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One story I heard of his influence was that Stevie Wonder did a guest spot in a Sly & the Family Stone gig and could feel the energy of the whole place, heaving.
Took that feeling and with a new record deal giving him creative control did Superstition, Higher Ground and all those classics.
It's hard to be cynical enough about rock history you see on tv, but it's at least plausible that one genius can inspire another, thinking of a Haydn & Mozart kind of thing.
"If You Want Me to Stay" probably my favourite Sly Stone track.
I never got around to listening to his stuff with Funkadelic, maybe today is that day.
Stevie Nicks wrote Dreams hiding in Sly Stone's basement den.
He led the first popular racially integrated rock band and is among the 3 biggest stars in funk.
The best funk band: early Earth, Wind and Fire (before 1976 when they lost themselves into disco). Their funk was harmonically rich and rhythmically complex: A blend of jazz, soul, funk and R&B. Listen to their live double record Gratitude (1975).
Never been a big funk fan until the unreleased demo instrumentals of midnight express got released on People’s Potential United (check out their catalog if you havent): https://ppudc.bandcamp.com/album/the-midnight-express-show-b...
Also some demo’s by Prince are amazing.
Not sure, but the rawness just breathes life and blows most studio stuff out of the water.
[Edit] bonus end game track: https://youtu.be/dQN3fxoIOpk (thank you Gilles Peterson)
Midnight Express sounds like machine programmed.
The real thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pA2tXOjDto&list=PLxh03o1BpV...
Funkadelic, though.
Put a glide in your stride and a dip in your hip, and come on to the mothership :)
I'd call it James Brown, then Sly. I actually prefer Sly's stuff but you can't really deny the star power of James Brown.
Out of JB, Sly, and George Clinton, Sly's my man.
Not arguing.
Their performances were certainly lively. By the time this one ends, half the audience is dancing on stage with them: https://youtu.be/4URogrXiKsI
And Sly gave several of them a hand to climb up on the stage!
Great story. Thanks. As a musician, it's nice to validate that "feeling" a crowd's energy is very real, even someone with out vision can feel it.
I was listening to an interview of Alan Parsons and when they were talking about 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon, he mentioned that it was not nominated for the album Grammy and that Stevie Wonder won.
So I listened to Wonder’s Inner Visions and it was clear why it won. It is a much better album. It is a pity Inner Visions is largely forgotten.
Innervisions is hardly a forgotten record. To claim its better than Dark Side of the Moon is totally subjective and I would argue that its not. Dark Side works as an album while Innervisions feels like a collection of songs. Also, "Visions" as the second song, just sucks the energy out of a listen. They should have tacked that tune onto the end.
Oh no. No way.
Will never, ever be forgotten due to neglect.
Came right in the middle of arguably the greatest song-writing streak ever heard.
(random google hit about it, bound to be plenty of others others) https://firebirdmagazine.com/lists/steviewonder
I love Dark Side, it's great. Stevie on that form was something else and isn't going to be forgotten for a century or two at the minimum as long as civilisation survives to remember one of its high points. Maybe Sylvester Stewart had an influence in it too.
That's a really good take. I wholeheartedly agree that Inner Visions was a "much better" album than Dark Side of the Moon. It's a real pity one is largely forgotten and the other is not, and I wonder why that might be.
Not forgotten at all!
Can’t even explain what Sly means to me. Grew up on him, singing with my brother and sister in the back seat. He was summer, he was courage, he was jubilation. And his music still is. RIP.
Same here. I got into Sly after hearing the Beastie Boys "Paul's Boutique" album, where he was heavily sampled - like this gem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Z7HwDnuNI
Side note: Sampling is/was controversial, but I'll always be grateful to hip hop and sampling for introducing me to so much great music (like Sly) that never would've made its way to the suburbs of Missouri where I grew up. The Beastie Boys "Paul's Boutique" and De La Soul's "Three Feet High" albums triggered me to purchase, probably, 2 dozens other albums because of all the samples - from Sly to The Isley Brothers to The Turtles and so on.
I booop ooop ooop ooop when I want tooo
For someone not familiar with this culture, i for a moment thought the thread was talking about Sylvester Stallone.
RIP.
Was sly involved in the song superstition?
He put on one of the most celebrated performances at Woodstock.
https://500songs.com/podcast/song-175-everyday-people-by-sly... Is a great podcast and a very good introduction to Sly’s genius and burdens. Hope he rests easy now.
yeah, same thought. I'm 45... heard of the band but that's it.
I would encourage anyone reading who is less familiar to put on "everyday people", which you may have heard in a car commercial, but this time pay close attention to the lyrics.
Seconded.
The two things I most remember about the summer of 1969 were watching the Apollo 11 launch from our balcony and the subsequent moon walk, and hearing 'Everyday People' on the radio. The lyrics stuck with me. I was 6 or 7 at the time and thought 'That's what it must be like to be an adult.' I still do.
One of my favorite Sly moments was when he appeared on the Mike Douglas Show with Muhammad Ali. Sly is the perfect foil playing the jester and peacemaker to Ali's activism and seriousness.
(Of course Ali & Stone were both generationally-talented communicators, but) there is such a stark difference between the sincerity and honesty with which difficult questions - race, reparations for slavery, etc - are being approached by those present in this clip, and more generally in popular media from previous decades, compared to the mode in which these discussions are had in pop culture today.
It feels refreshing and invigorating to watch people state their sincere opinions on a topic, very plainly, then debate them with those who have plainly stated oppositional viewpoints. It’s also actually engaging, and entertaining, whereas contemporary broadcast discussion of politics makes me want to scoop my eyeballs out with teaspoons from boredom alone, let alone the frustration of watching intelligent people very carefully avoid saying anything of substance which might be interpretable as an opinion.
