There's a Riot Goin' On

CTL-E-5274 · Work · album · 1971

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

There’s a Riot Goin’ On is the fifth studio album by Sly and the Family Stone, released November 1, 1971 on Epic Records. Where Stand! had been exuberant, Riot is murky and withdrawn: Sly Stone recorded much of it largely alone in Sausalito and Los Angeles, overdubbing parts over a Maestro Rhythm King drum machine — among the earliest hit albums built on one — and retitling the record in answer to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, released six months earlier. Its title track is listed at zero minutes; “I felt there should be no riots,” Stone later explained. The album topped the Billboard pop and soul album charts, its single “Family Affair” reached number one, the RIAA certified it platinum in 2001, the Grammy Hall of Fame inducted it in 1999, and Rolling Stone’s 2020 greatest-albums list ranked it number 82.

Relationships

• Sly & the Family Stone — authored by
  There’s a Riot Goin’ On (Epic Records, November 1, 1971) is Sly and the Family Stone’s fifth studio album, produced by Sly Stone.

Sources

• Wikipedia, “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” (fetched in full for this packet; chart and certification data as cited there to Billboard and the RIAA) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_Riot_Goin%27_On
• Noise11, “Funk Legend Sly Stone Has Died Aged 82,” June 10, 2025 — https://www.noise11.com/news/funk-legend-sly-stone-has-died-aged-82-20250610
• The Aquarian, “In Memoriam: Sly Stone [1943–2025]” — https://www.theaquarian.com/2025/06/10/in-memoriam-sly-stone-1943-2025/

Record CTL-E-5274 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 3 sources · 1 mapped relationship · CTL research: PPL-001.
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