Sylvester Stewart (born March 15, 1943), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who is most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the development of funk with his pioneering fusion of soul, rock, psychedelia and gospel in the 1960s and 1970s. AllMusic stated that “James Brown may have invented funk, but Sly Stone perfected it,” and credited him with “creating a series of euphoric yet politically charged records that proved a massive influence on artists of all musical and cultural backgrounds.” Crawdaddy! has called him “the founder of progressive soul”.
Born in Texas and raised in the Bay Area of Northern California, Stone mastered several instruments at an early age and performed gospel music as a child with his siblings (and future bandmates) Freddie and Rose. In the mid-1960s, he worked as both a record producer for Autumn Records and a disc jockey for San Francisco radio station KDIA. In 1966, Stone and his brother Freddie joined their bands together to form Sly and the Family Stone, a racially integrated, mixed-gender act. The group would score hits including “Dance to the Music” (1968), “Everyday People” (1968), “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” (1969), “I Want to Take You Higher” (1969) “Family Affair” (1971) and “If You Want Me to Stay” (1973) and acclaimed albums including Stand! (1969), There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971) and Fresh (1973).
By the mid-1970s, Stone’s drug use and erratic behavior effectively ended the group, leaving him to record several unsuccessful solo albums. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the group. He took part in a Sly and the Family Stone tribute at the 2006 Grammy Awards, his first live performance since 1987.
Stone was born in Denton, Texas, on March 15, 1943, before the family’s move to Vallejo, California, in the North Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. He was the second of five children born to K.C. and Alpha Stewart, a deeply religious couple. As part of the doctrines of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), to which the Stewart family belonged, the parents encouraged musical expression in their middle-class household. Sylvester and his brother Freddie, along with their sisters Rose and Loretta, formed “the Stewart Four” as children, performing gospel music in the Church of God in Christ and even recording a single local release 78 rpm single, “On the Battlefield” b/w “Walking in Jesus’ Name”, in August 1956. Only their eldest sister Loretta did not pursue a musical career; the others, including youngest sister Vaetta (“Vet”), would later adopt the surname “Stone” and pursue musical interests.
Sylvester was identified as a musical prodigy. By the time he was seven, he had already become proficient on the keyboards, and by the age of eleven, he had mastered the guitar, bass, and drums as well. While still in high school, Sylvester had settled primarily on the guitar and joined a number of high school bands. One of these was the Viscaynes, a doo-wop group in which Sylvester and his friend Frank Arellano—who was Filipino—were the only non-white members. The fact that the group was integrated made the Viscaynes “hip” in the eyes of their audiences and would later inspire Sylvester’s idea of the multicultural Family Stone. The Viscaynes released a few local singles, including “Yellow Moon” and “Stop What You Are”; during the same period, Sylvester also recorded a few solo singles under the name Danny Stewart. With his brother, Fred, he formed several short-lived groups, like the Stewart Bros. After high school Stone studied music at the Vallejo campus of Solano Community College.
The nickname Sly was a common one for Sylvester throughout his years in grade school. Early on, a classmate misspelled his name “Slyvester,” and ever since, the nickname followed him.
In the mid-1960s, Stone worked as a disc jockey for San Francisco, California, soul 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 staff record producer for Autumn Records, producing for predominantly white San Francisco-area bands such as The Beau Brummels, The Mojo Men, Bobby Freeman, and Grace Slick’s first band, The Great Society.
In the mid-1960s, Stone worked as a disc jockey for San Francisco, California, soul 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 staff record producer for Autumn Records, producing for predominantly white San Francisco-area bands such as The Beau Brummels, The Mojo Men, Bobby Freeman, and Grace Slick’s first band, The Great Society.
Stone was influential in guiding KSOL-AM into soul music and started calling the station K-SOUL. The second was a popular soul music station (sans the K-SOUL moniker), at 107.7 FM (now known as KSAN). The current KSOL has a different format and is unrelated to the previous two stations. While still providing “music for your mind, body, and your soul” on KSOL, Sly Stone played keyboard for dozens of major performers including Dionne Warwick, Righteous Brothers, Ronettes, Bobby Freeman, George & Teddy, Freddy Cannon, Marvin Gaye, Dick & Dee Dee, Jan & Dean, Gene Chandler, and many more, including at least one of the three Twist Party concerts by then chart topper Chubby Checker held at the Cow Palace in San Francisco in 1962 and 1963. The concerts were put together by “Big Daddy” Tom Donohue and Bobby Mitchell from the then infamous KYA 1260 AM radio station and largely choreographed by Jerry Marcellino and Mel Larson who went on to produce many Motown artists including Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, and some of the top artists of the day.
