''Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back'' is the eighth studio album by American

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul music, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel music, gospel, and R&B, becam ...

, released by

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company * CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony * CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...

in 1976. This album is an effort to return the idea of the "Family Stone" band to singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist

Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (March 15, 1943 – June 9, 2025), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, was an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the development ...

's work, after his previous album, '' High on You'', was released without the Family Stone name. It also reflects the beginnings of change in the concept of "Sly and the Family Stone". The original Family Stone had broken up in 1975, and a new Family Stone was assembled for this album: the only holdover is stalwart Family Stone trumpet player

Cynthia Robinson Cynthia Robinson (January 12, 1944 – November 23, 2015) was an American musician, best known for being a founding member of Sly and the Family Stone, for which she was the trumpeter and a vocalist. Her voice and presence were featured in the h ...

Vet Stone Vet Stone (born Vaetta Stewart; May 2, 1950, Vallejo, California) is an American soul singer. She is the sister of Sly Stone, Rose Stone, and Freddie Stone. She was also a member of Sly & the Family Stone and Little Sister. Background Vae ...

and

Elva Mouton Elva may refer to: Places *Elva, Estonia, town in Tartu County, Estonia *Elva Parish, municipality in Estonia *Elva (river), a river in Estonia * Elva, Illinois, unincorporated community in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States *Elva, Manitoba, ...

, both formerly members of Family Stone backing band Little Sister, provide additional background vocals, and

Johnny Colla John Victor Colla is an American musician (playing the guitar and saxophone), singer and songwriter. He is a founding member of the American rock band Huey Lewis and the News. He has been heavily involved in the San Francisco Bay Area music sce ...

, later a co-founder of

Huey Lewis and the News Huey Lewis and the News (formerly known as Huey Lewis & The American Express) are an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually achieving 19 top ten singl ...

, plays saxophone.

Background

Formerly a tangible self-contained band, the Family Stone broke up in January 1975 after a disastrous booking at the

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

. Subsequent to his 1975 solo album, Stone returned to using the name of his former band, although they were largely solo recordings. From this point on, each "Sly & the Family Stone" album would essentially be a Sly Stone solo recording, with contributions from a varying group of collaborators. Sometimes, members of the original Family Stone would participate in the sessions, and sometimes session players and new members would work with Stone as well. For the most part, however, Stone performed a large part of the instrumentation for each song on his own using multitracking (as he had been doing for Family Stone LPs since ''

There's a Riot Goin' On ''There's a Riot Goin' On'' is the fifth studio album by the American funk and soul music, soul band Sly and the Family Stone. It was recorded from 1970 to 1971 at Record Plant Studios in Sausalito, California, and released later that year on No ...

'' in 1971). This album, like the others, includes a combination of all three types of recordings. Only one single was released from this LP, "Family Again" b/w "Nothing Less than Happiness", which failed to chart. Epic released Sly from his recording contract in 1977, and released a

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson ('' Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 200 ...

''Ten Years Too Soon'', in 1979. ''Ten Years Too Soon'' took several Sly & the Family Stone hits (among them " Dance to the Music", "

Stand! ''Stand!'' is the fourth album by soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, released on May 3, 1969. Written and produced by lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, ''Stand!'' is considered an artistic high-point of the band's career. R ...

", and "

Everyday People "Everyday People" is a 1968 song composed by Sly Stone and first recorded by his band, Sly and the Family Stone. It was the first single by the band to go to number one on the Soul singles chart and the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It hel ...

") and had them reimagined as

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

songs.

Track listing

''All songs credit Sly Stone as songwriter and producer.''

Side A

# "Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back" - 3:55 # "What Was I Thinkin' in My Head" - 3:58 # "Nothing Less Than Happiness" - 2:57 # "Sexy Situation" - 2:55 # "Blessing in Disguise" - 3:48

Side B

# "Everything in You" - 3:14 # "Mother Is a Hippie" - 3:01 # "Let's Be Together" - 3:36 # "The Thing" - 3:20 # "Family Again" - 2:46

Personnel

Sly & the Family Stone

- vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, various instruments *

- trumpet, vocals *Joe Baker - guitar, vocals *Dwight Hogan - bass, vocals *John Colla (aka

) - alto and soprano saxophone, vocals *Steve Schuster - tenor saxophone, flute *John Farey - keyboards, percussion *Virginia Ayers - vocals, percussion *Anthony Warren - drums *

Lady Bianca Lady Bianca (born August 8, 1953) is an American electric blues singer, songwriter and arranger. Lady Bianca has worked as a session singer, depicted Billie Holiday on stage, and since 1995 released six solo albums, three of which were nominated ...

- vocals, clavinet *Vicki Blackwell - violin

Assisting musicians

Ed Bogas Edgar Noel "Ed" Bogas (born February 2, 1942), sometimes credited as Edward Bogas, is an American musician and composer whose work has been featured in films, animations, and video games. Career Bogas' contributions span four decades and several ...

and Sly Stone - string arrangements *

Armando Peraza Armando Peraza (May 30, 1924 – April 14, 2014) was a Cuban Latin jazz percussionist and a member of the rock band Santana. Peraza played congas, bongos, and timbales. Biography Early life Born in Lawton Batista, Havana, Cuba in 1924 (althou ...

- timbales, congas *

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...

- guitar on "Let's Be Together" * Sister Vet and Cousin Tiny - vocals *Karat Faye - engineer

Tour

References

{{Authority control 1976 albums Sly and the Family Stone albums Albums produced by Sly Stone Epic Records albums