{"id":2520,"date":"2025-07-15T18:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T18:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/?p=2520"},"modified":"2025-07-15T12:43:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T12:43:09","slug":"drugs-split-personality-exile-the-tragic-story-and-redemption-of-sly-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/2025\/07\/15\/drugs-split-personality-exile-the-tragic-story-and-redemption-of-sly-stone\/","title":{"rendered":"Drugs, split personality, exile: The tragic story \u2014 and redemption \u2014 of Sly Stone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_code module_class=”custom-cat” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]
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\t\tMojo<\/pee>\t<\/div>\t
\t\tFEATURE<\/pee>\t<\/div><\/div>[\/et_pb_code][et_pb_text module_class=”article-title” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”||||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#111111″ header_font_size=”68px” custom_margin=”40px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]

Let Me Have It All<\/h1>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”intro-text” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_orientation=”center” custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

The passing of Sly Stone in June shone a light on a genre-mashing genius whose peak, multi-hued music preached unity and transcendence. Stone\u2019s world darkened as drugs took over and The Family Stone fell apart, but the fruits of a recent, unlikely renaissance included a candid memoir and some tantalising music. \u201cSly still had all these amazing creative talents,\u201d discovers Stevie Chick.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-names” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”14px” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Words: Stevie Chick<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-74001099.jpg” title_text=”Sly Stone Headshot” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

On a hot, dry morning in June, at his home in Las Vegas, Greg Errico is ruminating on the death of former bandmate Sly Stone a week earlier, at the age of 82. \u201cIt\u2019s been challenging,\u201d the drummer sighs. \u201cI knew it was coming. But when it happens, there\u2019s a lot of reflection, a lot of feelings. For me, Sly left the building a long, long time ago, and never came back.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

To many, Sly Stone had been a walking ghost for over 40 years, a funky Icarus who flew too high and was then engulfed by his addictions. After the release of his 1982 album, Ain\u2019t But The One Way, one of the brightest stars of his age wandered into the shadows, to become a creature of rumour and whisper. And while, says author Ben Greenman, who co-wrote Stone\u2019s 2023 memoir Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin), Stone had \u201cno shortage\u201d of opportunities to return to the spotlight, \u201che could not or did not seize them\u201d.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-74000910.jpg” title_text=”Sly Stone Hosts His Radio Show” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Sylvester Stewart at KSOL, San Francisco, circa 1967<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Subsequently, a narrative of disappointment and squandered talent has haunted Stone\u2019s legacy. \u201cSly is denied the read on his career granted to Jimi, Janis or Jim Morrison, because he didn\u2019t die young,\u201d argues Greenman, who conducted hundreds of interviews with Stone for their book. \u201cOtherwise he\u2019d be remembered for one of the most seamless, god-tier careers in cultural history, akin to the Pablo Picasso of music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stone\u2019s downfall confirmed him a mere mortal, but that initial seven-year burst of success told a different story, of a man for whom nothing seemed impossible. The leader of a group whose interracial, pan-gender line-up issued a joyful challenge to an America still riven by segregation and prejudice; the composer of a chart-topping fusion of soul, rock and psychedelia so revolutionary it made Miles Davis change direction. Stone danced across the stages of the Fillmore, the Woodstock festival and Madison Square Garden like he owned them. For seven or so years, he did.<\/p>\n

Those who knew Sly Stone best are now trying to make sense of a life composed of contradictions, of glorious triumphs and tragic burnout, of love\u2019n\u2019hate. \u201cYou know how cats have nine lives?\u201d asks Errico. \u201cSly had nine cats\u2019 worth.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-74067188.jpg” title_text=”Rock Group %22Sly and the Family Stone%22 pose for a portrait” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Sly & The Family Stone, 1967 (from left) Sly Stone, Jerry Martini, Cynthia Robinson, Freddie Stone, Greg Errico, Larry Graham<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Born Sylvester Stewart in 1943, Sly Stone had been a star since his teens, a regular on Dick Stewart\u2019s Dance Party, San Francisco\u2019s answer to American Bandstand. There, he met Jerry Martini, saxophonist with Joe Piazza & The Continentals and later Dance Party\u2019s in-house band. Martini backed Stone\u2019s early group The Viscaynes in the show\u2019s talent contests, and a deep friendship developed, Martini regularly stopping at Stone\u2019s folks\u2019 house after his regular gig at America\u2019s first topless bar, The Condor Club. \u201cSly would bring out his binder full of songs he\u2019d written,\u201d Martini remembers. \u201cThere were already over 300 in there.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

