Sly was one of the first Black rock stars. In the late 1960s, he and Jimi Hendrix entered uncharted territory for Black artists. They both had large rock-loving white fan bases that rivaled some of their white counterparts, such as the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Beach Boys. However, unlike Hendrix and the other acts mentioned, Sly had an equally large Black following. His sound reached across demographics in an unprecedented fashion. His music was funky and soulful enough to appeal to a large black demographic, but it also had enough rock and pop elements to connect with a large white audience. At a time when popular music was highly segmented, Sly & the Family Stone’s music had no boundaries. Their sound was a liberating fusion of funk, gospel, rock, soul, pop, blues, and psychedelia. The documentary examines Sly’s incredible ability to cross-pollinate different music styles to create something new, exciting, and innovative.
The film traces back to Sly’s early childhood in Vallejo, California, where his family relocated from Denton, Texas when he was three months old. Coming from a devoutly religious family, he developed a great love for music while growing up in the church. He played guitar, bass, and drums for the church and sang in the youth choir. He was also a member of his family’s gospel group, the Stewart Four, which consisted of him, his brother Freddie, and his sisters Rose and Loretta. Early on, it was apparent that Sly possessed an extraordinary musical gift, and this film examines how he honed and cultivated that gift, which eventually took him to rock superstardom.
The film explores how Sly made a name for himself in the Bay Area music scene as a songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. In 1964, he signed with San Francisco-based label Autumn Records as a staff producer. Around this time, he started going by Sly Stone instead of his birth name Sylvester Stewart. He was known for his unfailing ear and astonishing abilities as a musician, producer, and songwriter. He produced San Francisco-area music acts such as Bobby Freeman, the Beau Brummels, the Mojo Men, and Grace Slick’s first band, the Great Society. Sly produced and co-wrote Freeman's top-10 hit “C’mon and Swim” (released in 1964). The documentary contains an archival interview with Slick, who praised Sly’s patient hands-on approach to producing. She was also in awe of his prodigious musical talent and versatility: “He plays every instrument beautifully,” she said. “I just stood there with my jaw on the ground.”
While Sly worked as a producer at Autumn Records, he was also a disc jockey for San Francisco-based soul radio station KSOL. He became a popular radio personality and made a lot of important music connections through his deejay job. Jerry Martini often dropped by the station to hang out with Sly. So the two already had great rapport before the formation of Sly & The Family Stone.
The documentary details how Sly & The Family Stone was formed in 1966. In his interview, Martini discussed how he came up with the idea for a band that centered around Sly’s significant gifts as a songwriter and producer. “I see the songs he’s writing, and I say, if we do a band, we’ll all be famous,” he explained. The band’s interracial, mixed-gender makeup was by design. Sly felt that bringing together this diverse mix of talented players would create a sound that was truly unique and different. The lineup of the band was Sly (vocals, producer, multiple instruments), Larry Graham (bass, vocals), Rose Stone (keyboards, vocals), Cynthia Robinson (trumpet, vocal ad-libs), Greg Errico (drums), Jerry Martini (saxophone) and Freddie Stone (guitar, vocals). The band put in work honing their chops by playing six nights a week at the Winchester Cathedral, a nightclub in Redwood City, California.
The band eventually caught the attention of record executive and producer Clive Davis, which resulted in their signing to Epic/CBS Records in 1967. Davis recognized right away that Sly was a rare talent who had the potential to change the game in popular music. “I thought, here you have a creative genius who was going to make a permanent mark on history,” he said. The band released their debut album, A Whole New Thing, on October 1, 1967. Unfortunately, the album failed to generate much buzz and was a huge disappointment from a commercial standpoint. The collection has some great music on it, but it was too nakedly funky, complex, and experimental to garner any substantial radio airplay–particularly for a debut album by a new band. Davis requested the band make their next album more pop radio-friendly. As a result, Sly wrote songs that were less complex and more palatable for a wider audience. This approach resulted in the smash “Dance To The Music,” the title track of their second album, released in 1968. The song is an exhilarating mix of psychedelic soul, funk, and pop. The high-energy, celebratory dance track was immediately embraced by both R&B and pop fans. It peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart. And it rose to #11 on the UK charts.
