R.I.P. Sly Stone
Sly Stone has passed at the age of 82 decades after his rise as a soul and funk pioneer of the ’60s. Stone was a native of Vallejo, California, and he grew up in a religious household with parents who had a great appreciation for music. When he was a child, he and his siblings Freddie, Rose, and Loretta formed the gospel group, The Stewart Four. They released the single “On The Battlefield” locally in 1956. Sly’s musical gifts were recognized while he was still a kid, and by the time he was 11 he was proficiently playing keyboards, guitar, drums, and bass. As a teenager he was a brief member of a local doo-wop group called the Viscaynes. Sly and his friend Frank Arellano, who was Filipino, were the only non-Black members. It was at this time that he also released a few songs under the name Danny Stewart and formed The Stewart Brothers with his brother Freddie. Stewart was Sly’s formal surname and he later chose Stone as his recording alias. He became an influential DJ heard on KSOL-AM and KSAN while playing keyboards for other prominent artists, including Dionne Warwick, Marvin Gaye, Chubby Checker, and many more. Freddie had a band called Freddie and the Stone Souls and Sly’s was called Sly and the Stoners. They decided to combine both groups and released their first album, A Whole New Thing, in 1967.
Sly and the Family Stone were unusual because they were a multiracial, coed unit. Their soul and funk fusion was built on Sly’s gospel foundation and they wouldn’t get a hit until “Dance To The Music,” which was the title track from their sophomore album. It wasn’t until their fourth album, Stand!, that their popularity took off with the success of the song “Everyday People.” It was during the summer of 1969 that they achieved stardom and Sly became one of the most important voices in music, with an influence on his genre and artists who didn’t even record soul or funk music. They were the only band to perform at Woodstock and the Summer of Soul concerts.
Sly and the Family Stone were labeled as progressive soul pioneers for their sound that pulled rock, gospel, and R&B together with lyrics that could sometimes be political. Their music changed after 1971 when they released There’s A Riot Goin’ On. This album had a deep, muddled sound thanks to Stone’s overdubbing of the songs instead of their previous recordings, where the band played live together. Larry Graham’s slap bass style burst through and became a blueprint for countless bass players. It was their fifth album and one of the first to use a drum machine. The band’s drug use started to interfere with their ability to tour. Concert promoters became hesitant about booking them because of a pattern of not showing up and being able to perform. The original lineup recorded two more albums together before Stone became the main member of the band’s last recordings. He also released a solo album in 1975. The changes in the group did not alter his ability to create foundational soul and funk gems. Heard Ya Missed Me Well I’m Back, Back on the Right Track and Ain’t but the One Way all had some of the brilliance of his earlier music.
In the 80s he participated in some powerful collaborations with George Clinton’s Funkadelic and Jesse Johnson. He also appeared on a Bar-Kays album and wrote a song for the Burglar soundtrack. In the ’90s Sly and the Family Stone appeared on the Red Hot Organization’s Red+Hot+Dance compilation. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and that would be Stone’s last major appearance before he disappeared into seclusion. Sly’s reclusive behavior was broken up with unpredictable performances, such as a show with George Clinton in 2009 at the African Festival of the Arts in Chicago. He also made some appearances with his daughter Novena Stone’s group, Baby Stone. The LOVE CITY convention in 2015 at the Den Lounge inside of the Fox Oakland Theater was a tribute to him and he showed up with four of his band members. He never recaptured his career but the tributes were forthcoming and he performed at the Grammy tribute to his band in 2006. Hip-hop has kept his music relevant because he has been sampled so much by rappers through the generations. Prince, D’Angelo, Janelle Monáe, and Amp Fiddler are but a handful of the artists to feel Sly’s influence.
In 2023, he released his memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) and he completed a screenplay about his life in 2024. There are four documentaries about Sly Stone: Coming Back for More, On The Sly: In Search of the Family Stone, and Questlove’s Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius), which was released this year.