A polymath performer with a producer\/songwriter side-hustle, Stone produced his first Top 10 hit, Bobby Freeman\u2019s C\u2019mon And Swim (with Martini on sax), in 1964, later helping The Great Society, fronted by future Jefferson Airplane star Grace Slick, record an embryonic Somebody To Love. He was also a disc jockey, with 700,000 listeners in the Bay Area. Martini was inordinately proud of his friend \u2013 \u201cSly would introduce songs on his radio show, whispering into the microphone, \u2018Listen to this, Jerry!\u2019\u201d \u2013 but he wanted Stone to focus his profligate talents. \u201cI\u2019d tell Sly, We need to start a band! He\u2019d answer, \u2018I\u2019ll send for you when I\u2019m ready.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

That call finally came in 1966. Stone assembled members of Freddie & The Stone Souls \u2013 led by Stewart\u2019s younger brother Freddie, and featuring a 17-year-old Greg Errico on drums \u2013 and refugees from Stone\u2019s recently-split Sly & The Stoners, including trumpeter Cynthia Robinson and bassist Larry Graham. \u201cIt was a unique mix: male and female, black and white,\u201d remembers Errico. \u201cWe didn\u2019t even play music that first night, just talked about everything we were gonna do. But as soon as we started rehearsing, we discovered a natural chemistry.<\/p>\n

Within a month the nascent Family Stone scored a residency at The Winchester Cathedral in Redwood City, playing from 2 until 6am. Captured on newly unearthed live album The First Family, those combustible, frenetic Winchester nights made The Family Stone the hit of the Bay Area, winning the ear of Epic Records A&R (and soon-to-be Family Stone manager) David Kapralik, and a recording contract. Stone made the most of this opportunity. Though recorded on a day off from their residency at Las Vegas\u2019s Pussycat a-Go-Go, in the label\u2019s oldest, tiniest studio, Sly & The Family Stone\u2019s 1967 debut, A Whole New Thing, was ambitious and eclectic, fusing psychedelic pop, Stax-y R&B and mutant funk. But was it too much?<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pull-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#111111″ header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

\u201cSly adapted real quick. He just said, \u2018I\u2019ll give them what they want,\u2019 and wrote Dance To The Music in four minutes.\u201d<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pullquote-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#111111″ header_3_font_size=”38px” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Jerry Martini<\/h3>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

\u201cWe loved it,\u201d says Errico. \u201cMusicians loved it. But nobody bought it. David Kapralik said, \u2018We need a hit with some hooks to grab everybody\u2019s attention, to lead them up the path you\u2019re going.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The feedback left Stone \u201cheartbroken\u201d, Martini says. \u201cBut Sly adapted real quick. He just said, \u2018I\u2019ll give them what they want\u2019, and wrote Dance To The Music in four minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The track was everything Kapralik asked for, and more, becoming their first US Top 10 single. And while the accompanying Dance To The Music album and 1968\u2019s more eclectic Life scarcely grazed the charts, Stone was on the edge of triumph. Released in May 1969, Stand! was Sly & The Family Stone\u2019s first masterpiece, focusing on the tensions then shaking America over furious funk, anxious soul and sweet, life-affirming pop. There was darkness, in the form of the simmering Don\u2019t Call Me Nigger, Whitey. But Stand!\u2019s central message was one of hope and reconciliation, made explicit on the album\u2019s lead single, Everyday People. On Stone\u2019s first Billboard Number 1, he marked himself out in an era of divisions by championing \u201cdifferent strokes for different folks\u201d, and telling his listeners \u201cI am no better and neither are you\/We are the same, whatever we do.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-139835780.jpg” title_text=”Sly Stone Producing The Spaulding Wood Affair” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Errico and Stone, 1968<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

