You've Forgotten Me: A Brief Review Of This New Compilation Of Sly Stone's Early Band, The Viscaynes

Just when you think that all the material from the greatest artists has been unearthed, something like this comes along. The Viscaynes & Friends, out on Friday via ORG Music, collects 10 singles from the earliest groups Sylvester Stewart was involved with. More doo wop, than funk-rock, these songs are catchy, fun, and invigorating, and the products of a multi-racial act from the years when that sort of thing was extremely rare. In that sense, this set serves as a sort of template for what Sylvester Stewart would do shortly after this with Sly and The Family Stone.

The band had a modest regional hit with "Yellow Moon", a fairly straightforward number, one which owed a bit to The Platters, while "You're My Only Love" was a far better song. A tiny bit complex, the arrangement here echoes hooks from The Everly Brothers, even as the vocals find Sly imbuing the fairly generic lyrics with just a hint of the fire of rhythm-and-blues. The track, like "You've Forgotten Me" as well, benefits from a listener in 2019 being aware of Sylvester Stewart's future. What seems routine, and standard for the early Sixties, reveals touches and flourishes that suggest that the talents of Sly were not long for the world of doo wop. "Help Me With My Broken Heart" sees Stewart coo and croon, equal parts Jackie Lymon and Buddy Holly, with the overall effect being a fairly distinct one, even if the music here is typical of stuff from this era.

The Viscaynes & Friends, expanded with numbers from other George Motola-produced groups (The Precisions, The Individuals), works as a time capsule of how a multi-racial band could buck the trends of the past, and as a record of an extraordinary talent's first tastes of musical success. A compilation that's recommended for fans of neglected doo wop and Sly Stone, The Viscaynes & Friends, out on Friday via ORG Music, is one of this week's most highly recommended releases.