THIRD MAN RECORDS IN CONJUNCTION WITH SONY MUSIC ANNOUNCES VAULT #69: SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE - TURN ME LOOSE: LIVE AT THE FILLMORE EAST 1968
INCENDIARY LIVE RECORDINGS COLLECTED ON FOUR 180-GRAM COLORED VINYL LPS, PACKAGED WITH EXCLUSIVE LIGHT SHOW GRAPHIC-EMBLAZONED SLIPMAT AND HIGH-QUALITY STUDIO PORTRAITS OF THE LEGENDARY BAND
VAULT SIGNUPS AVAILABLE NOW THROUGH JULY 31 AT MIDNIGHT (CT) EXCLUSIVELY AT THIRDMANRECORDS.COM/VAULT
Third Man Records, in conjunction with Sony Music, is proud to announce Sly and the Family Stone’s Turn Me Loose: Live at the Fillmore East 1968 as the 69th entry in Third Man Records’ long-running archival audio series, The Vault. Recorded in October 1968 over two nights at Bill Graham’s legendary Fillmore East in New York City, Turn Me Loose: Live at the Fillmore East 1968 compiles all four of the band’s incendiary performances onto a single LP, highlighting the most explosive moments from each concert. Along with the four LPs – each pressed on 180-gram colored vinyl evocative of the mood of the evening at Third Man Record Pressing in Detroit, MI – In addition to four LPs and a gatefold showcasing the historic performance shot by Amalie Rothschild, Vault package #69 comes complete with a top notch slip mat featuring artwork from the legendary Joshua Light Show projected at the Fillmore East in 1968, the hallmark liquid light look that became the backdrop of an era. And to tie it all together, two 6” x 6”, luster-finish photo prints made from unarchived studio portraits shot by Bob Cato, printed by Third Man Photo Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Subscriptions to order Vault #69: Sly and the Family Stone – Turn Me Loose: Live at the Fillmore East 1968 are available now through July 31 at midnight (CT), exclusively at thirdmanrecords.com/vault.
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One would be hard-pressed to find a better band than Sly and the Family Stone in 1968. Other acts might have been louder, wilder, more psychedelic, but in the purest sense of the term, of a group of musicians working together, creating rhythm and harmony and a groove that is larger than the sum of its individual parts, the coterie of Sly Stone, Greg Errico, Larry Graham, Sister Rosie Stone, Brother Freddie Stone, Jerry Martini, and Cynthia Robinson were truly incomparable, a forward thinking, racially and gender integrated band typifying the Age of Aquarius.
In October of that year, shortly after the release of their classic third studio album, Life, Sly and the Family Stone took the stage at NYC’s Fillmore East for what proved to be four landmark concert performances over two now-legendary nights. The shows, each one slightly different from the next with jams, vamps, and assorted musical explorations, were recorded for posterity by the band’s label, Epic Records, but remained unreleased for decades. Their eventual unveiling in 2015 was met with unbridled excitement and astonishment from fans and critics alike – how could music this good have been unreleased for so long?
Primed, smooth and with nary a dip in unadulterated, sensational vibe, Turn Me Loose: Live at the Fillmore East 1968 offers living, breathing evidence of just what a force of nature Sly and the Family Stone were at this stage of their career – not yet the dominant soul-pop juggernaut that followed their #1 hit “Everyday People” and epochal set at Woodstock the following year, but a still-ascending ensemble whose onstage energy simply could not be contained. With deep cuts like the syncopated funk of “Chicken” and the jazzy New Orleans inflections of “St. James Infirmary” living next to stone-cold classics like “Dance To The Music” and the unrivaled groove of “Color Me True,” the overall takeaway here is one of wishing you could go back in time to be in the room to witness these legendary performances.
TRACKLIST:
SHOW ONE (OCTOBER 4, 1968 – EARLY SHOW)
Side A:
Are You Ready
Won’t Be Long
We Love All (Freedom)
Side B:
Medley: Turn Me Loose / I Can’t Turn You Loose
Chicken
Love City
SHOW TWO (OCTOBER 4, 1968 – LATE SHOW)
Side C:
M’Lady
Don’t Burn Baby
Color Me True
St. James Infirmary
Side D:
Medley: Turn Me Loose / I Can’t Turn You Loose
Dance To The Music
Medley: Life / Music Lover
SHOW THREE (OCTOBER 5, 1968 – EARLY SHOW)
Side E:
Life
Color Me True
Won’t Be Long
Are You Ready
Side F:
Dance To The Music
Music Lover
M’Lady
SHOW FOUR (OCTOBER 5, 1968 – LATE SHOW)
Side G:
M’Lady
Life
Won’t Be Long
Side H:
Dance To The Music
Love City
Medley: Turn Me Loose / I Can’t Turn You Loose
Riffs
