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Created: Wednesday, 19 August 2015 20:08

Written by Shauna

May Release - "Everyday People"

 “Everyday People” was recorded by Sly and the Family Stone in 1968, and became their first single to hit number one on both the Soul singles chart, and the Billboard Hot 100. It held its place as number one on the Hot 100 for four weeks in early 1969.

Written by Sly Stone, “Everyday People” was one of Sly’s many pleas for peace and equality among races and social groups. Sly and the Family Stone practiced what they preached and were noted for being the first major integrated band in rock history.

It was over three years ago that Tony Oxendine mentioned this song to me as a possible singing call for Chic Recordings. I knew the song well because I grew up with it, and I loved the idea. I looked it up and listened to it with a producer’s ear and realized immediately that it was not built for a square dance singing call’s structure (7 x 64), and so it went to the back burner.

With 60’s on 6 playing on my new Sirius radio, the song came back to the front burner and it was time to see if we could “make it work.” Jimmy and I spent a couple of hours putting the pieces together and landed on an arrangement that felt right the moment we found it. Of course, I immediately sent it to Tony for his opinion and a request that he record the vocal, since the song was his idea from the start. I think he was almost as excited as I was that it was going to work.

The final product is a fun song with a catchy melody and a great message that is as relevant today as it ever was. “…and so on and so on and scooby dooby dooby…We got to live together!”

As I already mentioned, the male vocal range version features Tony Oxendine (courtesy of Royal Records), and he nailed it! Tony captured the fun and feel of the original with just a few background vocals provided by Jimmy Mac and myself.

Originally, the female vocal was planned for Patty Greene, but her demanding schedule before, during, and after the recent CALLERLAB convention prevented her from recording in time for an early May release. I stepped into the batter’s box (recording booth) as a pinch hitter and quickly discovered that in order to sing the “I am everyday people” tagline, I was going to have to hit a note I’ve never hit before (a full step below the bottom of my range). My initial plan was to sing an alternate melody and let the melody be covered by Jimmy in the background vocals. Jimmy was having none of that and said, “just sing it.” So… I sang it. Nobody was more surprised than me when the note actually came out. Jimmy said “That’s it! Now sing it again…I wasn’t recording.” He’s lucky I didn’t dock his pay!

CHIC 1055 in the male vocal range features the awesome vocal by Tony Oxendine.

CHIC 2055 in the female vocal range features the vocal by producer, Shauna Kaaria.

To purchase, just head on over to the Chic Boutique for fast and easy mp3 downloads.

Introductory price is $7.50 and includes the music with and without melody, and the vocal cut.

Both are being sold separately since they were produced separately.

Click on the youtube links (to the left) for previews!