Sly and the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone | |
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Background information | |
Origin | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Genres | |
Discography | Elva Mouton |
Sly and the Family Stone was an American band originating from
Formed in 1966, the group's music synthesized a variety of disparate musical genres to help pioneer the emerging "psychedelic soul" sound.[1][4] They released a series of Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits such as "Dance to the Music" (1968), "Everyday People" (1968), and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" (1969), as well as critically acclaimed albums such as Stand! (1969), which combined pop sensibility with social commentary.[5] In the 1970s, it transitioned into a darker and less commercial funk sound on releases such as There's a Riot Goin' On (1971) and Fresh (1973), proving as influential as their early work.[2] By 1975, drug problems and interpersonal clashes led to dissolution,[6] though Sly continued to record and tour with a new rotating lineup under the name "Sly and the Family Stone" until drug problems forced his effective retirement in 1987.[7]
The work of Sly and the Family Stone greatly influenced the sound of subsequent American funk, pop, soul, R&B, and hip hop music. Music critic Joel Selvin wrote, "there are two types of black music: black music before Sly Stone, and black music after Sly Stone".[8] In 2010, they were ranked 43rd in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time,[9] and three of their albums are included on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
Career
Sylvester Stewart was born into the
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. The Viscaynes released a few local singles, and Sylvester recorded several solo singles under the name "Danny Stewart".
By 1964, Sylvester had become Sly Stone and a disc jockey for San Mateo, California located R&B radio station KSOL, where he included white performers such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in 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.[11] Stewart recorded unsuccessful solo singles while at Autumn.[12]
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, and Ronnie Crawford on saxophone. At the suggestion of Stone's friend, saxophonist Jerry Martini, Sly and Freddie combined their bands, creating Sly and the Family Stone in November 1966. At first the group was called Sly Brothers and Sisters but after their first gig at the Winchester Cathedral, a night club in Redwood City, California, they changed the name to Sly & the Family Stone. 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. Sly also recruited Larry Graham, Robinson's cousin, to play bass guitar.
Vaetta Stewart wanted to join the band as well. She and her friends,
After a gig at the Winchester Cathedral,
Davis talked Sly into writing and recording a record, and he and the band reluctantly provided the single "Dance to the Music".[18] Upon its February 1968 release, "Dance to the Music" became a widespread ground-breaking hit, and was the band's first charting single, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.[19] 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.[18]
The Dance to the Music album went on to decent sales, but the follow-up, Life, was not as successful commercially.[20] In September 1968, the band embarked on its first overseas tour, to England. It was cut short after Graham was arrested for possession of marijuana and because of disagreements with concert promoters.[21]
Stand! (1969)
In late 1968, Sly and the Family Stone released the single "
The band headlined the Harlem Cultural Festival before tens of thousands of spectators in Mount Morris Park in 1969, several weeks before the more widely known Woodstock festival. The concert series is the subject of a 2021 documentary film by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson called Summer of Soul.[25][26] The success of Stand! secured Sly and the Family Stone a performance slot at the landmark
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.[27] Epic requested more marketable output.[28] The Black Panther Party demanded that Sly replace Gregg Errico and Jerry Martini with black instrumentalists and fire manager David Kapralik.[29][30]
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.[31] As the members became increasingly focused on drug use and partying (Sly Stone carried a violin case filled with illegal drugs wherever he went),[32] 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. "Thank You" reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970.[19]
During 1970, Sly Stone spent most of his waking hours on drugs.
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
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!. For unclear reasons, Sly gradually withdrew his attention from Stone Flower, and the label was closed in 1971. Little Sister's "Somebody's Watching You" is the first popular recording to feature the use of a drum machine for its rhythm track.[38]
There's a Riot Goin' On (1971)
In 1971, Sly and the Family Stone returned with a new single, "Family Affair", which became a number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. "Family Affair" was the lead single from the band's long-awaited There's a Riot Goin' On.
