“Sly turned his back on me in the control room, giving a shout whenever he heard something he liked”: How Larry Graham’s hand-picked replacement supercharged this 1973 hit for Sly & The Family Stone with an iconic bassline

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In the beginning of the 1970s, Sly & The Family Stone was still on top. Leader Sylvester ‘Sly Stone’ Stewart’s socially unifying blend of funk, soul, gospel, blues, and psychedelic rock had altered the course of music through anthems like Dance to the Music, Everyday People, and Family Affair. Larry Graham had done the same for the electric bass guitar with his invention of slap bass.

By 1973 it seemed like an era was ending, though, with Sly’s erratic behavior having already driven Graham and drummer Greg Errico from the band in late 1971. But Sly had one more gem left in him.

The ambitiously named Fresh hit the streets in early July. A stripped-down, more raw outing than previous albums, the 11-track set was boosted by the bass waves of Graham’s hand-picked replacement, Rustee Allen.

Sly himself laid down some of the album’s bass tracks, but it was Allen whose lilting bassline drove If You Want Me to Stay, the disc’s hit single.

Born in Monroe, Louisiana, and raised in Oakland, California, Allen started on guitar at 12 and, in a local band, was assigned to play the bass parts on the bottom four strings. Penciling in a moustache to obscure his being underage, he was soon playing in bars with blues guitarist Johnny Talbot.

A stint with the Edward Hawkins Singers led him to meet Sly’s brother Freddie, who hired him for Stone vocalist Little Sister’s band. On Freddie and Larry Graham’s recommendation, Allen became a member the Family Stone in 1971.

In late 1972, Allen arrived at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, to overdub the bass part on If You Want Me to Stay. He plugged his early-’70s Jazz Bass (with new Rotosound roundwound strings) into the board and listened to the track.

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“Sly’s scratch bass had this bouncing eighth-note pattern,” Allen told Bass Player. “When we recorded, he just turned his back on me and grooved with my interpretation, giving a shout when he heard something he liked. Rather than being controlling, he wanted me to be myself and add my nuances in the part.”

(Image credit: Getty Images)The three-minute track begins with Allen’s pickup and three bars of bass and drums, which reflect his heavy James Jamerson influence. Sly enters with his piano and vocal scat in bar 4 as the four-bar progression is played twice.

In the four bars leading up to the vocals’ entrance at 00:27, several key elements of the bassline take shape. The first is the alternating short-long eighth-note feel, which Allen attained using thumb plucks.

“That’s Larry and Sly’s trademark bass approach, like on Everyday People. It’s sort of a light slap in which you hold your thumb perpendicular to the strings and, using just the side of your thumb, you strike the string, sometimes using a little bit of your nail. You control the notes’ duration with your left hand.

Sly & The Family Stone – If You Want Me To Stay (Audio) – YouTube

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“I learned that from Sly, who is a great bass player; he actually took it even further than Larry by incorporating upstrokes and downstrokes – the way Victor Wooten does so incredibly now.”

Allen’s other contribution to the part is the use of accented finger pops on the V7 chord turnaround, first heard at 00:17. Note also his preference for the bluesy A, against the F7 chord in those bars.

Allen’s chromatic 16th-note fills continue to reveal his jazzy, James Jamerson roots. These occur in his movement to the Db7 chord (as at 00:49 and 01:08), but also begin to appear on the Bbm7 chord’s downbeat as the part progresses.

(Image credit: Getty Images)At 01:51, the first instrumental interlude (with Sly’s piano patter), Allen lets loose a bit, adding galloping 16ths, the Db root-5-octave fill at 01:56, and the reverse drop at 02:01. Stone’s vocals return at 02:10, then drop out for another instrumental interlude at 02:29.

“Because Andy’s drums were already down, I didn’t zero in on any part of his kit, per se; I just focused on the overall groove, so try to capture the feel of the part; it’s eighth-notes, but there’s so much going on underneath, like the light swing in the 16th-note pickups.

“It’s most important to relax and lay back in the pocket; if you play right on the beat or push it, it’s all over!”

Chris Jisi was Contributing Editor, Senior Contributing Editor, and Editor In Chief on Bass Player 1989-2018. He is the author of Brave New Bass, a compilation of interviews with bass players like Marcus Miller, Flea, Will Lee, Tony Levin, Jeff Berlin, Les Claypool and more, and The Fretless Bass, with insight from over 25 masters including Tony Levin, Marcus Miller, Gary Willis, Richard Bona, Jimmy Haslip, and Percy Jones.