Family Stone Essay Example

its dissolution in 1975. Sly Stone continued to record albums and tour with a new rotating lineup under the "Sly and the Family Stone" name from 1975 to 1983. In 1987, Sly Stone was arrested and sentenced for cocaine use, after which he went into effective retirement. However, Sly and The Family Stone were announced as being in the line-up for the 2010 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, CA. , USA.

The Stewart family was a deeply religious middle-class household from Dallas, Texas. K. C. and Alpha Stewart held the family together under the doctrines of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) and encouraged musical expression in the household. After the Stewarts moved to Vallejo, California, the youngest four children (Sylvester, Freddie, Rose, and Vaetta) formed "The Stewart Four", who released a local 78 RPM single, "On the Battlefield of the Lord" backed with "Walking in Jesus' Name", in 1952. The eldest sister, Loretta, was the only Stewart child not to pursue a musical career.

While attending high school, Sylvester and Freddie joined student bands. One of Sylvester's high school musical groups was a doo-wop act called The Viscaynes, in which he and a Filipino teenager were the only non-white members. The Viscaynes released a few local singles, and Sylvester recorded several solo singles under the name "Danny Stewart". By 1963, Sylvester had become Sly Stone, a disc jockey for San Francisco R&B radio station KSOL, where he included white performers such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones into his playlists.

During the same period, he worked as a record producer for Autumn Records, producing for San Francisco-area bands such as The Beau

Brummels and The Mojo Men. One of the Sylvester Stewart-produced Autumn singles, Bobby Freeman's "C'mon and Swim", was a national hit record. Stewart recorded unsuccessful solo singles while at Autumn.

Early years

In 1966, Sly Stone formed a band called Sly ; the Stoners, which included acquaintance Cynthia Robinson on trumpet. Around the same time, Freddie founded a band called Freddie ; the Stone Souls, which included Gregg Errico on drums.

At the suggestion of Stone's friend, saxophonist Jerry Martini, Sly and Freddie combined their bands, creating Sly and the Family Stone in 1967. Since both Sly and Freddie were guitarists, Sly appointed Freddie the official guitarist for the Family Stone, and taught himself to play the electronic organ. Meanwhile, Sly recruited Larry Graham to play bass guitar, and guitarist Paul C Saenz. Vaetta Stewart wanted to join the band as well. She and her friends, Mary McCreary and Elva Mouton, had a gospel music group called The Heavenly Tones.

Sly recruited the teenagers directly out of high school to become Little Sister, Sly and the Family Stone's background vocalists. After the debut single for Sly and the Family Stone, "I Ain't Got Nobody", became a major regional hit for Loadstone Records, CBS Records executive Clive Davis signed the group to CBS' Epic Records label. The Family Stone's first album, A Whole New Thing, was released in 1967 to critical acclaim, particularly from musicians such as Mose Allison and Tony Bennett. However, the album's low sales restricted their playing venues to small clubs, and caused Clive Davis and the record label to intervene.

Davis talked Sly into writing and recording a hit record, and he and the band reluctantly provided

the single "Dance to the Music". Upon its February 1968 release, "Dance to the Music" became a widespread ground-breaking hit, and was the band's first charting single, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Just before the release of "Dance to the Music", Rose Stone joined the group as a vocalist and a keyboardist. Rose's brothers had invited her to join the band from the beginning, but she initially had been reluctant to leave her steady job at a local record store. Sly and the Family Stone began to tour across the country, and were well known for their energetic performances and unique costuming. The Dance to the Music album went on to decent sales, but the follow-up, Life, was not as successful commercially . In September 1968, the band embarked on its first overseas tour, to England. That tour was cut short after Graham was arrested for possession of marijuana, and also because of disagreements with concert promoters.

Sound, philosophies, and influence of early years

Sly Stone had produced for and performed with black and white musicians during his early career, and he integrated music by white artists into black radio station KSOL's playlist as a D. J. Similarly, the Sly and the Family Stone sound was a melting pot of many influences and cultures, including James Brown proto-funk, Motown pop, Stax soul, Broadway showtunes, and psychedelic rock music. Wah-wah guitars, distorted fuzz basslines, church-styled organ lines, and horn riffs provided the musical backdrop for the vocals of the band's four lead singers. Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, Larry Graham, and Rose Stone traded off on various bars of each verse, a style of vocal arrangement unusual

and revolutionary at that time in popular music. Cynthia Robinson shouted ad-libbed vocal directions to the audience and the band; for example, urging everyone to "get on up and 'Dance to the Music'" and demanding that "all the squares go home! " The lyrics for the band's songs were usually pleas for peace, love, and understanding among people. These rallies against vices such as racism, discrimination, and self-hate were underscored by the lineup for and on-stage appearance of the band.