On December 29, 1968, The Family Stone performed Everyday People for the first of three appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. \u201cI\u2019d watched Elvis be introduced to America on Ed Sullivan, and The Beatles,\u201d remembers Greg Errico. \u201cBack then, if you played Ed Sullivan, the world saw you.\u201d But the pressure didn\u2019t shake the Family Stone\u2019s resolve. \u201cWe decided we were just gonna do our thing, which felt like magic every time we played.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

In fringed red leather vest and chains, L-shaped lambchops and Afro, Stone must have startled the more conservative of Sullivan\u2019s viewers. But he opened with words from Are You Ready, off Dance To The Music: \u201cDon\u2019t hate the black don\u2019t hate the white\/If you get bitten, just hate the bite.\u201d If previously he had been preaching to a mainly converted congregation of American freaks and heads, here was his message reaching the living rooms of mainstream America. And its gatekeepers, the broadcasters, seemed eager for more.<\/p>\n

The following March, the band returned to the Sullivan show. \u201cSly said, \u2018Just pay attention. I might do something \u2013 I just don\u2019t know what it is yet,\u2019\u201d Errico remembers. During the breakdown of Love City, Stone grabbed his sister Rose\u2019s hand and swept into the studio audience. As the TV cameras swung after them, the duo danced up and down the aisles, rousing the audience to clap and \u201cspell out \u2018Love\u2019 for us just one time \u2013 L.O.V.E.!\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-74296236.jpg” title_text=”%22Sly & The Family Stone%22 Perform On A TV Show” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

The Family Stone, \u201968, now with Rosie Stone (centre).<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

\u201cIt was powerful,\u201d Errico says. \u201cOrdinary people were still very conservative then \u2013 everybody wore ties! Now look how we were dressed.\u201d Glittery gold pants, silver and purple-striped dungarees, red-fringed knee-high boots \u2013 not a tie among them. The cameras loved The Family Stone, Sly in particular \u2013 and the feeling was mutual. \u201cSly embraced celebrity,\u201d Greenman says. \u201cHe went on every talk show, and was the best guest of his time, for his charisma, his intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Funny, razor-sharp, Stone was able to speak street wisdom without spooking interviewer or audience. He stood on the frontline of a culture war, knowing his Family Stone had their part to play. There were frightening moments along the way \u2013 Martini \u201calmost got killed five times\u201d in face-offs with racists on the road. But, says Errico, \u201cwe just skated through it all, somehow. We seemed to have this other-worldly power that got us through.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the most pointed testament so far to their crossover appeal, The Family Stone were booked for August 1969\u2019s Woodstock festival. Sly was one of notoriously few black stars to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big joke about Woodstock is nobody who was there can remember it,\u201d smiles Jerry Martini. \u201cBut I remember it like it was yesterday.\u201d The group arrived via helicopter, Errico witnessing \u201ca sea of almost 500,000 people below us, and this purple haze hanging over them as far as you could see\u201d. There was apprehension, however \u2013 after two days of peace, love and music, the weather had turned, and The Family Stone didn\u2019t walk onto the rain-sodden stage for their Saturday, 8pm slot until after three in the morning. \u201cThe sound people were on acid,\u201d Martini adds. \u201cEverybody was on acid back then, though we weren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just before they hit the stage, Stone delivered a pep talk. \u201cWe all looked at each other and realised, all we could do was give it all we had,\u201d says Errico. \u201cIt stopped raining \u2013 the universe blessed us with the moment. And the kids started getting out of their sleeping bags, getting into it, dancing. You could feel the wave of energy as they responded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Electrifying footage of the band playing I Want To Take You Higher, preserved on Michael Wadleigh\u2019s concert movie Woodstock, backs him up. Even Wadleigh\u2019s innovative split-screen filmmaking technique couldn\u2019t entirely contain the full, funky kaleidoscope of The Family Stone at their peak. \u201cBy the end, we were like a locomotive up there on-stage,\u201d says Errico.<\/p>\n

