Sylvester Stewart was born into the
Dallas, Texas, family of K.C. and Alpha Stewart, followers of the
Church of God in Christ (COGIC), who 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"
b/w "Walking in Jesus' Name". 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. He became 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. 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 Greg 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,
Mary McCreary and
Elva Mouton, had a
gospel 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 a gig at the Winchester Cathedral,
CBS Records executive David Kapralik signed the group to CBS's
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. Some musicologists believe the
Abaco Dream single "Life And Death in G & A", recorded for
A&M Records in 1967 and peaking at No. 74 in September 1969, was performed by Sly and the Family Stone. Davis talked Sly into writing and recording a record, and he and the band reluctantly provided the single "
Dance to the Music". Upon its November 1967 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. 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. 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.
Stand! (1969) In late 1968, Sly and the Family Stone released the single "
Everyday People", which became their first No. 1 hit. and popularized the
catchphrase "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 No. 22 in the U.S.
Stand! is considered one of the artistic high points of the band's career. The success of
Stand! secured Sly and the Family Stone a performance slot at the landmark
Woodstock Music and Art Festival. They 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. Epic requested more marketable output. Jewish-American manager
David Kapralik claimed that Sly's sister Loretta, as well as the
Black Panther Party, urged Sly to replace him with a black manager. 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. "Thank You" reached the top of the
Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970. 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!. 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.
''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. The album is characterized by a significant amount of tape hiss – the result of Sly's extensive re-recording and
overdubbing during production. 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. "(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 though both ended up remaining in the band. Graham and his wife climbed out of a hotel window to escape, and Pat Rizzo gave them a ride to safety. Sly obsessively overdubbed the
masters, as he had done with
Riot. Although the record received mixed reviews at its release and did not attract the attention enjoyed by the band's earlier work,
Fresh has become recognized as one of the most important funk albums ever made. The first
Small Talk single, "Time For Livin'", became the band's final Top 40 hit single. "Loose Booty", the second single, peaked at No. 84.
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. 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. 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. Following the Radio City engagement, the band was dissolved. Andy Newmark became a successful session drummer, playing with
Roxy Music,
Pink Floyd,
B. B. King,
Steve Winwood and others.
Sly Stone'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 the 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 1977 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. When Sly disappeared into 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, but Sly made an appearance on Late Night With David Letterman'' that year. ==Musical style and legacy ==