Sly Stone is widely regarded as an influential innovator of black music, although he has not performed since 1987. With Sly & the Family Stone, he formed an American funk, soul, and rock band from San Francisco, California. They were active between 1966 and 1975.
From Texas to California
Sylvester Stewart (15 March 1943) was the second of five children. After his family moved from Dallas, Texas to Vallejo, California, his brother Freddie and their sisters Rose and Vaetta formed the gospel group The Stewart Four, which performed in church and even released a single in 1952. Except for their eldest sister Loretta, all the Stewart children would take the name Stone and become members of Sly & the Family Stone. As he grew older, Sylvester learned to play several instruments, favouring the electric guitar, and joined several school bands. One of these groups was The Viscaynes, a doo-wop group that, apart from Sylvester and his Filipino friend Frank Arelano, was white. The fact that The Viscaynes were racially mixed made the group popular with audiences and would inspire the multicultural Family Stone. The Viscaynes released several local singles in 1961, and around the same time Sylvester also released some solo singles under the name Danny Stewart.
DJ & Producer
In the mid-sixties, Sly worked as a DJ for the radio station KSOL in San Francisco and also as a record producer for Autumn Records, working with bands from the San Francisco area such as The Beau Brummels, The Mojo Men, and The Great Society. Around this time, he adopted the stage name Sly Stone and formed The Stoners in 1966, including Cynthia Robinson on trumpet. A year later, Robinson also joined the band Sly & the Family Stone, whose original lineup also included Freddie Stone (guitar and vocals), Larry Graham (bass guitar and vocals), Greg Errico (drums), Jerry Martini (saxophone), and Rose Stone (piano and vocals). The band also featured the backing choir Little Sister, which included his other sister Vet Stone. Sly himself played guitar, organ, and harmonica, among other instruments. Their debut single was 'I Ain't Got Nobody'.
Soul, Funk & Psychedelia
The group stood out mainly for combining musical styles such as soul, funk, and psychedelic rock. With their message of 'love & peace' and the striking clothing they wore, Sly and the Family Stone became the highlight of the Woodstock festival in 1969, where forty thousand festival-goers went wild to the song 'I Want to Take You Higher'. That success was followed a year later by the release of the album Stand! This album contains most of their hits and was released during the band's peak period. Not long after, in the early seventies, their success began to wane. This was due to Sly's increasing drug use and the resulting conflicts. Sly also frequently failed to show up for concerts. The band broke up in 1975. Sly continued to make albums under the name Sly & The Family Stone, but he never managed to match the success of the early days.
Rehab troubles
Since 1987, the artist has remained out of the spotlight, having tried with varying success to kick his drug habit. Despite the lack of new material, Sly & The Family Stone were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2006, Sly appeared on stage for the first time in years during the Grammy Awards ceremony. However, he left the stage halfway through the song 'I Want To Take You Higher', leaving the press and audience stunned. Shortly after the 2006 Grammy Awards, Sly & The Family Stone reunited in almost their original lineup for a reunion tour through Europe and the US in 2007, including a somewhat chaotic performance at NSJ.
Sunday Morning Classic: There's A Riot Goin' On
On 21 November 2021, our turntable played the fifth studio album 'There's A Riot Goin' On' as our Sunday Morning Classic. The album marked a turning point – for the band, its music, its leader, and an era. The previous LP, 'Stand!', perfected the sunshine psychedelia the group had been moving towards and ended the 1960s on a high note. Then came the 1970s, and Stone found a 'different high', which played out in the studio and in his bedroom, recording much of 'There's a Riot Goin' On' alone. The result was a druggy, burnt-out, and dark view of the new decade through a hazy lens that favoured a gloomy outlook and drum machines over the dance-to-the-music group festivities that made them stars. It is a stunning album and a landmark masterpiece.
source NPO and Wikipedia photo: public domain