But in the months that followed Woodstock, Sly Stone began to go off the rails.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/21011961-gigapixel.jpg” title_text=”GROUP SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Be yourselves: The Family Stone sticking together, 1971 (from left) Errico, Sly, Robinson, Freddie, Rosie, Martini, Graham.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Sly Stone announced late in 1969 that he intended to relocate from San Francisco to Los Angeles, to be closer to the industry. \u201cWe all looked at each other,\u201d remembers Errico, \u201clike this could be the beginning of the end. Sly was focused, a strong person. But he was also vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

As Errico saw it, Stone had papered over his vulnerabilities, his insecurities, by splitting his identity in two. \u2018Sylvester Stewart\u2019 was their friend, the guy who wrote and produced the songs. \u2018Sly Stone\u2019 was the alter ego he assumed on-stage and on talk shows: impenetrable, larger than life. \u201cIn LA, away from the people who knew him, he was Sly Stone every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018Family\u2019 thing fell apart after that,\u201d adds Martini. \u201cLA changed Sly. Though he was still sharp and still wrote great songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was about to release one of his finest. Larry Graham\u2019s portentous bass line was the heart of Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), which foregrounded the heavy, percussive sound he\u2019d developed accompanying his singer mother, slapping his strings to compensate for the lack of a drummer. After basic tracking, Stone retreated to the studio alone for a fortnight, warning Martini, \u201cI\u2019m not coming out until I get what I\u2019m hearing\u201d. Two weeks\u2019 obsessive re-editing and overdubbing later, Stone returned with a five-minute masterpiece of bruising, muscular funk that would redefine the genre.<\/p>\n

But if the music was bold and powerful, the lyric acknowledged Stone\u2019s anxiety over his split personality, his discomfort with fame, his sensation of the devil at his heels. \u201cHe\u2019s reflecting on both sides,\u201d nods Errico. \u201cThe light and the dark. But he sounds focused and determined. \u2018This is how I\u2019m going to handle it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Stone set down roots in Los Angeles, moving into 780 Bel Air Drive \u2013 previously the home of John and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas And The Papas \u2013 and invited Martini and his wife to stay. \u201cHe gave us John and Michelle\u2019s old room. It was filthy, dirty. I found their kids\u2019 birth certificates. I found an ounce of cocaine, which Sly immediately confiscated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bel Air house attracted \u201call the pimps and the lowlifes, the drug-dealers and the murderers\u201d, Martini adds. \u201cThey all idolised him. Geniuses like Sly attract the best people and the worst people.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pull-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#111111″ header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

\u201cI couldn\u2019t get through to Sylvester, because Sly was in the way. The demon was always stronger.\u201d<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pullquote-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#111111″ header_3_font_size=”38px” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Greg Errico<\/h3>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Stone was now heavily into drugs, notably cocaine and PCP. \u201cHe was always very clear that he was a working addict,\u201d says Greenman, \u201cnot the kind of guy to draw the shades and nod off all day.\u201d But for all his industry, he was stalling on completing The Family Stone\u2019s fifth LP. Their first four albums had arrived within 19 months of each other; now, two-and-a-half years stretched between Stand! and the November 1971 release of There\u2019s A Riot Goin\u2019 On, by which time The Family Stone had started to dissolve. Stone began turning up late to shows, or missing them entirely, an expensive habit. \u201cSly\u2019s father, Big Daddy, was my roommate on the road, and he was really unhappy at how Sly changed,\u201d says Martini. \u201cSly always had a heart of gold. But he\u2019d changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSly still had all these amazing creative talents, things to say and ways to say it,\u201d agrees Errico. \u201cBut eventually, it got darker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Errico knows he appears on some of There\u2019s A Riot Goin\u2019 On, but the details are often hazy. The heavy fug that defines the sound and mood of the record also clouds memories surrounding the sessions, most of which took place at 780 Bel Air Drive. Previously, The Family Stone had recorded together live, to capture their energy. Now, Stone had them record their parts separately, to the electronic pulse of his Rhythm Ace, a primitive drum-machine. He would then mix and remix the tapes, and invite whoever was floating around his Bel Air abode to add parts. \u201cWe never planned anything,\u201d Bobby Womack, an uncredited guest on Riot, told me in 2012. \u201cI\u2019d just turn up, see a guitar or a microphone, and play.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time Riot finally hit the shelves, Errico was gone. \u201cI no longer felt I could make a difference, to the business stuff falling apart, the disorganisation, the craziness that was happening. I had a vision of where this was going, and I didn\u2019t want it. I did not want to go down with the ship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album, meanwhile, was challenging, and heavier in tone. Stone\u2019s opening words, \u201cFeel so good inside myself\/Don\u2019t want to move,\u201d signalled the downer vibe. \u201cRiot wasn\u2019t the cartoon image of the original Sly & The Family Stone,\u201d says Errico. \u201cIt reflected what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mood in America was darkening, after years of unrest and the assassinations of key progressive leaders. Hope was being replaced by cynicism, and fear. Riot\u2019s unease evoked the dwindling promise of the hippy era and the civil rights movement. \u201cStand! is the party,\u201d says Ben Greenman. \u201cRiot is the hangover.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-81851075.jpg” title_text=”Tom Jones And Sly Stone” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Sly and Tom Jones on The Midnight Special, December 1976<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