Instead of the optimistic, rock-laced soul that had characterized the Family Stone's 1960s output, There's a Riot Goin' On was urban blues, filled with dark instrumentation, filtered drum machine tracks, and plaintive vocals representing the hopelessness Sly and many other people were feeling in the early 1970s.[39][40] The album is characterized by a significant amount of tape hiss – the result of Sly's extensive re-recording and overdubbing during production.[41] Allegedly, most of the album's instrumentation is performed by Sly alone, who enlisted the Family Stone for some of the additional instrumental parts and friends such as Billy Preston, Ike Turner, and Bobby Womack for others.[42] "(You Caught Me) Smilin'" and "Runnin' Away" were also released as singles, and performed well on the charts.
After the release of Riot, additional lineup changes took place. In early 1972, reacting to Jerry Martini's probing about his share of the band's earnings, Sly hired saxophonist Pat Rizzo as a potential replacement[43] though both ended up remaining in the band.[43] Later that year, the tension between Sly Stone and Larry Graham reached its peak. A post-concert brawl broke out between the Graham and Sly entourages; Bubba Banks and Eddie Chin, having heard that Larry had hired a hit man to kill Sly, assaulted Graham's associates.[44] Graham and his wife climbed out of a hotel window to escape, and Pat Rizzo gave them a ride to safety.[44] Unable to continue working with Sly, Graham immediately quit the Family Stone and went on to start Graham Central Station, a successful band in the same vein as Sly and the Family Stone.[45] Graham was replaced in the interim by Bobby Womack, and then by nineteen-year-old Rustee Allen.[44]
Fresh (1973) and Small Talk (1974)
Despite the loss of the original rhythm section and Sly's escalating cocaine use, the band's next album,
Dissolution
During the 1970s, Sly or another of the band members would often miss a gig, refuse to play, or pass out from drug use, impacting their live bookings.[50] At many gigs, concert-goers rioted if the band failed to appear or if Sly walked out before finishing his set. Ken Roberts became the group's promoter, and later their general manager, when other representatives would not work with the band because of their erratic attendance.[51] In January 1975, the band booked itself at Radio City Music Hall. The famed music hall was only one-eighth filled, and Sly and company had to scrape together money to return home.[52] Following the Radio City engagement, the band was dissolved.[52]
Rose Stone was pulled out of the band by Bubba Banks, who was 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 McCreary married Leon Russell and worked with him on music projects.[53] Andy Newmark became a successful session drummer, playing with Roxy Music, Pink Floyd, B. B. King, Steve Winwood and others.[54]
Sly Stone's later career
Sly recorded two more albums for Epic:
Sly signed with
In 1992, Sly and the Family Stone appeared on the Red Hot Organization's dance compilation album, Red Hot + Dance, contributing an original track, "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Todds CD Mix)". The album attempted to raise awareness and money in support of the AIDS epidemic, and all proceeds were donated to AIDS charities.
In 2009 the documentary Coming Back for More was released. Sly tells director Willem Alkema about his conflicts with his manager Jerry Goldstein and that because of this he is forced to live in hotels.
On August 16, 2011, the album I'm Back! Family & Friends was released. The album features re-recorded versions of Sly and the Family Stone's greatest hits with guest appearances from Jeff Beck, Ray Manzarek, Bootsy Collins, Ann Wilson, Carmine Appice, and Johnny Winter, as well as three previously unreleased songs.
One month later, on September 25, 2011, the New York Post reported that Sly Stone was now homeless and living out of a white camper-van in Los Angeles: "The van is parked on a residential street in Crenshaw, the rough Los Angeles neighborhood where Boyz n the Hood was set. A retired couple makes sure he eats once a day, and Stone showers at their house."[56]
Musical style and legacy
Early years
Sly Stone 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 DJ. Similarly, the Sly and the Family Stone sound was a
The lyrics for the band's songs were often pleas for peace, love, and understanding among people. These calls against prejudice and
Although "Dance to the Music" was the band's only hit single until late 1968, the impact of that single and the Dance to the Music and Life albums reverberated across the music industry.
