Damn it! Just...damn it.
It shouldn't be a surprise, yet it is.
I can't do another tribute or obit. I don't have the head or heart for it.
I'll just say, I loved his music.
And it would not be a stretch to say, the "Stand" album changed my life.
Jeez, "Hot Fun In The Summertime" changes my life every time I hear it.
21 comments:
Oh fuck! One of the greatest concerts of my life was Sly & the Family Stone - SUNY New Paltz 1969. Of course it started almost an hour late! :-)
Captain Al
I'm STILL learning from "Everyday People."
RIP Sly.
JB
Like you said, not surprising but still too much. I loved him
Damn!
A truly unique artist who took us higher. Surprised he made it to 82.
- Paul in DK
always remember when sly was on the flintstones!…what?? who?? when?
he produced the beau brummel”stones”!…& he obviously dug the “stone” bit
rip king sly stewart stone
https://youtu.be/hzexiy8UZzY?si=qsvpefDgF8FC6BTC
cheers
Thank you fallettinus hear your song again. RIP Sly
I've said for years, if I could see ONE show by a living performer whom I'd never seen - I'd wish for it to be Sly. I held out a tiny hope for it - or a new record - right up until today.
Sly changed the world though, and left us with the music. Rest easy, Sly, your work is done.
p.s. I recommend his autobiography - read it last year.
RIP Sly. The Stand album was a big one for me too. Got lots of airplay in my dorm room when it came out. I only saw him once, but it was a biggie. Woodstock 1969. “Way up on the hill…!”
Nice one, Cleveland Jeff! Stand! and There's A Riot Going On loom large.
I was purely an album guy till I bought my first 45, which was...Hot Fun In The Summertime.
C in California
Growing up in the 60s, his music was ubiquitous. Like the 80s had Michael Jackson, back in the 60s, the Family Stone's Greatest Hits lp was de riguer for those entering their teenage years and above. But even more important was the visual message he imparted. Black, brown white, male and female, all sharing the stage. It elminated any preconceived notion that music was only to be played by one, superior sex, and that races could not co-exist. It was the utter definition of hip, of coolness, of status.
And, the lyrics. Stand was an anthem for the cultural battles of the 60s. For racial and sexual equality - for protesting the destruction of so many young men by sending them off to a senseless war. And, here we are some 60 years later, and sadly, there's another message that Sly is still delivering. Its all timeless - the good, and the bad. RIP, Sly.
The documentary Questlove recently made brought back great memories. His music was truly revolutionary. The way the song Stand ends is incredible. In the doc there is Sly's performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Sly in all his sartorial splendor up in the audience getting the square audience to clap along and shout Higher, Higher. Funny and moving.
Hot Fun In The Summertime was a song I wrote about in college in the mid-80s in the one Music class I took for extra credit as an example of deconstructing a a perfect song and I have never changed my mind about it.
One of the greatest musicians of his time. RIP. I recommend "Sly Lives", the Questlove documentary, especially for the details of Sly's early career.
No need to say more. He knows.
I was at his wedding show at Madison Square Garden and then the after party. Two very strange experiences, I’ll tell you that for free.😎
One of the giants. I had even more of an appreciation of him after watching the documentary. Unfortunately as we get older we have to endure the passing of our heroes. Very sad.
He absolutely nailed it already first song first side of his first album: Underdog (check out the cover version on the Dirtbombs' Electra Glide in Black album). Lots of great grooves after that for sure. Like many others, it helped the family Stone was in Woodstock.
Overshadowed by other news in California -- There's a riot goin on. Ironic I guess.
This has crushed me. I live in the East Bay Area. I know a man whose band played with Sly back in the day. He regales us with stories of Sly and the band that just kill me every time. He wanted to take us higher and he sure did.
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