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The Double Standards of White and Black Genius
Brian Wilson and Sly Stone were musical innovators whose public reputations diverged drastically towards the end of their careers.
The parallels between the two artists are in some ways uncanny; both hailed as songwriting giants well before they turned 30, Stone and Wilson broke musical boundaries with Stand!, There’s a Riot Goin’ On, Pet Sounds, and Smile and faced initial critical resistance when they released their most innovative work. ” and the frenetic “I Want to Take You Higher,” burning off goodwill won in a fierce Woodstock set, his label ran a lofty ad: “2 & ½ years is a short time to wait for a work of genius.” The industry struggled to find the language to convey to fans that, like the Beatles, the two studio explorers were holed up improvising new recording techniques and increasingly disinterested in being performing entities. The druggy conception and lengthy gestation period of both songwriters’ comeback classics — the Beach Boys’ long-shelved would-be 1967 album Smile and Sly and the Family Stone’s brusque and insular 1971 milestone There’s a Riot Goin’ On — earned reclusive genius signifiers.
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