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Sly Stone vs. Larry Graham...Who Is The Real Funk Master????? Let the controversy begin.
Do anyone think that Sly would have been so successful as an artist without Larry? Or do you think that Larry would have never been well known to the world as "THE King of Bass" without Sly? Think about it real hard first. | |
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I think they were both immensely talented musicians, but there's no question in my mind that sly was the superior of the two. Even larry will probably tell you that sly was the leader and visionary: he did write, arrange and produce all of the family stone's songs and wound up often playing all or most of the instruments in the period during and following There's A Riot Going On, and that includes the bass and drums. Next to James Brown himself, sly was the most important figure in the history of Funk; James invented it, Sly perfected it, he was its first eclecticist and the first person to begin to turn it into a culture unto itself. Don't get me wrong, larry revolutionized the way the electric bass was played, but he wouldn't have had the opportunity to do so without being in sly's band, and it was sly who took the the percussive, syncopated rhythmic interplay between instruments, which is the core of funk, to its extreme (and for the record, I know that at lesat SOME of the bass parts on Riot And Fresh are done by Sly and they're ALL brilliant). Larry's band may have made more aggressive funk-rocking stuff , but it was all derived from sly and sly was the one who truly laid the foundation for that sort of music. | |
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Of course Sly is the man.
Who was the man Prince or Brown Mark, Jimi Hendrix or Noel Redding? Larry without disrespecting him was just a sessionplayer. Sly wrote, arranged everything and played a lot of bass himself uncredited. Larry is a MF for acting like he was the man or wrote the songs. Insiders told me that the other Family Stone family members does not like Larry's behaviour either. | |
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Jack pretty much summed it up. Sly was the man. But Larry picked the ball up for a few years after Sly dropped it. | |
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jacktheimprovident said: I think they were both immensely talented musicians, but there's no question in my mind that sly was the superior of the two. Even larry will probably tell you that sly was the leader and visionary: he did write, arrange and produce all of the family stone's songs and wound up often playing all or most of the instruments in the period during and following There's A Riot Going On, and that includes the bass and drums. Next to James Brown himself, sly was the most important figure in the history of Funk; James invented it, Sly perfected it, he was its first eclecticist and the first person to begin to turn it into a culture unto itself. Don't get me wrong, larry revolutionized the way the electric bass was played, but he wouldn't have had the opportunity to do so without being in sly's band, and it was sly who took the the percussive, syncopated rhythmic interplay between instruments, which is the core of funk, to its extreme (and for the record, I know that at lesat SOME of the bass parts on Riot And Fresh are done by Sly and they're ALL brilliant). Larry's band may have made more aggressive funk-rocking stuff , but it was all derived from sly and sly was the one who truly laid the foundation for that sort of music.
I don't think people realize how brilliant a genius Sly Stone was/is, he took funk and added so many complex elments to it. It reminds me of the whole Prince vs. his bandmembers arguments, pointless. | |
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 SLY!!!!! | |
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jacktheimprovident said: I think they were both immensely talented musicians, but there's no question in my mind that sly was the superior of the two. Even larry will probably tell you that sly was the leader and visionary: he did write, arrange and produce all of the family stone's songs and wound up often playing all or most of the instruments in the period during and following There's A Riot Going On, and that includes the bass and drums. Next to James Brown himself, sly was the most important figure in the history of Funk; James invented it, Sly perfected it, he was its first eclecticist and the first person to begin to turn it into a culture unto itself. Don't get me wrong, larry revolutionized the way the electric bass was played, but he wouldn't have had the opportunity to do so without being in sly's band, and it was sly who took the the percussive, syncopated rhythmic interplay between instruments, which is the core of funk, to its extreme (and for the record, I know that at lesat SOME of the bass parts on Riot And Fresh are done by Sly and they're ALL brilliant). Larry's band may have made more aggressive funk-rocking stuff , but it was all derived from sly and sly was the one who truly laid the foundation for that sort of music.
I agree 100% witcha. SynthiaRose said "I'm in love with blackguitaristz. Especially when he talks about Hendrix."
nammie "What BGZ says I believe. I have the biggest crush on him." http://ccoshea19.googlepa...ssanctuary http://ccoshea19.googlepages.com | |
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jacktheimprovident said: I think they were both immensely talented musicians, but there's no question in my mind that sly was the superior of the two. Even larry will probably tell you that sly was the leader and visionary: he did write, arrange and produce all of the family stone's songs and wound up often playing all or most of the instruments in the period during and following There's A Riot Going On, and that includes the bass and drums. Next to James Brown himself, sly was the most important figure in the history of Funk; James invented it, Sly perfected it, he was its first eclecticist and the first person to begin to turn it into a culture unto itself. Don't get me wrong, larry revolutionized the way the electric bass was played, but he wouldn't have had the opportunity to do so without being in sly's band, and it was sly who took the the percussive, syncopated rhythmic interplay between instruments, which is the core of funk, to its extreme (and for the record, I know that at lesat SOME of the bass parts on Riot And Fresh are done by Sly and they're ALL brilliant). Larry's band may have made more aggressive funk-rocking stuff , but it was all derived from sly and sly was the one who truly laid the foundation for that sort of music.
