Reference: nypost.com
If not for Sly Stone, there would be no funk.
Not really.
When he and The Family Stone first came out with “Dance To The Music”, it was something the world had never seen before.
Nor seen.
All those Afros and Black People and White People, men, women and Everyday People.
Larry Graham on Bass guitar.
It was a Family Affair.
There were horns.
BIG BRASSY BALLSY horns.
Strange breaks.
Beat changes.
A tribute to Doo Wop.
And we danced like we didn’t give a damn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixniJ0mtW-k
Sly wore white jump suits with tassels before Elvis.
He moved like a cross James Brown, Superfly and Jimi Hendrix.
He was some weird cat in a Black man’s skin.
And he knew how to create great NEW music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8f7MTvMET4&feature=related
He and the Family Stone came with hit-after-hit.
Many of these have been copied over the years – note-for-note.
And now he’s dead.
Dead and broke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mtuKDmA3C4&feature=related
It’s not the way, living legends are meant to go.
Who was there to help him?
Where is the dignity he so rightly and richly deserved?
It’s a truly fucked up world and it just got more fucked up.
Thanks for the music, man.
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