Tracks 4 D Day: Special Feature, Sly Stone
This Tracks 4 D Day shares the importance and value of the work by the late Sly Stone.
Hello all,
Welcome to a special feature on the work of Sly Stone. Giving space to this late musical giant is a humble gesture.
Sly Stone passed away on June 10, 2025, at the age of 82. His work helped define the soundtrack of the 1970s. Pushing funk to the foreground, Sly Stone lifted this genre out of the disco halls of pop culture and repositioned it as a stand-alone genre. The power that Sly Stone was able to fuse within his work made it suitable for audiences, dancehall fanatics, and musicologists.
Taking to his signature keyboard and electric kyoto sound, Sly Stone had a way of making his music groove on a simple level while being dynamically complex. The profile of his band, The Family Stone, was a mixed ethnic band. Each performer was an instrument in Sly’s compositional vocabulary. The gospel/black church wails so prominent in early funk encompassed the same space as a bellowing baritone from the bass player. What would pass the ears of the general audience caught the attention of music scholars, and vice versa. This range underscores the value of Sly’s productions.
The ongoing drug addiction of Sly Stone during his epic career was no secret. It was both his high point and lowest point simultaneously. A short video where he opens up about his history shares this history in his own words.
Sly Stone Opens up about Drugs, Michael Jackson & More (MUST SEE) Jan 30, 2015.
A YouTube vlogger posted a short which helps provide some good background information, visuals, and credit of Sly’s work.
Sly Stone: The Funk Legend Who Changed Music Forever, June 2025.
A useful short intro documentary on the evolution of Sly and the Family Stone.
Sly & The Family Stone — Dance to the music YouTube, 2013.
Audio Examples:
Sly And The Family Stone "I Want To Take You Higher" on The Ed Sullivan Show, 1970.
A controversial track which has more pointed importance today, 2025, than we would like to recognize.
Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey, 1969.
Who can overlook two great tracks from Sly and the Family Stone, “Everyday People,” and “Dance to the Music.” Classics!
SLY & THE FAMILY STONE : US TV 1969.
The world lost a musical giant who ended his career well below the recognition he deserved. His music will remain and do what Sly wanted, make us all groove and dance to (his) music.
Alan Lechusza
