Sly and the Family Stone broke rock's colour and gender lines at once
When two brothers merged their bands in San Francisco in November 1966, the result became the first major American rock group whose lineup mixed Black and white players, men and women. Critic Joel Selvin later divided the history of Black music into two eras: before Sly Stone and after him.
Sylvester Stewart was born in Dallas to parents in the Church of God in Christ who encouraged music at home, and the family later settled in Vallejo, California. By 1964 he was calling himself Sly Stone, spinning records at the R&B station KSOL, where he slipped the Beatles and the Rolling Stones into his playlists, and producing for Autumn Records. His band Sly and the Stoners, featuring trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, combined with brother Freddie's group on the advice of saxophonist Jerry Martini. Since both brothers played guitar, Sly handed that job to Freddie and taught himself organ.
A record executive pressed him to write something commercial, and the grudging answer, Dance to the Music, released in November 1967, became their first chart single at number 8. Sister Rose, who had hesitated to quit a steady record-store job, joined on vocals and keyboards around then. Everyday People, issued in late 1968, gave them a first number 1 and a lasting catchphrase, different strokes for different folks, aimed at prejudice of every kind. The album Stand! followed on May 3, 1969, eventually selling more than three million copies.
They played Woodstock in the early morning of August 17, 1969, a set counted among the festival's best, and headlined the Harlem Cultural Festival that year, later the subject of Questlove's documentary Summer of Soul. Then fame curdled. After a move to Los Angeles, heavy drug use set in, and in 1970 Sly skipped nearly a third of the band's concerts.
Out of that gloom came There's a Riot Goin' On in 1971, dark and hissy from endless overdubbing, much of it reportedly played by Sly alone, yet it still produced the number 1 Family Affair. The group had dissolved by 1975, joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 1993 class, and ranked 43rd on Rolling Stone's list of greatest artists in 2010.
Source: Sly and the Family Stone