In 1966, Sly was performing with his band Sly and The Stoners which included Cynthia Robinson on trumpet. His brother Freddie was working with his band called Freddie and the Stone Souls with Greg Errico and Jerry Martini. One night, the two stood in a kitchen making the decision to fuse the bands together adding Larry Graham, who had studied music and worked in numerous groups. Working around the Bay Area in 1967, this multiracial band made a strong impression. Later, in 1968, Rose Stone joined the band.
After a mildly received debut album, A Whole New Thing (1967), Sly & The Family Stone had their first hit single with “Dance to the Music”, which was later included on an album of the same name (1968). Although their third album, Life (also 1968), also suffered from low sales, their fourth album, Stand! (1969), became a runaway success, selling over three million copies and spawning a number one hit single, “Everyday People”. By the summer of 1969, Sly & The Family Stone were one of the biggest names in music, releasing two more top five singles, “Hot Fun in the Summertime” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”/”Everybody Is a Star”, before the end of the year and appearing at Woodstock. During the summer of 1969, Sly and the Family Stone also performed at the Summer of Soul concerts in Harlem and received an enthusiastic response from the large crowd.
After the group began touring following the success of Dance to the Music, The Family Stone drew praise for their explosive live show, which attracted black and white fans in equal measure. When Bob Marley first played in the U.S. in 1973 with his band The Wailers, he opened on tour for Sly and The Family Stone.
With the band’s newfound fame and success came numerous problems. Relationships within the band were deteriorating; there was friction in particular between the Stone brothers and Larry Graham. Epic requested more marketable output. The Black Panther Party demanded that Stone make his music more militant and more reflective of the black power movement, replace Greg Errico and Jerry Martini with black instrumentalists and replace manager David Kapralik.
After moving to the Los Angeles area in fall 1969, Stone and his bandmates became heavy users of illegal drugs, primarily cocaine and PCP. As the members became increasingly focused on drug use and partying (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”, in December 1969. This song was one of the first recordings to employ the heavy, funky beats that would be featured in the funk music of the following decade. It showcased bass player Larry Graham’s innovative percussive playing technique of bass “slapping”. Graham later said that he developed this technique in an earlier band in order to compensate for that band’s lack of a drummer.
“Thank You” hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1970. The single also peaked at No. 5 on the R&B chart, selling over a million copies.
Having relocated to Los Angeles with his girlfriend Deborah King, later Deborah Santana (wife of Carlos Santana from 1973 until filing for divorce in 2007), Stone’s behavior became increasingly erratic. Epic was anticipating new material in 1970, but with nonforthcoming, finally released Greatest Hits that November. One year later, the band’s fifth album, There’s a Riot Goin’ On, was released. Riot featured a much darker sound, and most tracks were recorded with overdubbing as opposed to the Family Stone all playing at the same time as they had done previously. Stone played most of the parts himself and performed more of the lead vocals than usual. This was one of the first major label albums to feature a drum machine.
The band’s cohesion slowly began to erode, and its sales and popularity began to decline as well. Errico withdrew from the group in 1971 and was eventually replaced with Andy Newmark. Larry Graham and Stone were no longer on friendly terms, and Graham was fired in early 1972 and replaced with Rustee Allen. The band’s later releases, Fresh (1973) and Small Talk (1974), featured even less of the band and more of Stone.
Live bookings for Sly & the Family Stone had steadily dropped since 1970, because promoters were afraid that Stone or one of the band members might miss the gig, refuse to play, or pass out from drug use. These issues were regular occurrences for the band during the 1970s and had an adverse effect on their ability to demand money for live bookings. In 1970, 26 of 80 concerts were cancelled, and numerous others started late. At many of these gigs, concertgoers rioted if the band failed to show up, or if Stone walked out before finishing his set. Ken Roberts became the group’s promoter, and later their general manager, when no other representatives would work with the band because of their erratic gig attendance record. In January 1975, the band booked itself at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The famed music hall was only one-eighth occupied, and Stone and company had to scrape together money to return home. Following the Radio City engagement, the band was dissolved.
Rose Stone was pulled out of the band by Bubba Banks, who was by 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, California. Background vocalist trio Little Sister was also dissolved; Mary McCreary married Leon Russell and released recordings on Russell’s Shelter Records label. Andy Newmark became a successful session drummer, playing with John Lennon, Roxy Music, B. B. King, Steve Winwood and others.
Stone’s son Sylvester Jr. was born in late 1973. His mother is Kathy Silva. His first daughter Sylvyette, who now goes by her middle name Phunne, was born c. 1976. Her mother was Stone’s band member Cynthia Robinson. Stone’s second daughter, Novena Carmel, born c. 1982, is a singer and performer, and also a booking agent at the Little Temple club in Los Angeles, now known as The Virgil, and currently a co-host for the popular public radio station KCRW on Morning Becomes Eclectic. She also worked with pop/hip hop musician Wallpaper.
Written by Dianne Washington