Caucasians Gregg Errico and Jerry Martini were members of the band at a time when integrated performance bands were virtually unheard of; integration had only recently become enforced by law. Females Cynthia Robinson and Rosie Stone played instruments onstage, rather than just providing vocals or serving as visual accompaniment for the male members. The band's gospel-styled singing endeared them to black audiences; their rock music elements and wild costuming—including Sly's large Afro and tight leather outfits, Rose's blond wig, and the other members' loud psychedelic clothing—caught the attention of mainstream audiences. unreliable source? Although "Dance to the Music" was the band's only hit single until late 1968, the influences of that single and the Dance to the Music and Life albums were heard across the music industry.

The smooth, piano-based "Motown sound" was out; "psychedelic soul" was in. Rock-styled guitar lines similar to the ones Freddie Stone played began appearing in the music of artists such as The Isley Brothers ("It's Your Thing") and Diana Ross & the Supremes ("Love Child"). Larry Graham invented the "slapping technique" of bass guitar playing, which became synonymous with funk music. Some musicians changed their sound completely to co-opt that of

Sly and the Family Stone, most notably Motown in-house producer Norman Whitfield, who took his main act The Temptations into "psychedelic soul" territory starting with the Grammy-winning "Cloud Nine" in 1968.  The early work of Sly and the Family Stone was also a significant influence on the music of Michael Jackson, soul/hip-hop groups such as George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic, Arrested Development, and The Black Eyed Peas, and others.

Stand! (1969)

The Woodstock Music and Art Festival, at which Sly and the Family Stone performed on August 17, 1969. In late 1968, Sly and the Family Stone released the single "Everyday People", which became the band's first number-one hit. "Everyday People" was a protest against prejudices of all kinds, and popularized the catch phrase "different strokes for different folks. " With its b-side "Sing a Simple Song", it served as the lead single for the band's fourth album, Stand! , which was released on May 3, 1969. The Stand! album eventually sold more than three million copies; its title track peaked at number 22 in the U.S. Stand! is considered one of the artistic high points of the band's career; it contained the above three tracks as well as the songs "I Want to Take You Higher", which also appeared on the b-side of the "Stand! " single, "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey", "Sex Machine", and "You Can Make It If You Try".  The success of Stand! secured Sly and the Family Stone a performance slot at the landmark Woodstock Music and Art Festival. The band performed their set during the early-morning hours of August 17, 1969; their performance was said to be one of the best shows

of the festival.

A new non-album single, "Hot Fun in the Summertime", was released the same month and went to number two on the U. S. pop charts (peaking in October, after the summer of 1969 had already ended).  In 1970, following the release of the Woodstock documentary, the single of "Stand! " and "I Want to Take You Higher" was reissued with the latter song now the a-side; it reached the Top 40.

Internal problems and a change of direction

With the band's new-found fame and success came numerous problems. Relationships within the band were deteriorating; there was friction in particular between the Stone brothers and Larry Graham. Epic requested more marketable output. The Black Panther Party demanded that Sly replace Gregg Errico and Jerry Martini with black instrumentalists and fire manager David Kapralik. After moving to the Los Angeles area in fall 1969, Sly Stone and his fellow band members became heavy users of illegal drugs, primarily cocaine and PCP. As the members became increasingly focused on drug use and partying (Sly Stone carried a violin case filled with illegal drugs wherever he went), recording slowed significantly.

Between summer 1969 and fall 1971, the band released only one single, "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" / "Everybody Is a Star", released in December 1969. Although "Star" was another positive song in the vein of "Everyday People," the single's lead side featured an angry, bitter Sly and the Family Stone, who declared in unison that they could no longer pretend to be something they were not (peaceful, loving, and happy) and disrespectfully thanked the audience "for letting me be myself again." "Thank You" reached the top of

the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970.

1970–1971 interim

In 1970, Sly Stone spent most of his waking hours on drugs.  He became erratic and moody, and missed nearly a third of the band's concerts that year. The band did close out the Strawberry Fields Festival near Toronto, Ontario in August but live appearances on television talk shows such as The Mike Douglas Show and The Dick Cavett Show went unpredictably.

Meanwhile, Sly hired his streetwise cohorts, Hamp "Bubba" Banks and J. B. Brown, as his personal managers; they in turn brought in gangsters such as Edward "Eddie Chin" Elliott and Mafioso J. R. Valtrano to be Sly's bodyguards. Sly enlisted these individuals to handle his business dealings, to retrieve drugs, and to protect him from those he considered his enemies, some of whom were his own bandmates and staff.  A rift developed between Sly and the rest of the band; in early 1971, drummer Errico became the first to leave the band for other ventures. He was replaced with a succession of drummers until Sly settled on Gerry Gibson, who only remained with the band for a year before being replaced by Andy Newmark in 1973. To appease fan demand for new songs, Epic began re-releasing material.

