Editing Sly and the Family Stone (section)

=== ''There's a Riot Goin' On'' (1971) ===
In 1971, Sly and the Family Stone returned with a new single, "[[Family Affair (Sly and the Family Stone song)|Family Affair]]", which became a number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. "Family Affair" was the lead single from the band's long-awaited ''[[There's a Riot Goin' On]]''.

Instead of the optimistic, rock-laced soul that had characterized the Family Stone's 1960s output, ''There's a Riot Goin' On'' was urban [[blues]], filled with dark instrumentation, filtered drum machine tracks, and plaintive vocals representing the hopelessness Sly and many other people were feeling in the early 1970s.<ref>Lewis, Miles (2006), pp. 74–75.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Marcus |first=Greil |author-link=Greil Marcus |title=Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock'n'Roll Music |edition=4 |year=1997 |orig-year=1975 |publisher=Plume |location=New York |isbn=0-452-27836-8 |page=72 }}</ref> The album is characterized by a significant amount of tape hiss – the result of Sly's extensive re-recording and [[overdubbing]] during production.<ref>Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 115–117.</ref> Allegedly, most of the album's instrumentation is performed by Sly alone, who enlisted the Family Stone for some of the additional instrumental parts and friends such as [[Billy Preston]], [[Ike Turner]], and [[Bobby Womack]] for others.<ref>Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 115; interview with Stephen Paley.</ref> "(You Caught Me) Smilin'" and "[[Runnin' Away (Sly and the Family Stone song)|Runnin' Away]]" were also released as singles, and performed well on the charts.

After the release of ''Riot'', additional lineup changes took place. In early 1972, reacting to Jerry Martini's probing about his share of the band's earnings, Sly hired saxophonist [[Pat Rizzo]] as a potential replacement<ref name="Rizzo">Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 134.</ref> though both ended up remaining in the band.<ref name="Rizzo" /> Later that year, the tension between Sly Stone and Larry Graham reached its peak. A post-concert brawl broke out between the Graham and Sly entourages; Bubba Banks and Eddie Chin, having heard that Larry had hired a [[contract killing|hit man]] to kill Sly, assaulted Graham's associates.<ref name="LarrysExit">Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 150–154.</ref> Graham and his wife climbed out of a hotel window to escape, and Pat Rizzo gave them a ride to safety.<ref name="LarrysExit" /> Unable to continue working with Sly, Graham immediately quit the Family Stone and went on to start [[Graham Central Station]], a successful band in the same vein as Sly and the Family Stone.<ref name="LarryBass" /> Graham was replaced in the interim by Bobby Womack, and then by nineteen-year-old [[Rustee Allen]].<ref name="LarrysExit" />