R.I.P. Sly Stone

After what appeared to be a long battle with COPD, Sly Stone passed away yesterday.

This is not a shock, but a bummer to me. I recently wrote about the fantastic documentary "Sly Lives", and it seemed like his music was getting a big bump on streaming after the release. But, I do want to point out that in the coda of that movie, they got some recent interviews with Stone and he looked not so great. But, whenever a legend like this leaves this plane, it bums me out.

Sly Stone's music has been a big part of my life. Ever since I started to kind of form my own musical tastes, Sly and the Family Stone was a big jumping off point for me. I was instantly into the music. It was groovy and funky, then it could switch to dancy and then close out with some very introspective and important lyrical stuff. Sly and the Family Stone never really allowed themselves to ever be put into one genre of music, and this made their reach go to many, many different people. For me, a white kid from the suburbs, I instantly connected with the more funky stuff.

When I first learned of the band I was pretty heavily into Parliament Funkadelic and solo George Clinto stuff. A friend of mine mentioned Sly and the Family Stone, and I remembered my dad used to listen to them. I was familiar with the name, but not the music. Again, from the jump the music was perfect for me. I decided to listen at the perfect time in my life, and they have stuck with me all the way through to now. In fact, when I said something to my wife about Stone's passing, my son, who's 13, said that he knew who he was too. I asked him how, and he said that he has heard me listen to his stuff over and over in my car. I guess I'm doing what my dad did for me without even realizing it. And I'm very much okay with this. I like that my son knows of his music because he is a hip hop fan, and a bunch of hip hop artists either sight Sly Stone or have sampled a bunch of his stuff in their music. It is great for the both of us because we can relate to each other while listening to the music we like.

Outside of his band, and his many issues with drugs and alcohol, Stone was a wonderful radio DJ and producer. He was one of the best songwriters in the world in his heyday. Even after the band broke up, and he struggled with his solo stuff, I still find things I like about that era. Sly Stone could have, and would have made it in any era. With his talent and work ethic, he was destined to do something memorable and boy was his career and music memorable. I also appreciate that he was able to reunite with his family and kids later in his life. I have to imagine that helped him last longer than maybe he would have if he didn't reconcile with everyone.

This one stings. While it isn't on the level with Prince passing and RD's fandom, Sly Stone was my version of Prince. I listened to him before diving into Prince's catalog. Rest in Peace Sly Stone. I hope that wherever you are right now you are laying down some funky riffs and writing some extraterrestrial lyrics. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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