In May 1972, a 22-year-old drummer playing with Carly Simon drove up to 780 Bel Air Drive between sets at the Troubadour, on the advice of his friend, Pat Rizzo, then playing sax for The Family Stone.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

\u201cSly was on his waterbed, unconscious,\u201d remembers Andy Newmark. \u201cI said, I hear you need a drummer \u2013 I\u2019m the guy. He said, \u2018OK, play.\u2019 He had a set of practice pads by the bed, so I closed my eyes and played what I thought was a funky beat. I opened them again, and Sly was dancing to my beat. He looked happy. He said, \u2018You\u2019re the new drummer.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Newmark had been a huge Family Stone fan. \u201cThe band were magic,\u201d he says. \u201cBut by the time I got there it was just Sly by himself. I arrived at the point where he was descending the mountain he\u2019d climbed, into the darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stone was at work on Riot\u2019s follow-up, playing many of the parts himself. The Family Stone were disintegrating further \u2013 Larry Graham quit early in the sessions. The exit was fractious; rumours flew that Stone and Graham had taken contracts out on each other, though Stone pled innocence in his memoir. Now it was often Stone playing the bass, accompanied by his Rhythm Ace.<\/p>\n

\u201cSly was very isolated, very much in his own world,\u201d Newmark remembers. \u201cHe was making records alone \u2013 it was all completely fractured. I never saw any of the band members in the recording studio.\u201d Sessions would run through the night, and often Newmark arrived to find Stone had re-recorded all the parts to the song they\u2019d recorded previously. \u201cIt kept going, month after month, the songs mutating. The only reason he stopped after a year is Epic cut him off.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drummer struggled to strike up a rapport with his new boss. \u201cSly was very inaccessible. He was not going to reveal anything of himself.\u201d They grew no closer as the group toured the album now quixotically titled Fresh.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never missed a show,\u201d Newmark says, \u201cbut Sly just seemed like he wanted to run away and hide from the world.\u201d The tour ended in December 1973, and when his cheque bounced, so did Newmark, on his way to stints with Ronnie Wood and David Bowie.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/2NG32H8.jpg” title_text=”Sylvester Stewart, better known as singer Sly Stone, talks with lawyer Glen Stone in court Los Angeles Nov. 27, 1989 during arraignment on outstanding cocaine possession charges. The former rock star was extradited from Connecticut. (AP Photo\/Kevork Djans” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

In court on drugs charges, 1989<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

\u201cEverybody, including myself, was doing coke back then,\u201d says Newmark, \u201cbut everyone was on planet Earth. Not Sly. He was in another world.\u201d The drummer remains proud of Fresh, however. \u201cMiles Davis loved Fresh. Sly played him the acetate at his apartment on Central Park West, and Miles took it to his band and made them listen to it. Twice!\u201d<\/p>\n

