A pleasant surprise available digitally today and on CD and 2LP in May is the soundtrack to an exciting new documentary about one of the great musical icons of the '60s: Sly Stone.

SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) - the latest documentary by The Roots' drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, who picked up an Academy Award for his work on 2021's Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) - has a new companion album that features 21 favorite hits and album cuts, about half of which are unreleased alternate versions, mixes or edits (including exciting plays with the original multi-track tapes by Brooklyn DJ and remixer J. Period). The set, available digitally now (just one day after the film's streaming premiere on Hulu) with a physical release date planned for May 9, was compiled by the film's producer Joseph Patel and music Journalist Jeff Mao (who all receive compilation producer credits alongside Questlove and Legacy Recordings' Rob Santos).

The film is part biography of Sylvester Stewart, the Bay Area DJ turned singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist/producer of the integrated, genre-bending pop/rock/soul/funk band Sly & The Family Stone. The group scored five Top 10 hits between 1967 and 1971, including the chart-toppers "Everyday People," "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" and "Family Affair"; they also were one of the highlights of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair of 1969, a 1993 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and wildly influential on more than a half-century of popular music, from Michael Jackson, Prince and Stevie Wonder to Motown, Parliament-Funkadelic and countless others. As much as the film spotlights Stone's incredible highs and lows - his life from the 1970s on was plagued by drug addiction, legal troubles and even homelessness - the film also looks at the at-times unreasonable expectations put on singular Black performers like Stone and countless others, and to this end includes interviews with many of the artists Stone's influenced who've had their share of trials and triumphs under the weight of perceived musical genius, including George Clinton, Nile Rodgers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Chaka Khan, André 3000 of OutKast, D'Angelo and several members of the classic Family Stone. (Sly himself does not participate in any new interviews, though several of his children do, and Questlove penned the foreword to Stone's 2023 memoir, indicating about as sanctioned a portrait as one can get.)

The SLY LIVES! soundtrack continues a slow but appreciated stream of Sly and The Family Stone catalogue material in recent years, including the box set Higher! and a collection of concerts from The Fillmore East in New York in 1968. The full track list and pre-order links for the soundtrack are below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Epic/Legacy 19802 88618-2, 2025)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

* previously unreleased

1. Sing a Simple Song (Alternate Mix) *
2. Underdog
3. Trip to Your Heart (Alternate Mix) *
4. Dance to the Music (J.PERIOD Edit) *
5. M'Lady
6. Everyday People (J.PERIOD Edit) *
7. Hot Fun in the Summertime (Interlude) *
8. Hot Fun in the Summertime (Mono Single Master)
9. Everybody Is a Star (Mono Single Master)
10. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
11. Thank You For Talkin' to Me, Africa (Alternate Mix) *
12. Family Affair (Questlove Rhythm King Edit) *
13. Runnin' Away (Alternate Mix) *
14. Just Like a Baby
15. Babies Makin' Babies (Interlude) *
16. If You Want Me to Stay (Alternate Version)
17. Thankful N' Thoughtful (Alternate Version)
18. Family Affair (Wedding Band Interlude) *
19. Can't Strain My Brain
20. Stand! (Take 1) *
21. Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be Will, Will Be)

Original version of Tracks 1, 6 and 20 from Stand! - Epic BN 26456, 1969
Track 2 and original version of Track 3 from A Whole New Thing - Epic BN 26324, 1967
Original version of Track 4 from Dance to the Music - Epic BN 26371, 1968
Track 5 from Life - Epic BN 26397, 1968
Original version of Track 7 and Track 8 from Epic single 5-10497, 1969
Tracks 9-10 from Epic single 5-10555, 1969
Original versions of Tracks 11-13 and 18 and Track 14 from There's a Riot Goin' On - Epic KE 30986, 1971
Original versions of Track 15 and Track 21 from Fresh - Epic KE 32134, 1973
Tracks 16-17 possibly from Fresh CD reissue - Epic EK 32134, 1991
Track 19 from Small Talk - Epic PE 32930, 1974