Later work
The later work 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.[7][64] A 2003 article for Rolling Stone commented; "Sly and the Family Stone created a musical utopia: an interracial group of men and women who blended funk, rock and positive vibes... Sly Stone ultimately discovered that his utopia had a ghetto, and he brilliantly tore the whole thing down on There's a Riot Goin' On, which does not refute the joy of his earlier music."[65] In a retrospective review, Zeth Lundy of PopMatters called There's a Riot Goin' On "a challenging listen, at times rambling, incoherent, dissonant, and just plain uncomfortable" with "some episodic moments of pop greatness to be found" and viewed it as a radical departure from the band's previous work:
[It] sank their previously burgeoning idealism at a time when social disillusionment was all the rage. Sly had found something else to take him higher and, as a result, Riot is a record very much informed by drugs, paranoia, and a sort of halfhearted malcontent [...] listening to it isn't exactly a pleasurable experience. It's significant in the annals of pop and soul because it is blunt and unflinching, because it reflects personal and cultural crises in a manner unbecoming for pop records at the time. Riot can be classified as avant-soul only after being recognized as a soul nightmare—the 'nightmare', so to speak, being a reflection of an unfortunate and uncompromised reality, not a glossed-over pop-music approximation of reality.[66]
Writer
Awards and tributes
Sly and the Family Stone were inducted into the
A Sly and the Family Stone
The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2007.[77]
2006 Grammy Awards tribute
A Sly and the Family Stone tribute took place at the
The tribute began halfway through the Grammy Awards ceremony, and was introduced by comedian
After the first half of "I Want to Take You Higher", the Family Stone took the stage alongside the other musicians, and Tyler called backstage "Hey, Sly; let's do it the way we used to do it!" Sporting a blonde mohawk hairdo, sunglasses, and a silver lamé suit, Sly Stone emerged and contributed vocals and keyboards to a continuation of "I Want To Take You Higher." Three minutes into the performance, Sly tossed a wave to the audience and exited the stage, leaving the Family Stone and the guest performers to complete the number alone.[78]
Sly's unusual appearance and brief performance garnered highly mixed reviews and was covered throughout the press. One Associated Press report referred to Sly as the "J. D. Salinger of funk" and simply referred to the performance as being "bizarre".[78] Another AP report stated that "nineteen years after his last live performance, Sly Stone proved he's still able to steal the show."[80] MTV News was much less complimentary: "The Grammy performance—Sly's first with the original Family Stone since 1971—was a halting, confused affair and a complete disservice to his music."[34]
Members
This listing features the lineup from 1967 to 1975. After 1975, the lineup changed with each of the last four LPs.
- Sly Stone (Sylvester Stewart) (1966–1975): vocals, organ, guitar, bass guitar, piano, harmonica, and more
- Freddie Stone (Frederick Stewart) (1966–1975): vocals, guitar
- ad libs
- Jerry Martini (1966–1975): saxophone
- Little Sister: Vet Stone (Vaetta Stewart), Mary McCreary, and Elva Mouton (1966–1975): background vocals
- Larry Graham (1966–1972): vocals, bass guitar
- Gregg Errico (1966–1971): drums
- Rose Stone (Rose Marie Stewart) (1968–1975): vocals, piano, electric piano
- Gerry Gibson (1971–1972): drums; replaced Gregg Errico
- Pat Rizzo (1972–1975; died 2021): saxophone
- Rustee Allen (1972–1975): bass; replaced Larry Graham
- Andy Newmark (1973–1974): drums; replaced Gerry Gibson
- Bill Lordan (1974): drums; replaced Andy Newmark
- Sid Page (1973–1974): violin
- Vicki Blackwell (1974–1975): violin
- Jim Strassburg (1974): drums; replaced Bill Lordan
- Adam Veaner (1975): drums; replaced Jim Strassburg
- Dennis Marcellino (1975): saxophone; replaced Pat Rizzo
Members Timeline
Discography
- A Whole New Thing (1967)
- Dance to the Music (1968)
- Life (1968)
- Stand! (1969)
- There's a Riot Goin' On (1971)
- Fresh (1973)
- Small Talk (1974)
- Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back (1976)
- Back on the Right Track (1979)
- Ain't but the One Way (1982)
References
- ^ a b c "Psychedelic Soul Music Genre Overview". AllMusic.