Great take. 
I agree with you that James created the funk and Sly expanded on it by adding songwriting/composition to the mix. Larry assisted, in terms of Sly's overall sound, with his bass playing style. Listening to Loose Booty, In Time and others, lets you know that Sly was just as funky without Larry. The original Graham Central Station albums lets you know that Larry was funky on his own but didn't have the superior songwriting ability of Sly. Sly it is for having the total package. tA  Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm "Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all." | |
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theAudience said: jacktheimprovident said: I think they were both immensely talented musicians, but there's no question in my mind that sly was the superior of the two. Even larry will probably tell you that sly was the leader and visionary: he did write, arrange and produce all of the family stone's songs and wound up often playing all or most of the instruments in the period during and following There's A Riot Going On, and that includes the bass and drums. Next to James Brown himself, sly was the most important figure in the history of Funk; James invented it, Sly perfected it, he was its first eclecticist and the first person to begin to turn it into a culture unto itself. Don't get me wrong, larry revolutionized the way the electric bass was played, but he wouldn't have had the opportunity to do so without being in sly's band, and it was sly who took the the percussive, syncopated rhythmic interplay between instruments, which is the core of funk, to its extreme (and for the record, I know that at lesat SOME of the bass parts on Riot And Fresh are done by Sly and they're ALL brilliant). Larry's band may have made more aggressive funk-rocking stuff , but it was all derived from sly and sly was the one who truly laid the foundation for that sort of music.
Great take.
I agree with you that James created the funk and Sly expanded on it by adding songwriting/composition to the mix. Larry assisted, in terms of Sly's overall sound, with his bass playing style. Listening to Loose Booty, In Time and others, lets you know that Sly was just as funky without Larry. The original Graham Central Station albums lets you know that Larry was funky on his own but didn't have the superior songwriting ability of Sly. Sly it is for having the total package. tA Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm | |
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theAudience said: jacktheimprovident said: I think they were both immensely talented musicians, but there's no question in my mind that sly was the superior of the two. Even larry will probably tell you that sly was the leader and visionary: he did write, arrange and produce all of the family stone's songs and wound up often playing all or most of the instruments in the period during and following There's A Riot Going On, and that includes the bass and drums. Next to James Brown himself, sly was the most important figure in the history of Funk; James invented it, Sly perfected it, he was its first eclecticist and the first person to begin to turn it into a culture unto itself. Don't get me wrong, larry revolutionized the way the electric bass was played, but he wouldn't have had the opportunity to do so without being in sly's band, and it was sly who took the the percussive, syncopated rhythmic interplay between instruments, which is the core of funk, to its extreme (and for the record, I know that at lesat SOME of the bass parts on Riot And Fresh are done by Sly and they're ALL brilliant). Larry's band may have made more aggressive funk-rocking stuff , but it was all derived from sly and sly was the one who truly laid the foundation for that sort of music.
Great take.
I agree with you that James created the funk and Sly expanded on it by adding songwriting/composition to the mix. Larry assisted, in terms of Sly's overall sound, with his bass playing style. Listening to Loose Booty, In Time and others, lets you know that Sly was just as funky without Larry. The original Graham Central Station albums lets you know that Larry was funky on his own but didn't have the superior songwriting ability of Sly. Sly it is for having the total package. tA Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm  | |
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funkpill said: SLY!!!!! Enuff Said!!!!
So says the Pill.....  | |
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jacktheimprovident said: I think they were both immensely talented musicians, but there's no question in my mind that sly was the superior of the two. Even larry will probably tell you that sly was the leader and visionary: he did write, arrange and produce all of the family stone's songs and wound up often playing all or most of the instruments in the period during and following There's A Riot Going On, and that includes the bass and drums. Next to James Brown himself, sly was the most important figure in the history of Funk; James invented it, Sly perfected it, he was its first eclecticist and the first person to begin to turn it into a culture unto itself. Don't get me wrong, larry revolutionized the way the electric bass was played, but he wouldn't have had the opportunity to do so without being in sly's band, and it was sly who took the the percussive, syncopated rhythmic interplay between instruments, which is the core of funk, to its extreme (and for the record, I know that at lesat SOME of the bass parts on Riot And Fresh are done by Sly and they're ALL brilliant). Larry's band may have made more aggressive funk-rocking stuff , but it was all derived from sly and sly was the one who truly laid the foundation for that sort of music.
glad 2 know im not the only one these days thats knows the deal...u must be a musician also...wise man u are... | |
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Larry.
Sly fell off in a MAJOR way. He didn't just 'drop' the ball, he completely LOST it. Whatever anyone says, Sly's quality control dropped like a stone after Larry left the group. Larry continued producing classic Funk albums all the way through the 70's. Really I love both, but I have a fond spot for those 70's GCS albums. I mean who can argue with 'Hair' ?!!!!! In retrospect, I think they had great musical chemistry. You can hear it all over the best Sly and the Family Stone records. Larry's bass playing and Sly's songwriting. A match made in heaven. | |
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