Yellow Moon-the Complete Recordings 1961-1962

The amazing, unpredictable, one and only Sly Stone has never made a secret of his innocuous beginnings as a teenaged hopeful in Vallejo, California in the early 1960s. His earliest experiences as a musician and performer on the path to future glories would act as a signal lesson for the youthful Sylvester Stewart in the realities of the music business. A trio of singles with his interracial high school vocal group the Viscaynes, followed by two more releases as a solo, recorded in Los Angeles with producer George Motola, comprise the fascinating apprenticeship Sly needed to undergo on the road to fame. For decades, Slys juvenilia has been treated with cynical disdain by a parade of disingenuous collections, most with low-fidelity sound, artificially extended versions, and tracks by unrelated artists. Even recent releases have continued to use the wrong versions of tracks first heard on these exploitative 70s-era compilations.

Yellow Moon: The Complete Recordings 1961-1962 rectifies this injustice by offering up Sly and the Viscaynes entire output from the correct master sources. The earliest tracks are drawn from recently discovered tapes and include the extremely rare B-side Real, True Love, the first disc on which Sly sang lead. There are also several unissued demo tracks produced by teen idol and Viscaynes mentor Gary Stites, as well as the sought-after Jasper Woods 45, featuring an incognito Richard Berry with the Viscaynes on vocal support.

The package comes with an extensive liner note by compiler Alec Palao, with much heretofore unpublished information and fresh interview material from the group and associates, as well as commentary from Sly himself. Yellow Moon: The Complete Recordings 1961-1962 is truly the last word on Sly Stones very first phase.