A Whole New Thing was reissued with a new cover, and several of the Family Stone's most popular recordings were packaged into the band's first Greatest Hits album. Greatest Hits reached number two on the Billboard 200 in 1970. During this period, Sly Stone negotiated a production deal with Atlantic Records, resulting in his own imprint, Stone Flower Productions. Stone Flower released four singles, including one by R&B artist Joe Hicks,

one by a group called 6IX, and two pop Top 40/R&B Top 10 singles by Little Sister: "You're the One" and "Somebody's Watching You", a cover of a song from Stand!.

Ken Roberts became the group's promoter, and later their general manager, when no other representatives would work with the band because of their erratic gig attendance record. In January 1975, the band booked itself at Radio City Music Hall. The famed music hall was only one-eighth occupied, and Sly and company had to scrape together money to return home. Following the Radio City engagement, the band was dissolved. Rose Stone was pulled out of the band by Bubba Banks, who was by then her husband.

She began a solo career, recording a Motown-style album under the name Rose Banks in 1976. Freddie Stone joined Larry Graham's group, Graham Central Station, for a time; after collaborating with his brother one last time in 1979 for Back on the Right Track, he retired from the music industry and eventually became the pastor of the Evangelist Temple Fellowship Center in Vallejo. Little Sister was also dissolved; Mary McCrary married Leon Russell and worked with him on music projects.  Andy Newmark became a successful session drummer, playing with Roxy Music, B.B. King, Steve Winwood and others.

Impact and influence of later material

The work of the later version of Sly and the Family Stone was as influential as the band's early work. There's a Riot Goin' On, Fresh, and Small Talk are considered among the first and best examples of the matured version of funk music, after prototypical instances of the sound in the band's 1960s work. Herbie Hancock was inspired by

Sly's new funk sound to move towards a more electric sound with his material, resulting in Head Hunters (1973).

Miles Davis was similarly inspired by the band and worked with Sly Stone on his recordings, resulting in On the Corner; the sartorial and band lineup changes hallmarked jazz fusion. Artists such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Chuck D, and John Mayer have also shown significant inspiration from the post-1970 work of Sly and the Family Stone.

Sly's later career

Sly recorded two more albums for Epic: High on You (1975) and Heard You Missed Me, Well I'm Back (1976). High On You was billed as a Sly Stone solo album; Heard You Missed Me was a Sly and the Family Stone album in name only.

Although Sly continued to collaborate with some of the original Family Stone members on occasion, the actual band no longer existed. Sly played most of the instruments on record himself; he maintained a band to support him for live shows. Among his main collaborators were Cynthia Robinson and Pat Rizzo from the Family Stone, and background vocalists Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva, who parted with Sly in 1976 and formed The Brides of Funkenstein in 1978. Epic released Stone from his contract in 1977, and in 1979 released 10 Years Too Soon, a remix album featuring disco versions of the 1960s Family Stone hits.

Sly signed with Warner Bros. and recorded Back On The Right Track (1979). Although the album featured contributions from Freddie and Rose stone, Sly remained unable to return to the success of his late '60s and early '70s fame.  He toured with George Clinton and Funkadelic during the late 1970s

and early 1980s, and also appeared on the 1981 Funkadelic album The Electric Spanking of War Babies. That year, Clinton and Sly began work on a new Sly Stone album; however, recording halted when Clinton and Funkadelic disputed with and left Warner Bros. Records in late 1981. When Sly disappeared into self-seclusion, producer Stewart Levine completed the album, which was released as Ain't But the One Way in 1982.

The album sold poorly and received mixed critical reception. Overcome by drug addictions, Sly Stone disappeared from the limelight and entered drug rehabilitation in 1984, at the insistence of his old friend Bobby Womack. Sly continued sporadically releasing new singles and collaborations until a 1987 arrest and conviction for cocaine possession and use. Afterwards, he stopped releasing music.

Awards and tributes

This article or section may be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective. In November 2009, Sly and the Family Stone were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. The original members of the Family Stone were in attendance, except Sly. Just as the band took the podium to receive their awards, Sly suddenly appeared. He accepted his award, made some very brief remarks ("See you soon"), and disappeared from public view. In December 2001, Sly and the Family Stone were awarded the R&B Foundation Pioneer Award.

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2. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/berlin-mn0000046381
3. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/cibo-matto-mn0000121778
4. https://www.rockhall.com/
5. https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/107419/sly-family-stone-jw-if?page=2
6. http://www.rollingstone.com/news
7. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/taylor-swift-1989-cover-story-20140908
8. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-artists-of-all-time-19691231
9. https://archive.org/details/tvarchive