We Danced to His Music

       Sly Stone, the leader of the rock and funk band Sly and the Family Stone who died last week at the age of 82, could do just about everything as a musician and performer. He played a bunch of instruments, all well, was a gifted singer, songwriter, band leader and record producer, and dazzled live audiences with his charisma and talent. Although his peak as a trailblazing artist only lasted a few years, he left an indelible mark on pop music.

      Sylvester Stewart grew up in Vallejo, Calif., a small working-class city on the northeastern end of the San Francisco Bay Area. Along with his siblings, he grew up singing in the Church of God in Christ, a local Pentecostal church. Even before he reached the age of 12, Stewart had learned to play keyboards, guitar, harmonica, bass and drums. He started playing in local bands as a teenager and took the stage name of Sly Stone.

      As a young man and developing musician, Stone would have been exposed to a variety of social and political movements: the civil rights activism and (relative to the rest of the country) racial integration in Bay Area cities; the student uprising at the University of California, Berkeley, which spread to other universities and community colleges; the movement against the War in Vietnam; the rise of the Black Panther Party in Oakland; and the vibes of San Francisco’s Summer of Love in 1967 and the popularity of local rock bands like the Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Country Joe & the Fish and Big Brother and the Holding Company. 

      He first drew attention as a popular DJ at the San Francisco soul music radio station KSOL, where he integrated white performers such as the Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones into his playlists. He also was a producer at San Francisco’s Autumn Records, where his bands included the Beau Brummels (“Just A Little”), Bobby Freeman (“C’mon and Swim”) and the Great Society (featuring singer Grace Slick performing an early version of “Somebody to Love,” before she joined Jefferson Airplane).  

      In late 1966, he formed Sly and the Family Stone, a group with him on keyboards and guitar, brother Freddie Stone on guitar, sister Rosie Stone on keyboards, Larry Graham on bass, Greg Errico on drums, Jerry Martini on saxophone and Cynthia Robinson on trumpet. And it seemed as if everybody in the band sang at one time or another.   

      The band did not look or sound like any other contemporary group. Live audiences were often shocked to see that the propulsive music, a mixture of rock and funk which some called “psychedelic soul,” was coming out of a band that featured women on trumpet and keyboards, white musicians on drums and sax, and four distinct singers who often traded vocals during the same song. Unlike other soul music groups, whose members usually wore matching suits, the members of Sly and the Family Stone each wore their own style of loud clothing.  

      Sly’s personal appearance was the most eye-catching, with his large Afro, sometimes covered by big hats, his clothes featuring spangles and sequins, and his jewelry including a gold Star of David around his neck. 

      The band’s music didn’t emerge from a vacuum: In the ‘60s there were popular racially integrated bands before Sly and the Family Stone, such as Love in Los Angeles and Booker T and the MG’s in Memphis. There were contemporary bands with both male and female musicians, such as the Velvet Underground in New York. And singers like James Brown and performers on record labels such as Motown and Stax/Volt had long been incorporating horns into their sound.  

      But Sly’s band incorporated all these elements while creating a wholly distinctive sound and style.  

      The group’s breakthrough occurred in 1967, when “Dance to the Music” became a Top 10 hit on both the pop and R&B charts. The single was later included in the band’s second album, also entitled “Dance to the Music,” released in 1968. 

      Behind a propulsive beat, rock guitar, a funk bass line, horns, Sly’s gospel-influenced organ and four distinct vocalists, this irresistible tune inspired those who listened to it to get up and move. It also served as a literal introduction to the group, as the lyrics called out band members by name and instrument. 

      Like another Bay Area band, Creedence Clearwater Revival from El Cerrito, Sly’s group found a home on both Top 40 AM radio as well as the relatively new album-oriented FM radio stations of the era. Many AM and FM radio stations in the late ‘60s were multi-racial in their programming and audience, with Sly and the Family Stone leading the way.  

      The group delivered hit after memorable hit into the ‘70s. Just to mention a few singles and albums: 

·     “Everyday People” (1968): The band’s first No.1 hit featured a loping beat and both unison and harmonizing vocals pushing forward a plea for racial tolerance. The song helped popularize the expression “different strokes for different folks.” 

·     “Stand!” (1969): The title song from the “Stand!” album is a powerful call to action because “you’ve been sitting for much too long.” 

·     “I Want to Take You Higher” (1969): Originally released as the B-side of the “Stand!” single, this exuberant song quickly became one of the most popular numbers in the band’s live performances.  

·     “Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey” (1969): The song’s first line (also its title) was immediately followed by “Don’t Call Me Whitey, Nigger.” With a wah-wah guitar sounding like an additional voice throughout the track, it’s as direct and pointed a condemnation of racist language as one could find in pop music. 

