Brain (Epic single master, 1974)
• 15. Loose Booty (K)
• 16. Le Lo Li (Epic single master, 1975)
• 17. Crossword Puzzle (Epic single master, 1975)
• 18. Family Again (Epic single, 1976)
• 19. Hoboken by Sly Stone (originally unissued, 1975-1977)
• 20. High by Sly Stone (1975, previously unissued)

Epic Records album index:

• A – from A Whole New Thing (originally released November 1967, as Epic LN 24324, mono)
• B – from A Whole New Thing (Expanded Edition) (originally released April 2007, as Epic/ Legacy 82796 90277 2)
• C – from Dance To The Music (originally released April 1968, as Epic BN 26371)
• D – from Dance To The Music (Expanded Edition) (originally released April 2007, as Epic/Legacy 82796 90274 2)
• E – from Life (originally released November 1968, as Epic BN 26397)
• F – from Life (Expanded Edition) (originally rel. April 2007, as Epic/Legacy 82876 83945 2)
• G – from Stand! (originally released April 1969, as Epic BN 26456)
• H – from The First Great Rock Festivals Of The Seventies (originally released August 1971, as Columbia C 30807)
• I – from There’s A Riot Goin’ On (originally released October 1971, as Epic KE 30986)
• J – from Fresh (originally released June 1973, as Epic KE 32134)
• K – from Small Talk (originally released July 1974, as Epic PE 32930)