On The Sly

Sly And The Family Stone
Album: Woodstock -- Music From The Original Soundtrack
Song: I Want To Take You Higher

I started to do a post on David Bowie, in particular his mid-70s hit "Fame".  Cos, well, it's awesome.  But as I was listening to it, as I was immersing myself in some of the best white boy funk ever written, I had a hankering for even funkier funk.  Some might even say the funkiest funk.

Sly and the Family Stone are an interesting band.  For example, it consisted of both black and white musicians, which was quite unusual for the late 60s. And Sylvester (Sly) Stone, the creative force and leader of the band, is a particularly fascinating guy.  He is credited with being a soul and funk innovator, but he was also very interested in psychadelic rock; listen to any of the band's records and you'll notice a delightful mish-mash of styles.  He oozed charisma.  He was also an inveterate coke and PCP user, the abuse of which -- not only by him but also by several other band members -- contributed to Sly and the Family Stone's demise in the early 70s.  Stone was known for carrying a violin case full of drugs wherever he went.  Heh.

This particular video is from Sly and the Family Stone's appearance at Woodstock.  They took the stage at 3:00 AM and played one of the most intense sets you'll ever see and hear.  Listen to the call and response section; Sly had completely energized the sea of concert-goers.  One of the greatest front men of all time.

This blog is called "A Joyful Noise."  This song embodies the idea.