- ^ a b c d "Sly & the Family Stone | Biography & History". AllMusic.
- ISBN 978-0190870201.
- ^ a b "Fresh". Rolling Stone. November 25, 1999.
- AllMusic. Retrieved January 18, 2005.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. xi–xix.
- ^ a b c d Erlewine, Stephen Thomas . Sly and the Family Stone. All Music Guide. Retrieved on January 18, 2007.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), p. xi.
- ^ "100 Greatest Artists". Rolling Stone. December 3, 2010.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 1–4.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 12.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 8–9.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 88; interview with Elva "Tiny" Moulton.
- ^ a b Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 59–60; interviews with David Kapralik and Jerry Martini.
- ^ a b Fotenot, Robert. Profile: Sly and the Family Stone Archived January 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. About.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2007.
- ISBN 0-89820-139-X
- ISBN 1-4357-0987-X, 9781435709874. page 70.
- ^ a b Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 60; interview with Jerry Martini.
- ^ a b c d e f "Sly and the Family Stone: Billboard Singles". All Media Guide, LLC. 2006. Retrieved January 26, 2007.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas . Review for Life by Sly and the Family Stone. All Music Guide. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 68; interview with Jerry Martini.
- ^ Greenwald, Matthew. Review of "Everyday People" by Sly and the Family Stone. Allmusic.com. Retrieved on February 3, 2007.
- ^ Lewis, Miles (2006), p. 57.
- ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas . Review for Stand! by Sly and the Family Stone. All Music Guide. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.
- ^ Bryan Greene (June 2017). "This Green and Pleasant Land". Poverty and Race Research Action Council.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (September 14, 2017). "Hal Tulchin, Who Documented a 'Black Woodstock,' Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 107, 146–152.
- ^ Lewis, Miles (2006), pp. 24–25.
- ^ Lewis, Miles (2006), p. 85.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 89; interview with David Kapralik.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 94–98.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 122.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 113–115.
- ^ a b Aswad, Jem (February 10, 2006). "Who, Exactly, Is Sly Stone? (That Weird Guy with the Mohawk at the Grammys)". Mtv.com. Retrieved February 11, 2006.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 120–122.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 99–100, 150–152.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 146–147.
- ^ Lewis, Miles (2006), p. 74.
- ^ Lewis, Miles (2006), pp. 74–75.
- ISBN 0-452-27836-8.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 115–117.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 115; interview with Stephen Paley.
- ^ a b Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 134.
- ^ a b c Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 150–154.
- ^ a b Ankeny, Jason. "Larry Graham". Allmusic. Retrieved February 1, 2007.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Review for Fresh by Sly and the Family Stone. All Music Guide. Retrieved on January 18, 2007.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 164–167.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 174.
- ^ Sly and the Family Stone: Billboard Singles. All Media Guide, LLC. (2006). Retrieved on February 4, 2007.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 141–145.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 186–189.
- ^ a b Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 188–191.
- ^ Ankeny, Jason. Leon Russell. All Music Guide. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.
- ^ Credits for Andy Newmark. All Music Guide. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.
- ^ a b Birchmeier, Jason. Review of Ain't But the One Way by Sly and the Family Stone. All Music Guide. Retrieved on February 4, 2007.
- ^ Alkema, Willem (September 25, 2011). "Funk legend Sly Stone homeless and living in a van in LA". New York Post. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- ^ a b c Williams and Romanowski (1988), pp. 138–139. Williams discusses Sly and the Family Stone's impact on the R&B industry, and how the group's multiple lead vocals and psychedelic sound inspired "Cloud Nine" and other such Temptations recordings.
- ^ Sly and the Family Stone (performers), Sylvester Stewart (author). (1968). Dance to the Music (Vinyl recording). New York: Epic/CBS Records.
- ISBN 0-312-13499-1.
