Sly; Not an Everyday Person…
Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …
Recently Hulu debuted the documentary, “Sly Lives!” (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
Some of the promotional items I read regarding the documentary said “the film captures the band’s rise, reign and subsequent fade out of of of pop music’s most influential artists.”
For many, “Sly” probably doesn’t ring a bell.
For me, it’s a loud, “Gong!” that resonates in my memory.
Sly and the Family Stone impacted my musical life significantly.
In the late 60’s, a young girl named Geneva McClaran and I attended a Sly and the Family Stone concert at the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Columbus, Ohio.
This Geneva person and I eventually married and when I quizzed her recently about the concert, her memories are vague, at best.
I just remember it was loud, bright and highly energetic…and very familiar to me.
The cover of their album, “Stand!” which came out in 1969, always reminds me of the concert in Columbus, Ohio.
I always felt the group had a lot of fun performing in their hey-day of the mid-to-late 60’s.
It was a band that was made for the times.
Blacks and whites. Guys and gals.
Racially integrated. Mixed genders.
Lots of horns. driving drum beats, a bass guitar that could shake you to your very soul.
Vocals that not only harmonized and echoed but delivered a message for anyone who wanted to listen
“Stand!
You’ve been sitting much to long.
There’s a permanent crease in your right and wrong.
Stand!”
Sly Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, was born in Denton, Texas.
He was raised in the Bay area city of Vallejo in northern California.
He performed in family gospel groups with siblings Freddie and Rose who would later become part of the Family Stone.
In his mid 20’s, he worked as a record producer for Autumn Records while being a disc jockey at KSOL-AM in San Francisco.
He had his hand in getting the Beau Brummels on the charts when he produced “Laugh, Laugh”, a #15 hit in 1965 followed by “Just a Little” which charted at #8.
Sly said the Beau Brummels were to sound like the Beatles and The Zombies, his musical response to the “British invasion” started by the Beatles earlier in the decade.
Sly co-wrote Bobby Freeman’s hit “C’mon and Swim” in 1964 and he arranged Billy Preston’s 1966 album. “Wildest Organ in Town”.
Sly is also connected to Grace Slick’s first band, “The Great Society”.
Yes…THAT Grace Slick of Jefferson Airship, Jefferson Starship and Starship fame.
The music of Sly and the Family Stone reached beyond racial divides of the times, gender restrictions. societal issues.
They were at their best when it was Larry Graham played bass, Cynthia Robinson on trumpet, Rose Stone with piano and vocals, Freddie Stone on guitar Jerry Martini tooting the sax and Greg Errico pounding those drums drums while Sly took the lead with his powerful vocals and flashy attire.
He also played the keyboard, guitar, bass guitar, harmonic and organ.
“You might like to hear my organ
I said, ride Sally, ride, now.”
Their tunes ran the musical gamut from funk to rock to psychedelic soul with a dash of gospel in the roots.
Starting in 1968, Sly and the Family Stone cranked out, “Dance to the Music”, “Everyday People”, “Thank You (Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”, “I Wanna Take you Higher”,
“Stand!”, “Sing a Simple Song” and “Family Affair” in 1971.
The group was voted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and it looked like Sly was going to be a “no show” which was his style in those days.
But he made a cameo appearance while the other band members were on the stage but you could tell they were pretty much over dealing with that version of Sly.
Too bad, too. Because whey they were hitting on all eight cylinders, Sly and the Family Stone was something special.
They sang a tune that resonated for the times.
“Sometimes I’m right and I can be wrong.
My own beliefs are in my song.
The butcher. The baker, the drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I’m in.
I am everyday people.”
But Sly was more than an everyday musician.