Last week, two giants of US popular music passed away. Beach Boys legend, composer/songwriter Brian Wilson, and funk pioneer Sly Stone of Sly & The Family Stone fame.
Both created magic that changed the arc of popular music; Wilson for his melodic and harmonic beauty (and advanced production techniques), and Stone for creating psychedelic funk that brought rock into the groove.
They found fame while still young and the pressure of being labelled geniuses all but destroyed their personal lives. Wilson suffered from a schizo-affective disorder and substance abuse, while Stone, after a glorious five-year period at the top, descended into addiction, disappearing for years. They fit the "tortured artist" trope perfectly.
But it is Sly Stone who is the subject of this column, as funk is one of the musical areas to have featured heavily in World Beat over the years -- from James Brown to Afrofunk, and even Thai funk (remember The Impossibles' two funk albums, California and Hot Pepper recorded in Sweden).
Born in Denton, Texas, in 1943 into a musical family, Sylvester Stewart was something of a child prodigy. By the age of 11, he had mastered keyboards, bass and drums and later guitar (foreshadowing Stevie Wonder and Prince). He learned his musical chops at church, performing gospel music with his siblings (brother Fred, and sisters Rose and Loretta, who would also join his band Family Stone later). He played as a kid in the family band, The Stewart Four, and then moved onto highschool bands.
By the mid-1960s, Stone was working as a DJ for the soul radio station KSOL in San Francisco. His playlists included white artists like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, which was unusual at the time. But it did give an indication of a multicultural approach to music making.
Stone had also been busy writing songs and working as a producer, mainly with rock bands, including Grace Slick's first band The Great Society. And he still found time to play keyboards for major acts like Dionne Warwick, Marvin Gaye, The Righteous Brothers and Chubby Checker.
Stone's legendary Family Stone band started as Sly and the Stoners. The band included women musicians like Cynthia Robinson on trumpet. He then forged a new band from The Stoners and his brother Freddie's Freddie and the Stone Souls, and added bassist Larry Graham, who is widely credited with popularising the "slapback" electric bass sound, which Graham called "thumpin' and pluckin'". With the addition of Graham, the band was set up for what would be an incredible five or six years -- Sly Stone's golden era.
The new band performed in the Bay area and released their debut album, A Whole New Thing, in 1967. Although the album did not make waves, it did include the band's first hit single Dance To The Music (also the name of the next album in 1968). Life followed the same year and then in 1969 Stand!, which sent the band into the stratosphere. From that album came the monster hit Everyday People. Others followed like Hot Fun In The Summertime and Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) / Everybody Is A Star.
At Woodstock in 1969 Stone performed I Want To Take You Higher, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. He also performed at the Summer of Soul concerts in Harlem (the subject of a recent film documentary).
During this period the hits and amazing tracks -- psychedelic soul, funk rock -- included Sing A Simple Song (Stone's most sampled track), M'Lady, You Can Make It If You Try, Love City, Stand! and later There's Riot Goin' On (1971).
At a time of social unrest and racial tension and division (think of the riots across the USA in 1968), Stone was one of the few musicians to lead a mixed-gender, multicultural band. He was just as radical a band leader as he was a songwriter (yes, he wrote the line, "different strokes, for different folks"). A note, too, should be made about Stone's showmanship and wild and eclectic fashion style -- he was certainly "cool".
Sadly, that brief period of glory was to be Stone's greatest. By the early 1970s the band was plagued by substance abuse and as Sly became more addicted his life went into a long spiral -- including homelessness -- that he only emerged from, much damaged, years later. But musicians and the music industry had not forgotten his brilliance and tributes were held in the 2000s.
But what about Stone's impact and influence? George Clinton of Parliament/Funkadelic/P Funk actually recorded with Stone and considered him a mentor (Stone pioneered the psychedelic soul and funk sound). Prince, Black-Eyed Peas, Rick James, The Temptations, among others, all drank from Stone's deep funk and soul sound.
According to the Vinyl Factory website, Stone has also been sampled more than 800 times by rappers and hip-hop artists like The Beastie Boys, and perhaps most famously by Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg on their 12-inch maxi single Deep Cover in 1992.
Stone's music is exuberant and joyous, driven by amazing drumming and Graham's slapback bass, brilliant, layered vocals and politically charged lyrics. Just go online and see Stone and the band perform -- it'll put more than a pep in your step. If James Brown invented funk, Sly Stone perfected it.
John Clewley can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com.
