Sly Stone
Sly Stone (born Sylvester Stewart in Denton, Texas on March 15, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s.
Biography
Early career
Sylvester Stewart was the second of five children. After the family moved from Dallas, Texas to Vallejo, California (near San Francisco), he and his brother Freddie and their sisters Rose and Vaetta formed "The Stewart Four" as children, performing gospel music in the Church of God in Christ and even recording a single in 1952. All of the Stewart children except oldest sister Loretta would later adopt the surname "Stone" and become members of Sly & the Family Stone.
As he got older, Sylvester learned to play a number of instruments, settling primarily with the guitar, and joined a number of high school bands. One of these was The Viscaynes, a doo-wop group which, excepting Sylvester and his Filipino friend, Frank Arelano, was all-white. The fact that the group was integrated made the Viscaynes "hip" in the eyes of their audiences, and would later inspire Sylvester's idea of a multicultural Family Stone. The Viscaynes released a few local singles, including "Yellow Moon" and "Stop What You Are Doing"; during the same period, Sylvester also recorded a few solo singles under the name "Danny Stewart".
In the mid-1960s, Sly worked as a DJ for San Francisco radio station KSOL and also as a record producer for Autumn Records, working with such bands in the San Francisco area as The Beau Brummels and The Mojo Men. Adopting the stage name "Sly Stone," he then formed "The Stoners" in 1966 which included Cynthia Robinson on trumpet. Robinson went on to join Sly & the Family Stone as well, when it was formed in 1967. Freddie Stone (guitar and vocals), Larry Graham (bass guitar and vocals), Greg Errico (drums), Jerry Martini (saxophone) and Rosie Stone (piano and vocals) were also in the original line-up. On backup vocals were Little Sister: Vet Stone, Mary McCreary, and Elva Mouton. Sly himself played guitar, piano, and harmonica, among other instruments, for the band's records and performances. Their debut single as Sly & the Family Stone was "I Ain't Got Nobody", a major regional hit for Loadstone Records.
Sly & the Family Stone's success
The Loadstone single attracted the attention of Epic Records, who got Sly & The Family Stone to sign to their label. After a mildly received debut album, A Whole New Thing (1967), Sly & The Family Stone had their first hit album and single in Dance to the Music (1968) and its title track. Although their third album, Life (also 1968), also suffered from low sales, their fourth album, Stand! (1969), became a runaway success, selling over three million copies and spawning a number one hit single, "Everyday People." By the summer of 1969, Sly & The Family Stone were one of the biggest names in music, releasing three more top five singles, "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" / "Everybody is a Star", before the end of the year, and appearing at Woodstock.
Personal problems and decline
In the fall of 1969, Sly moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Not long after the move, he found himself crushed under stress from a number of sources: record executives wanted more product; the Black Panther Party and other black activist groups wanted Sly's music to become more militant and reflective of the black power movement (as well as demanding the removal of white musicians Errico and Martini from the band); and personal conflicts within the band. Sly developed ulcer problems because of the stress, and began turning to a variety of drugs, primarily cocaine and PCP, for relief.
Sly's intense drug abuse soon began to affect his career; he became notorious for missing interviews and concerts, and his demeanor became insolent, erratic and unpredictable. Sly's friend Hamp "Bubba" Banks, a former pimp became his aide-de-camp, and brought in gangsters from the streets to become Sly's bodyguards and personal managers. The band's fifth album, There's a Riot Goin' On (1971), reflected the turmoil. Most of Riot was recorded with overdubbing as opposed to The Family Stone all playing at the same time; in fact, Sly played most of the parts himself and performed more of the lead vocals than usual.
The band's cohesion slowly began to erode, and its sales and popularity began to decline as well. Errico withdrew from the group in 1971 and was eventually replaced with Andy Newmark. Larry Graham and Sly were no longer on friendly terms, and Graham was fired in early 1972 and replaced with Rusty Allen. The band's later releases, Fresh (1973) and Small Talk (1974), featured even less of the band and more of Sly. The band's shaky reputation for not showing up at concerts caused promoters to avoid booking them, and after a disastrous engagement at the Radio City Music Hall in January 1975, The Family Stone broke apart completely.
Later years
Sly Stone went on to record four more albums as a solo artist (only High on You (1975) was released under just his name; the other three were released under the "Sly & The Family Stone" name). He also collaborated with Funkadelic on The Electric Spanking of War Babies (1981), but was unable to reinvigorate his career.
Bobby Womack, who had worked with Stone in the early 1970s, arranged for Stone to enter a drug rehabilitation program in 1984, but Stone was never able to fully overcome his addictions. However, he continued to make sporadic appearances on compilations and other artists' records. In 1986, Stone was featured on a track from The Time member Jesse Johnson's solo album Shockadelica called "Crazay". The music video featured Stone on keyboards and vocals, and received some airplay on the BET music network.
In 1987, Stone released a single, "Eek-a-Boo Static Automatic", from the Soul Man soundtrack. He also co-wrote and co-produced "Just Like A Teeter-Totter," which appeared on a Bar-Kays album from 1989. By the end of the year, he was arrested and jailed for cocaine use and possession.