·     “Hot Fun in the Summertime” (1969): A joyous, melodic paean to good times, released as a single which rose to No. 2 on the charts. 

·     “Every Body Is a Star”/”Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin” (late 1969/early 1970): Released as a double A-side single, it reached No. 1 on both the pop and R&B charts. The former (not to be confused with the Kinks’ 1975 song “Everybody’s A Star”) is slow and soulful, with a message to love yourself for who you are and keep on keeping on “when the system tries to bring you down.” The latter is an ultra-catchy upbeat song that references other hits by the group and would have won an award for Most Creative Spelling in an Album Title had such an award existed. 

·     “Family Affair” (1971: The first single off the group’s “There’s A Riot Going On” album was another chart topper, though its lyrics were more about familial strife than familial love. Indeed, this album, which was delayed due to a combination of Sly’s drug use, his perfectionism in recording studios and increased acrimony among band members, signified a less hopeful and more pessimistic worldview. Various songs reflected Sly’s growing estrangement and withdrawal from his band and from society. Reportedly, Sly performed most of the songs by himself along with a drum machine, with members adding vocals and some instrumentation later in overdubs.  

      Unfortunately, like too many pop music stars of the era, by the dawn of the ‘70s Sly had become a habitual drug user and an unreliable band member, often showing up late for concerts or missing them entirely. Members of the group were increasingly fighting among themselves, but Sly carried on with new members and guest musicians until 1975, when the band broke up. Various attempts at comebacks followed, but they never lasted for very long.

      For a time in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Sly toured with George Clinton and Funkadelic, a group that also merged rock and funk in the manner of Sly and the Family Stone. But he also became more reclusive, disappearing from the public, while occasionally emerging to record. He was also arrested many times for drug possession, was involved in a series of legal battles with former managers and record labels, and lived for long periods in an RV.  

      I’d prefer to remember Sly Stone as a brilliantly creative musician and an inspiring performer. Fortunately, two concerts from the Summer of 1969 showcased the band at its peak, and parts of Sly and the Family Stone’s performances are available to view today: 

      The 2021 Oscar-winning documentary “Summer of Soul (or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” directed by Ahmir (Questlove) Thompson, brought belated attention to the summer-long Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of concerts featuring stars such as Stevie Wonder, David Ruffin, Nina Simone, B.B. King and the Staple Singers. One of the highlights of the series was Sly and the Family Stone’s exuberant performances in June of “Sing a Simple Song” and “Everyday People.” The film is currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+ and available for rental or purchase on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. 

      In August at the massive Woodstock festival north of New York City, the band performed a set featuring “M’Lady,” “Sing a Simple Song,” “You Can Make It If You Try,” “Everyday People,” “Dance to the Music,” “Music Lover” and “I Want to Take You Higher,” though only the latter two songs were included in the original 1970 movie version (available on DVD) and album. Performing in the wee hours of the morning, Sly and the band nevertheless got the huge crowd to sing and clap along to a joyous and raucous “Higher.” 

      Finally, any fan of Sly Stone should check out Questlove’s second documentary feature, “Sly Lives!,” released earlier this year and currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+. It’s a loving, respectful, illuminating and honest look at Sly’s life and career, including terrific archival footage, live performances and interviews with Sly and fellow musicians eagerly discussing the impact of Sly’s music.  

      From the funk band Parliament/Funkadelic to jazz trumpet player Miles Davis’ forays into “acid jazz” in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s to Michael Jackson and Prince to hip hop and rap, Stone’s influence is undeniable. 

      One of Questlove’s main points in “Sly Lives!” is the difficulties often faced by musical geniuses, specifically black geniuses. Looking back at the peak of Sly and the Family Stone in 1969, after Woodstock, Sly tells an interviewer, “At the time it was almost too much all at once.”  

      That’s undoubtedly true, but there can never be too much of the glorious music Sly Stone left behind.

Bruce Dancis spent 18 years as the Arts & Entertainment Editor of the Sacramento Bee, where he also wrote a syndicated column about DVDs. During a long career in journalism, he served as an editor at the Daily Californian, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Mother Jones, M.I. (Musicians’ Industry) Magazine and the Oakland Tribune. He also wrote about politics, history, movies and rock music for these publications, as well as for Rolling Stone’s Record, In These Times, Guitar Player, Keyboard, the East Bay Voice and San Francisco magazine. In the late ‘60s, he was the lead singer in the Ithaca, New York-based rock band Titanic, and was the editor of the SDS-affiliated magazine, The First Issue. He is the author of “Resister: A Story of Protest and Prison during the Vietnam War” (2014, Cornell University Press) and appears in the documentary film “The Boys Who Said No! Draft Resistance and the Vietnam War” (2020). He lives in Cardiff, CA, and Putnam Valley, NY.