- ^ [unreliable source?] Kaliss, Jeff. Sly and the Family Stone: 'Different strokes for different folks.' Archived February 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine There1.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2007
- ISBN 978-1-5795-8079-7.
- ^ "The Temptations". 1989 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 1989. Archived from the original on November 23, 2006. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
- ^ Planer, Lindsay. Review for Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5 by The Jackson 5. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
* Liner notes from Smiling Faces: The Best of Undisputed Truth. New York: Universal/Motown Records. Excerpt: "'Undisputed Truth was one of Motown's boldest acts. They were the brainchild of legendary producer Norman Whitfield, who described them as 'a perfect cross between Sly and the Family Stone and the 5th Dimension.'"
* Erlewine, Stephen Thomas . Sly and the Family Stone. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-01-18. Sly Stone later toured and recorded with Funkadelic in the late 1970s/early 1980s
* Huey, Steve. Arrested Development. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-01-18. - ^ Rosen, Dave. Review for There's a Riot Goin' On. Archived September 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Ink Blot Magazine. Retrieved on January 18, 2007
- ^ "Music News". Rolling Stone.
- ^ Lundy, Zeth (April 2, 2007). Review: There's a Riot Goin' On. PopMatters. Retrieved on 2010-10-16.
- ISBN 978-0-85112-786-6.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Review for Head Hunters by Herbie Hancock. All Music Guide. Retrieved on January 18, 2007.
- ^ Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 163.
- ^ "Drummerworld: Andy Newmark". Drummerworld.
- ^ "Brian Eno: "The Studio as Compositional Tool"". Downbeat.
- ^ Kaliss, Jeff. Sly and the Family Stone: 'Different strokes for different folks.' Archived February 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine There1.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2007 Different Strokes by Different Folks [audio podcast—2 episodes]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment. Retrieved on January 18, 2007. Michael Jackson, Prince, and Stevie Wonder's inspirations from Sly and the Family Stone are mentioned in this article. The other artists listed are among those who participated in the 2006 Sly and the Family Stone tribute album Different Strokes by Different Strokes, and discuss their participation in the podcast.
- ^ "Outkast". Rolling Stone.
- ^ Bradbury, Andrew Paine (August 18, 2005). "Sly Stone Joins Family". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007. Retrieved November 14, 2009.
- ^ "The Immortals: The First Fifty". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 16, 2006. Retrieved February 16, 2007.
- Archive-ItGrammy.com. Retrieved on February 17, 2007.
- ^ "Sly & The Family Stone – Inductees – The Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundation". April 2, 2009. Archived from the original on April 2, 2009.
- ^ a b c Coyle, Jake (February 8, 2006). "Reclusive Sly Stone Steps Out at Grammys". MSN.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2007. Retrieved February 1, 2007.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2006). Review of the Sly and the Family Stone compilation tribute album Different Strokes by Different Folks. Allmusic.com. Retrieved on February 1, 2007.
- ^ "Sly Stone Steals Show at Grammys". CBS5.com. Associated Press. February 9, 2006. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved November 12, 2009.
Bibliography
- Aronowitz, Al (November 1, 2002). "The Preacher". The Blacklisted Journal. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- Ankeny, Jason (2005). "Sylvester 'Sly Stone' Stewart Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2005-03-29.
- Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2005). Sly and the Family Stone. Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2005-03-29.
- Lewis, Miles Marshall (2006). There's a Riot Goin' On. 33-1/3. New York: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-1744-2.
- Selvin, Joel (1998). For the Record: Sly and the Family Stone: An Oral History. New York: Quill Publishing. ISBN 0-380-79377-6.
- Williams, Otis and Romanowski, Patricia (1988, updated 2002). Temptations. Lanham, MD: Cooper Square. ISBN 0-8154-1218-5
Further reading
- Kaliss, Jeff (2008). I Want to Take You Higher: The Life and Times of Sly and the Family Stone. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-934-3.
- Stone, Sly (with Ben Greenman) (2023). ISBN 978-0-3746-0697-8.
External links
- Official Website
- Sly and the Family Stone at AllMusic