After his release, Stone went into semi-retirement and became a recluse. In 1990, he gave an energetic vocal performance on the Earth, Wind and Fire song, "Good Time." In 1991, he appeared on a cover of "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" performed by the Japanese band 13CATS. And he shared lead vocals with Bobby Womack on "When the Weekend Comes" from Womack's 1993 album, "I Still Love You." His last major public appearance until 2006 was during the 1993 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony where Stone, much to the surprise of everyone (including his former bandmates), showed up onstage to be entered into the Hall of Fame along with the Family Stone. In 2003, the other six members of the original Family Stone entered the studio to record a new album. Stone was invited to participate, but declined.
Stone reportedly lives near Beverly Hills with two female assistants, where he records at a home studio and rides his motorcycle. A few home-studio recordings (most likely from the late 1980s) with Stone's voice and keyboards over a drum machine have made their way onto a bootleg. One Sly-penned demo called "Coming Back for More" appears to be autobiographical and includes the verse: "Been so high, I touched the sky and the sky says 'Sly, Why you tryin' to get by?' Comin' back for more." His son, Sylvester Jr., told People Magazine in 1997 that his father had composed an album's worth of material, including a tribute to Miles Davis called "Miles and Miles." His son also said Sly had just completed a 45-day stay at L.A.'s Brotman Medical Center, at least his third formal attempt at rehab and was temporarily residing in a Marina Del Rey hotel.
On August 15, 2005, Stone drove his younger sister Vet Stone on his motorcycle to Los Angeles' Knitting Factory, where Vet was performing with her Sly & the Family Stone tribute band, the Phunk Phamily Affair. Sly kept his helmet on during the entire performance, and was described by one concertgoer as looking a little like Bootsy Collins. A film crew doing a documentary on Sly & the Family Stone was at the show and apparently captured this rare sighting on film. Sly, according to his Web site, is producing and writing material for the group's new album. In addition, Sly renamed the group "Family Stone."
Freddie Stone said in February 2006 that the Family Stone might tour this year, possibly with Sly, adding that his brother is "jazzed" about the idea. Friends and family say Sly continues to write songs and record in his home studio. Family Stone drummer Greg Errico told Rolling Stone in the March 2006 issue, "Sly's been calling two or three times a day lately, singing over the phone."
Mid-2000s tributes
A Sly & the Family Stone tribute took place at the 2006 Grammy Awards on February 8, 2006, at which Sly gave his first live musical performance since 1987. Sly & the original Family Stone lineup (minus Larry Graham) performed briefly during a tribute to the band, for which the headliners included Steven Tyler, John Legend, Van Hunt, and Robert Randolph. Sporting an enormous blonde mohawk, thick sunglasses, a "Sly" beltbuckle and a silver lamé suit, he joined in on "I Want To Take You Higher." Hunched over the keyboards, he wore a cast on his right hand (the result of a recent motorcycle mishap), and a hunched back caused him to look down through most of the performance. His voice, though strong, was barely audible over the production. Sly walked to the front of the stage toward the end of the performance, sang a verse and then with a wave to the audience, sauntered offstage before the song was over. "He went up the ramp [outside the theater], got on a motorcycle and took off," Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of the Grammy Awards show told the Chicago Sun-Times. "Yes -- there was a motorcycle there."
Ehrlich said Sly refused to leave his hotel room until he was given a police escort to the show and then waited in his car until the performance began.
A Sly & The Family Stone tribute album, Different Strokes By Different Folks, was released on July 12 2005 by Starbucks' Hear Music label, and on February 7, 2006 by Epic Records. The project features both cover versions of the band's songs and songs which sample the original recordings. Among the artists for the set are The Roots ("Star", which samples "Everybody is a Star"), Maroon 5 ("Everyday People"), John Legend, Joss Stone & Van Hunt ("Family Affair"), the Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am ("Dance to the Music"), and Steven Tyler and Robert Randolph ("I Want to Take You Higher"). Epic Records' version of the tribute album (to include two additional covers: "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" and "Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" were released in January 2006.
Personal
Sly Stone was married to Kathleen Silva for five months in 1974. They were wed onstage during a Sly & The Family Stone concert at Madison Square Garden on June 5 before a crowd of over twenty thousand people, and divorced on October 30 after Sly's pit bull Gun attacked their son, Sylvester Bubba Ali Stewart, Jr. Sly, Silva, and Sly, Jr. all appear on the cover of Small Talk together. Sly also has a daughter, Sylevette Phunne Robinson, with Family Stone member Cynthia Robinson, born at about the same time as Sly, Jr.
See also
References
- Aswad, Jem (Feb 10, 2006). "Who, Exactly, Is Sly Stone? (That Weird Guy With The Mohawk At The Grammys)". MTV.com. Retrieved February 11, 2006.
- Coyle, Jake (Feb 8, 2006). "Reclusive Sly Stone Steps Out at Grammys". Yahoonews.com. Retrieved February 11, 2006.
- Selvin, Joel (1998). For the Record: Sly and the Family Stone: An Oral History. New York: Quill Publishing. ISBN 038-079377-6.