The 100 Greatest Bands of all time - #63 Sly & the Family Stone

What would funk have been without Sly Stone? Sly and the Family Stone came together in San Francisco in 1966 and meshed together rock, soul, and psychedelia to create a very original new funk music. Their songs extolling the virtues of peace and love, celebrating everyday people, taking us higher where everybody is a star, telling us to stand and sing a simple song, coming from this integrated band of male and female, white and black musicians making beautiful harmony together was an inspiration for their era. The members of the actual Stone family were Sly Stone on organ, Freddie Stone on guitar, and Rose Stone on keys. The other members were drummer Gregg Errico, sax-man Jerry Martini, trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, and the phenomenal bass player Larry Graham. They had a great string of hits through the late sixties and got even funkier as they traveled through the seventies. Unfortunately, Sly’s drug problems caught up with him and led to the dissolution of the band by 1975. Their influence remains and can still be heard in popular music today.




Whoever put this video together did a great job.





Great guitar and horn work on this one.





Are y'all having hot fun in the summertime yet?





Don't you know that you are free
Well at least in your mind if you want to be





Sly & the Family Stone's legendary performance of I Want to Take You Higher at Woodstock. If I had access to a time machine and I was told that I could visit any time in all of world history, you better believe the first thing I would do would be going to Woodstock.





People talk about Sly and Larry Graham a lot, but this video really shows how awesome Cynthia Robinson and Rose Stone were. Those two make this song. Cynthia can blow the hell out of that trumpet.





Here's the big hit that everyone knows. They even made a little video for it back in those pre-MTV days. I can't figure out why Sly keeps punching that big dude in the stomach though.





All Together Now!





Sly performs his best song Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) on Soul Train! Check out Larry slapping that bass. This band was tight and this song is some of the best funk ever recorded. Oh yeah!





Very pretty song and sentiment.

I love you for who you are, not the one you feel you need to be.





and we conclude our look at Sly & the Family Stone with the pure funk pleasure of Family Affair.