Sly Stone Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Sly Stone (born March 15, 1944) was a pivotal American musician, frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, pivotal in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia. He got his start as a record producer for Autumn Records, working with such bands in the San Francisco area as The Beau Brummels and The Mojo Men. Stone 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. Fred Stewart (guitar), Larry Graham (bass guitar), Greg Errico (drums), Jerry Martini (saxophone) and Rosie Stone (piano) were also in the original line-up.Their debut single as Sly & the Family Stone was "I Ain't Got Nobody", a major regional hit for Loadstone Records. The band soon signed to Epic Records, and released A Whole New Thing to disappointing sales. Dance to the Music and its title track were big hits in 1968, but the follow-up, Life, was unsuccessful. Their 1969 album Stand, however, was a breakthrough smash hit. Featuring several hit songs (including "Everyday People," "I Wanna Take You Higher," and "Sing a Simple Song"), Stand! was also notable for its increased political awareness, perhaps best exemplified with the song "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey". The band's performance at Woodstock was said to be one of the best shows of the festival.
Around this time, Stone started taking numerous pain killers for relief from ulcers. He evetually started regularly illegal narcotics as well, which caused him to be come increasingly unreliable (he often was late for or altogether missed the band's gigs) and hard to work with. But Sly & the Family Stone carried on for the time being, releasing a Greatest Hits album in 1970 that featured the hit single "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)."
There's a Riot Goin' On (1971), featuring the hit single "Family Affair," contributed the trend towards political awareness in the lyrics, even while Stone's erratic behavior began driving the band apart. By the mid 1970s, Sly & the Family Stone's audience was mostly gone and the most of the band memebers had quit or been replaced. Background Singers, Lynn Mabry & Dawn Silva left in 1976 and became the Brides Of Funkenstein in 1978. Sly Stone worked with Funkadelic on The Electric Spanking of War Babies (1981), but this was unable to re-jumpstart his career. Stone, caught up in his numerous drug addictions, disappeared from the limelight, sporadically releasing new music at irregular intervals.
Sly & the Family Stone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
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