"Family Affair" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Sly and the Family Stone | ||||
from the album There's a Riot Goin' On | ||||
B-side | "Luv N' Haight" | |||
Released | November 6, 1971 | |||
Recorded | 1971 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:06 | |||
Label |
Epic 5-10805 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Sly Stone | |||
Producer(s) | Sly Stone | |||
Sly and the Family Stone singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Family Affair" (audio) on YouTube |
"Family Affair" is a 1971 number-one hit single recorded by Sly and the Family Stone for the Epic Records label. Their first new material since the double A-sided single " Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"/ " Everybody Is a Star" nearly two years prior, "Family Affair" became the third and final number-one pop single for the band. In 2021, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song 57th on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. [3] The cover version by John Legend, Joss Stone, and Van Hunt, won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at 49th Annual Grammy Awards.
Released on November 6, 1971, "Family Affair" was markedly different from the earlier Sly & the Family Stone hits. Engineering consultant Richard Tilles muted most of Sly Stone's guitar parts while emphasizing the electric piano played by Billy Preston and "edit[ing] the rhythm box to sound like a heartbeat," according to David Hepworth. [4]
"Family Affair" was the most successful hit of Sly & the Family Stone's career, peaking at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, while achieving the same on the Billboard R&B Singles chart for five weeks. [5] Billboard ranked it as the No. 79 song for 1972. [6]
Chart (1971–1972) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia ( Kent Music Report) | 46 |
Canada Top Singles ( RPM) [7] | 1 |
New Zealand ( Listener) [8] | 11 |
UK SIngles ( OCC) | 15 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [9] | 1 |
US R&B ( Billboard) [10] | 1 |
US Cash Box Top 100 [11] | 1 |
Chart (1971) | Rank |
---|---|
Canada Top Singles (RPM) [12] | 16 |
US R&B (Billboard) [13] | 3 |
US ( Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual) [14] | 9 |
Chart (1972) | Rank |
---|---|
US Billboard Hot 100 [15] | 79 |
US Cash Box Top 100 [16] | 11 |
Around 2022, a longer version of "Family Affair" emerged which included musical content from the original session that was not heard on the original release. [17] [18] It appears to be what was heard on the Multitrack Playback: Family Affair clip that featured the original members years later listening to their work in a studio. [19]
"Family Affair" has been heavily covered, with versions by Tyrone Davis, The Brothers Johnson, MFSB, Iggy Pop, Bunny Wailer, Andrew Roachford, and many more. The song's drum machine-created rhythm was duplicated in several early to mid-1970s recordings, in particular The Temptations' "Let Your Hair Down" (1973), and Stevie Wonder's " You Haven't Done Nothin'" (1974).
Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers performed a Go-go rendition for the album Go Go Swing Live (1986).
Madonna featured this song as an intro to " Keep It Together" on her Blond Ambition Tour in 1990. Australian singer Stephen Cummings released a version as the second single from his fifth studio album, Good Humour. A rap-infused, danceable cover was released by German Milli Vanilli spinoff band Try 'N' B in 1992. Another retooled cover was done in 1993 by Shabba Ranks featuring Patra and Terri & Monica as a single for the Addams Family Values soundtrack. This version charted on the Billboard pop chart at number 84, number 16 on the R&B chart, and number-six on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. Prince sampled the song on his track "Y Should Eye Do That When Eye Can Do This?".
"Family Affair" | |
---|---|
Single by MFSB | |
from the album MFSB | |
Released | 1973 |
Recorded | 1972 |
Genre | |
Length | 2:15 |
Label | Philadelphia International |
Songwriter(s) | Sly Stone |
Producer(s) | Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff |
Official audio | |
"Family Affair" on YouTube |
MFSB recorded an instrumental version of the song as their debut single, from their 1973 debut album MFSB.
Chart (1993) | Peak position |
---|---|
Europe ( European Dance Radio) [20] | 8 |
UK Club Chart ( Music Week) [21] | 32 |
US Billboard Hot 100 | 84 |
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks ( Billboard) | 16 |
US Hot Rap Tracks ( Billboard) | 6 |
US Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales ( Billboard) | 11 |