There’s a great section in the documentary where commentators share their thoughts on the song’s massive impact and why it had such major crossover appeal. “The first time I heard ‘Dance To The Music’ it was like, Oh my God, it’s the greatest thing ever,” said Jimmy Jam. “It sounded like nothing else on the radio at the time.” Nile Rodgers said, “Sly had the uncanny ability to make every part of the song hooky.”
The song was hugely influential and helped popularize psychedelic soul, and it further expanded the growth of funk music, which James Brown pioneered a few years earlier. As a result of “Dance To The Music,” big-name Motown acts like the Temptations added psychedelic soul to their sound as did several other popular R&B artists and bands of the day. “The song changed everything,” said Errico. “It was a huge paradigm shift.”
Sly & The Family Stone skyrocketed to national fame following the release “Dance To The Music.” They went from playing small clubs to headlining famous rock venues like the Fillmore East in New York.
The documentary also illustrates how Sly’s songwriting drew inspiration from burning social issues and events. The turbulent state of America in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s influenced the themes of the band’s groundbreaking albums, Stand! (1969) and There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971). Division, anger, and hate permeated the country during that time. Race riots erupted across the United States in response to systemic racism, police brutality, and racial injustice; anti-war protests and civil unrest dominated the headlines and flashed across television screens. Sly’s songs reflected these sentiments.
The title track on Stand! is a powerful civil rights and youth counterculture anthem. Commentators discussed the song’s cultural impact and how it inspired young people to stand up for what they believed in. “It was one of the only empowering songs that were out there for young people, and we weren’t getting a lot of that,” said Chaka Khan. Mark Anthony Neal, author and professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University, said, “Sly & The Family Stone were in sync with what was happening culturally, socially, and politically.”
The Stand! album also features the classic “Everyday People,” a moving plea for peace, equality, and racial unity. Soul, pop, and gospel meld beautifully on this song. It’s one of the band’s biggest hits, topping both Billboard’s R&B singles chart and the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for four weeks. It has sold more than three million copies to date. “With ‘Everyday People,’ Sly came along as the Black hippie Pied Piper singing we are the same whatever we do,” said Vernon Reid, acclaimed guitarist and founder of the hard rock band Living Colour. “That’s the first time you hear that sentiment from a Black artist. Sly was bringing people together at a time when this country was tearing itself apart.”
The film revisits Sly & The Family Stone’s historic Woodstock performance that took place on August 17, 1969. The band blew the minds of thousands of audience members with their explosive, soul-stirring set. They hit the stage like a funky typhoon and didn’t let up. The galvanic performance put Sly & The Family Stone’s name on everyone’s lips as one of the hottest and most talented bands on the scene.
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| Sly & The Family Stone performing at Woodstock, photo by Jason Lauré |
The Woodstock performance elevated Sly to rock superstar status, something he’s never been comfortable with and one of the factors that contributed to his destructive, self-sabotaging behavior. The documentary explores Sly’s struggles with drug abuse and coping with his massive celebrity. The mounting pressures of his position caused his life and career to go into freefall. He became heavily addicted to cocaine and angel dust. The once familial bond he shared with the band members was gone, and he began to isolate himself from them. He became increasingly paranoid and erratic. He started missing shows and displaying unpredictable behavior. This eventually led to the departure of founding members Greg Errico and Larry Graham. The documentary thoughtfully examines the detrimental effects fame, fortune, and great success can often have on Black artists. It presents Sly’s gradual self-destruction as a case study of this phenomenon.
Sly’s influence on contemporary music is immeasurable. Music would be significantly different today if not for his many innovations and contributions. He set the blueprint for genre-defying superstars like Prince, Lenny Kravitz, and Bruno Mars, among countless others. Questlove–who won an Oscar for his 2021 documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)–does a tremendous job in this comprehensive look at Sly’s life and amazing music career.
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) has received mainly high marks from critics and currently has an impressive 91% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. It’s currently streaming on Hulu.
