By the late '70s, Sly Stone had been so thoroughly written off as a has-been that few listeners checked out Back on the Right Track. Nor have listeners been inspired to rediscover the album, since his late-'60s/early-'70s classics cast such a huge shadow over his subsequent work. It comes as somewhat of a surprise, then, to find the basic Stone soul/rock/funk foundation still firmly in place here. There were two problems: the foundation didn't make any notable advancements on the territory he'd already mapped out by the early '70s, and the songs themselves weren't that special, sounding more like basic vamps or promising scraps than fully baked ideas. Judged solely on its own terms, it's actually a respectable slice of funk; it's only when stacked against Stone's other works that the disappointment becomes intense. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
Alvin Taylor (Drums), Sergio Reyes (Engineer), Mark Davis (Mixing), Mark Davis (Keyboards), Butch Lynch (Engineer), Michael Worthington (Digital Mastering), Lisa Banks (Vocals (Background)), Fred E. Smith (Horn), Joseph Baker (Engineer), Hamp Banks (Associate Producer), Peter Whorf (Art Direction), Ken Roberts (Management), Freddie Stewart (Vocals (Background)), Mark Davis (Keyboards), Mark Davis (Mixing), Keni Burke (Bass), Joe Baker (Vocals (Background)), Hamp Banks (Engineer), Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart (Guitar), Rose Banks (Vocals (Background)), Mark Davis (Producer), Joseph Baker (Vocals (Background)), Mark Davis (Producer), Hamp Banks (Guitar), Steve Madaio (Horn), Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart (Harmonica), Ron Slenzak (Photography), Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart (Vocals), Pat Rizzo (Horn), Joe Reagoso (Liner Notes), Joseph Baker (Guitar), Freddie Stewart (Guitar), Cynthia Robinson (Trumpet), Linda Hennrick (Transcription), Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart (Keyboards), Gary Herbig (Horn), Ollie E. Brown (Percussion), Walter Downing (Keyboards), Cynthia Robinson (Horn), Fred Smith (Horn), Fred Smith (Trumpet)
Back on the Right Track is the tenth album by Sly & the Family Stone, released by Warner Bros. Records in 1979. The album was, as its title alludes to, an overt comeback attempt for Sly Stone. However, the album and its singles, "Remember Who You Are" and "The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry)", failed to live up to expectations.
Some of the original Family Stone members, including Cynthia Robinson, Pat Rizzo, Freddie Stone, and Rose Stone, make contributions to this album. Back on the Right Track is the first Sly Stone album not to be produced by the artist; Mark Davis was in charge of the project.
Back on the Right Track and the following studio release, Ain't But the One Way, were combined by Rhino Records into a compilation called Who in the Funk Do You Think You Are: The Warner Bros. Recordings in 1994.
Greatest Hits •Ten Years Too Soon •Sly & the Family Stone Anthology •Who in the Funk Do You Think You Are: The Warner Bros. Recordings •Rock and Roll •The Essential Sly & the Family Stone •Different Strokes by Different Folks •Higher! •The Collection
