Sly Stone, 1943-2025
From the Archives, perspectives on a true original
Those of us touched by Sly Stone already have a remembrance written somewhere in our souls. Written in code, probably long ago, on a beach day with someone blasting “Stand!” from a molded plastic Panasonic cassette player. Or maybe a car streaking past and many voices passing along the urgent secret permission-giving message “You don’t have to die before you live.”
Impossible to get a full accounting of the influence, the inspirations and secondary inspirations and reverberations that will ripple outward in the universe forever. Can’t be measured! In lieu of a deep dive, below are some words (and, crucially, links to audio) posted here in the past about the galvanic alchemic magical art of Mr. Stewart.
Sly Lives!/Live Sly!
If there’s a quibble with Questlove’s joyous, crisply edited and thought-provoking documentary about Sly Stone — Sly Lives! (Aka The Burden of Black Genius), which arrived last week — it has to do with the limitations of time and space confronted by all filmmakers.
This one below has to do with the surprising alternate mix of Stone’s Fresh!, which was apparently duplicated by mistake on CD versions of the work pressed by Sony Japan for the Japanese market. It’s crazy great, a different perspective on a classic. (Seek audio on YouTube…at least a few of these mixes are available….).
A creative, artistic legend whose legacy and songs will live forever.