Fresh would prove to be Stone\u2019s final musical triumph. 1974\u2019s Small Talk has its moments, though Martini is reluctant to discuss it (\u201cJust did my part,\u201d he texts after our interview. \u201cNot a good time in my life\u201d). From there, recordings taper off, though Stone\u2019s genius glimmers from time to time. He abandoned the last album credited to Sly & The Family Stone, 1982\u2019s Ain\u2019t But The One Way, leaving it to producer Stewart Levine to complete. It features a 45-second, presumably autobiographical, fragment titled Sylvester, where Sly intones \u201cHe\u2019s a stranger, but mother dearest still knows his name\u2026\u201d Ben Greenman describes it as \u201cthis literary, poetic moment about what Sly became, what he left behind, and how he split himself into \u2018Sly\u2019 and \u2018Sylvester\u2019. It\u2019s like an experimental film.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/2N34CR6.jpg” title_text=”FILE – In this Feb. 8, 2006 file photo, Sly Stone from the group Sly and the Family Stone performs at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. A Los Angeles jury has awarded $5 million to funk legend Stone in a breach-of-contract suit against his business partne” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Sly resurfaces at the 2006 Grammy Awards.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]

Through the \u201980s, Stone allied with another funk maverick, George Clinton, squeezed songs onto a couple of film soundtracks and guested on albums by Jesse Johnson, Earth, Wind & Fire and The Bar-Kays. \u201cYou could build an album from those \u201980s tracks, a coherent work, with a lot of his old themes,\u201d says Greenman. But Stone never recorded another full album. \u201cIn some alternate universe, Sly kept making records,\u201d Greenman sighs. \u201cAnd they were great.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the real world, the decades that followed wore hard, as Stone struggled with addiction, ill-health, homelessness and lawsuits. In 2006 he resurfaced during an all-star tribute to The Family Stone at the Grammys in platform boots, a silver robe and a mohawk. Fitful touring followed; Errico rejoined the fold for 2010\u2019s Coachella. \u201cHave you seen the footage?\u201d he sighs. \u201cI had tears running down my face at the end. It just kind of dissolved on-stage, into a puddle. Once a decade I\u2019d try to make it grow again. But I couldn\u2019t get through to Sylvester, because Sly was in the way. The demon was always stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stone kept making music, however, alone or with collaborators. Unreleased tracks he played Greenman while working on his memoir were, says the writer, \u201cof a piece with his canonical work, grappling with the same themes, because he believed them so devoutly. Those ideas and convictions outlasted a lot of the disruption in his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Los Angeles musician Sal Filipelli recorded a number of tracks with Stone in the 2010s, the final music released in his lifetime. Though he\u2019d heard Stone was \u201cthis \u2018Howard Hughes\u2019 character, walking around with Kleenex boxes on his feet,\u201d Filipelli says Stone remained plugged-in and creative. Filipelli last saw Stone in person in 2016, but they stayed in touch. \u201cI got the sense that Sly felt he\u2019d entertained people his whole life,\u201d he says, \u201cand now he wanted to relax and be entertained, watch TV and have his family around him. To take it easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease he\u2019d been battling claimed his life, Stone was several years clean and had, according to Martini, \u201cfound peace\u201d. Errico agrees, though finds it hard to shake feelings of regret. \u201cIf only he\u2019d gotten into a programme sooner,\u201d he sighs. \u201cThere were stronger elements that were in control, I guess. But the change in him the last few years, after he finally got straight\u2026 I look at the most recent picture of him with his kids, there\u2019s this gleam in his eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Martini \u2013 taking a break from preparing to play Amazing Grace at Stone\u2019s funeral to speak to MOJO \u2013 the legacy of Stone\u2019s music could never be tarnished. \u201cSly always wrote what was on his mind and on his heart,\u201d he says. \u201cHe was a true genius.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]

IMAGES:<\/strong> SHUTTERSTOCK\/GETTY\/ALAMY<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let Me Have It AllThe passing of Sly Stone in June shone a light on a genre-mashing genius whose peak, multi-hued music preached unity and transcendence. Stone\u2019s world darkened as drugs took over and The Family Stone fell apart, but the fruits of a recent, unlikely renaissance included a candid memoir and some tantalising music. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2524,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mojo-presents"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"akindell","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2520"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2551,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2520\/revisions\/2551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}