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SLY & THE FAMILY STONE: FAMILY AFFAIR

From: Joyride Media
Series: The Milestone Series
Length: 59:05

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One-hour music intensive radio documentary about Sly & the Family Stone, their music, their turbulent history, and the indelible marks they left behind. Read the full description.

Slyblinglogo_small SLY & THE FAMILY STONE: FAMILY AFFAIR. One-hour music intensive radio documentary about Sly & the Family Stone, their music, their turbulent history, and the indelible marks they left behind. Seven musicians walked on the stage, some were black, some white, some were men, some women, and all of them were dressed in bright, colorful outfits.

That was Sly and the Family Stone, and for seven wild years (1967-1974), they left a mark on music and culture that continues to inspire countless musicians - both black and white. Members changed, times got rough, but Sly and the Family Stone's sound and message of love and unity still speaks to the world today.

FAMILY AFFAIR is hosted by Ben Fong-Torres, and includes a wide range of Sly & the Family Stone tracks - from the big hits ("Dance to the Music," Everyday People," and others) to deep cuts from all their albums. Some songs accentuate the points made by the many interview subjects, others speak for themselves. All of them stand up as examples of Sly Stone's "watershed point in the development of rhythm and blues," as detailed by biographer and journalist Joel Selvin.

Band members Rose Stone, Larry Graham, Greg Errico and Andy Newmark provide rarely-heard, first-hand accounts of the zeniths and nadirs of Sly Stone's universe, taking us from their family roots to their mainstream success to later sessions "surrounded by really crazy people...out there in the twilight zone."

Musicians Isaac Hayes and Chuck D, however, break down how music from all those episodes influenced Sly's contemporaries as well as future generations of musicians.

Host: Ben Fong-Torres. Producer: Paul Chuffo & Joshua Jackson, Joyride Media. Terms: Available to all USA-based broadcasters at no cost. Contacts: Eric Molk, 212-833-5389, eric.molk@sonybmg.com Andy Cahn, 212-833-6279, andy.cahn@sonybmg.com.

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Piece Description

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE: FAMILY AFFAIR. One-hour music intensive radio documentary about Sly & the Family Stone, their music, their turbulent history, and the indelible marks they left behind. Seven musicians walked on the stage, some were black, some white, some were men, some women, and all of them were dressed in bright, colorful outfits.

That was Sly and the Family Stone, and for seven wild years (1967-1974), they left a mark on music and culture that continues to inspire countless musicians - both black and white. Members changed, times got rough, but Sly and the Family Stone's sound and message of love and unity still speaks to the world today.

FAMILY AFFAIR is hosted by Ben Fong-Torres, and includes a wide range of Sly & the Family Stone tracks - from the big hits ("Dance to the Music," Everyday People," and others) to deep cuts from all their albums. Some songs accentuate the points made by the many interview subjects, others speak for themselves. All of them stand up as examples of Sly Stone's "watershed point in the development of rhythm and blues," as detailed by biographer and journalist Joel Selvin.

Band members Rose Stone, Larry Graham, Greg Errico and Andy Newmark provide rarely-heard, first-hand accounts of the zeniths and nadirs of Sly Stone's universe, taking us from their family roots to their mainstream success to later sessions "surrounded by really crazy people...out there in the twilight zone."

Musicians Isaac Hayes and Chuck D, however, break down how music from all those episodes influenced Sly's contemporaries as well as future generations of musicians.

Host: Ben Fong-Torres. Producer: Paul Chuffo & Joshua Jackson, Joyride Media. Terms: Available to all USA-based broadcasters at no cost. Contacts: Eric Molk, 212-833-5389, eric.molk@sonybmg.com Andy Cahn, 212-833-6279, andy.cahn@sonybmg.com.

2 Comments Atom Feed

Caption: PRX default User image

Sly Stone Rocks

Thanks WBEZ for playing this, and to the producers for making this. A fine documentary that lets Sly's music speak for itself, with good commentary in between.

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Review of SLY & THE FAMILY STONE: FAMILY AFFAIR

FOUR STARS

Sly and the Family Stone influenced pop music for all time. Band members were black and white. The women not only sang ? they played instruments. The group?s bass player is said to have invented the slap-bass sound. Its tight rhythm section has been widely sampled AND imitated.

The group had some big hits, some still heard on the radio today. But not everyone remembers or knows Sly and the Family Stone.

This one-hour program is a great (re)introduction. Critic Ben Fong Torres is an affable host. And the program comes at a good time: the band?s first seven albums were recently released as COLLECTION, a boxed set.

The name of the program is FAMILY AFFAIR, one of the group's hits. So the program, fittingly, begins with some early family history. The five Steward kids grew up in Vallejo, California, outside the orbit of San Francisco and the post-World War Two black immigration. They honed their musical chops as the Steward Four, a gospel outgrowth of the family?s Pentecostalism.

Then, Sister Rose and original drummer Greg Errico take us through the formation of the later, hit-making group. The story of how three of the five Stewards joined back together builds well. We also hear about the group?s later, troubled times. So, at some level, the group?s decline makes sense.

The band?s original bass player Larry Graham adds memory and insight too. His story about the song ?Dance to the Music? and Sly?s subversiveness around that is a lot of fun. Chuck D, Issac Hayes, and Joel Selvin of the San Francisco Chronicle add context. Nonetheless, I finished my listen feeling I wanted to hear a little bit MORE about why the band left such a mark and how it influenced what we hear today.

This is great holiday or weekend programming. The rise of neo-soul -- and the boxed set -- make it all the more timely.

Anthea Raymond
PRX Editorial Board
June 26, 2007
Los Angeles, CA

Transcript

Sly & The Family Stone: Family Affair
Radio Script

Joel Selvin: Yeah, there's black music before Sly Stone and black music after Sly Stone, no question about it. He was just a watershed point in the development of rhythm and blues. He brought so many mainstream influences to his music, there's nothing like it before.

Rose Stone: we were kids when we started. We were just kids having a good time. And that's how we looked at it. We didn't even realize we were famous for a long time. I mean it didn't hit us, like some people would say, we're gonna go out and get famous, we're gonna get big. We never thought like that.

HOST: SEVEN MUSICIANS WALKED ON THE STAGE, SOME WERE BLACK, SOME WHITE, SOME WERE MEN, SOME WOMEN, AND ALL OF THEM WERE DRESSED IN BRIGHT, COLORFUL OUTFITS. IT'S ALREADY A STRIKING PICTURE, BUT THEN THEY BEGAN TO PLAY. THAT'S WHEN YOU REALIZED HOW ADVENTUROUS THEY...
Read the full transcript

Musical Works

Title Artist Album Label Year Length
Stand Sly & the Family Stone Stand. Legacy Recordings 1969 01:00
Underdog Sly & the Family Stone A Whole New Thing. Legacy Recordings 1967 00:00
Trip to Your Heart Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
I Ain't Got Nobody (For Real) Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
Dance to the Music Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
Into My Own Thing Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
Love City Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
Everyday People Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
Don't Call Me Ni**er, Wh**ey Sly & the Family Stone 00:30
You Can Make it if you Try Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
Poet Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
Family Affair Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
Spaced Cowboy Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
If You Want Me to Stay Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
Keep on Dancin' Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
In Time Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
Time for Livin Sly & the Family Stone 00:00
Que Sera Sera Sly & the Family Stone 00:00