I don’t think it’s survivorship bias due to preserved clips being particularly engaging, because the general public hasn’t lost this mode of communication. In most places I go, people don’t mince words or obfuscate their positions in the way people in broadcast media choose to. Real people seem disagree quite happily.
So it’s almost uncanny seeing such sincere expression on camera!
I’m not sure what happened - whether it was the branding of ‘speaking out’ as ‘courageous’ which led to public figures fearing sincere communication (as if it is something to fear!) - but I do feel that we’ve lost something.
And of course we have lost one of the great composers and bandleaders of the last century in Sly Stone. It would be very difficult to overstate the influence of his compositions and style on contemporary music. A true genius, and, like Ali, a true innovator within his chosen form.
RIP!
That "lost something" is effective communications, it's not taught, not respected, and as a result we now have multiple generations of people that cannot express themselves, believe doing so is a lead up to punishment, and if asked to explain their work cannot do so with anyone that is not up to speed with the acronym salad their career pretends is communicating. The effective communication skills is also how people can sit down with widely opposing views and discuss their cherished topics: debate is not supposed to be "to win" it is supposed to be to reach a synchronized understanding so the two or more groups have a common ground to move forward. Debate to win is entertainment, and destroys the entire purpose. The fact that nobody knows this anymore is the clear indication of the success of the manipulator in this society. The dumbing down succeeded, and today people can't even formulate in their mind how. It was by attacking communication itself. Look around you, how many people do you know that can actually convey understanding of fresh new topics to others? That used to be a common skill.
Everyone should go watch Sly Lives! - The Burden of Black Genius
Absolutely a must-watch doc, by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sly_Lives!_(aka_The_Burden_of_...
Oh I'd missed this. Will check it out thanks!
Also worth checking Questlove's other doc (which features among others Sly), Summer of Soul, if you haven't already
"The band released several unheralded albums in the '70s but never reached the height of 1969 again"
That's a questionable take– "There's a Riot Goin On" (1971) and Fresh (1973) are both absolute classics and highly influential
The Swedish, rather short-lived but very influential, magazine Pop voted There's a Riot as the best album of all time in 1994. That list had a huge effect on a whole generation of Swedish music fans.
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidningen_Pops_lista_%C3%B6ver...
Never dug much into sly stone, only knew 'you caught me smiling' from this album, it's indeed an very interesting one.
There's a wonderfully made two-part podcast documentary about Sly Stone and the Family; the documentary focuses on one song but is really a well-told story about the world around Sly Stone: https://500songs.com/podcast/song-175-everyday-people-by-sly...
Sly wasn't just a brilliant performer, singer, and accomplished multi-instrumentalist but a fantastic songwriter and hugely influential producer. He knew his way around music and lost sight of all ways.
Wonderful podcast all-around!
> Sly recently completed the screenplay for his life story, a project we are eager to share with the world in due course, which follows a memoir published in 2024.
Excellent
I watched this clip recently https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJU-4fYejiw being turned onto it by super dave being a guest on Norm Mcdonalds show.
It's an interesting time capsule. Peter Marshall using a racial slur on live television, Sly being stoned out of his mind.
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I became a fan of base ever since "Dance to the Music". Thank you, Sly, for the great music!
Base or bass ?
The lyrics call it "bottom"!
Everybody is a star
RIP King
Please listen to "There's a riot goin on"
I was young, with all of it yet to unfold, but I have to say, the summer of 1969 was a helluva thing.
Stand! For the things you know are right It's the truth that the truth makes them so uptight
Great album.
Worth mentioning, I think, that the album title is a response to Marvin Gaye's What's Going On which came out earlier that year (1971).
Painfully timely today in the United States.
They’re included in the American experience “funk” documentary.
https://youtu.be/QrgV35cBHVs?si=cPW106BBBUHYABk0?t=28m52s
It’s pretty fun. Late 60s San Francisco “hippie funk.”
I got almost to the end.
Then it went Wonder Bread and focused on Elton John and David Bowie.
PBS gotta sell tote bags to dad rock fans.
A man way ahead, and beyond, his time.-
He had to systematically learn to "dumb down" his genius, in order to reach an audience, and systematically, methodically, did so ...
... and, in so doing, defined an era.-
RIP legend!
Huge fan of Sly and the Family Stone, sorry to hear about this loss. "A Family Affair" is one of my all time favorite songs (and one of my go-to karaoke songs :)
Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin
A great talent undone by his addiction.
What an incredible legacy. May we all move through life with more rhythm and less regret. Let's honor his spirit by making our work as electrifying as his music. Rest in peace, Sly.
Everyday people ... sing a simple song ... mama's so happy ... mama starts to cry ... papa still singing ... you can make it if you try ...
That song helped me survive an awful childhood.
he was everyday people.
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wrong guy. sly stone was the frontman for sly and the family stone and has died. sylvester "sly" stallone is still alive, and is thus not a loss. he is also 5'8" so even if he was a loss whether he was a "huge" loss is a matter of debate
Given the negative votes I guess my attempt at humor fell flat :)
Yeah, they don't all hit. Have an updoot for not getting offended and defensive about it.
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Looking at this new user's short post history, it's pretty clear that it's AI slop :/
why do ppl do this? you can't really parlay hn karma into anything
Reddit accounts with high karma can be sold to spammers and astroturfers for quite a bit of money. I would imagine there's a market for HN accounts.
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