I don't think he is. His talent lies in producing, arranging, songwriting. As a singer, to me, he is just okay and I say that as a huge fan of the man.

Not sure what you mean as a great singer.

Does he have a great voice?

No.

But then neither do Dylan, Sprinsteen, Dr. John, Tom Waits.

Is his voice distinctive in the rock and roll era?

Yes.

He's a grat singer, easy answer.

no but his music was great

thats the problem with American Idol or The Voice. They emphazise technical ability but musicianship and creativity are lost. Some of my favorites have bad technical ability singing but they have the ability to create songs that work for them. sometimes in rock and blues someone with technical ability may not sound as good as someone with a raspy gritty funky voice.

Not technically the most impressive singer I've heard, but yeah he's great. I love hearing him sing those songs, and they're great songs. He has a very relaxed, natural style that works perfectly for the music. I don't ever hear that music, and wish there was a better singer, put it that way.

AMAZING singer!!

His style of singing always matched the message of his lyrics and while it may seem unchallenging to the trained vocalist, he has used many suttle nuances that makes it unique to the song. Yes he is a great interpreter.

Like others have said, not great in a technical sense, but in terms of expression and general frickin' coolness he's rivalled by only the likes of James Brown.

Great all-around musician? Yes. Great singer? No. Don't think I've ever heard anyone say that they were moved by his voice.

He's one of the absolute greatest and most soulful singers ever!

Just listen to "Everybody is a star" or "Hot fun in the summertime",

or "Time"

or this 80's demo track Coming back for more.

https://soundcloud.com/magnusgoethe/sly-stone-coming-back-for-more

/peace Manki

manki said:

He's one of the absolute greatest and most soulful singers ever!

Just listen to "Everybody is a star" or "Hot fun in the summertime",

or "Time"

or this 80's demo track Coming back for more.

https://soundcloud.com/magnusgoethe/sly-stone-coming-back-for-more

/peace Manki

This. The parts he sings on "Everybody is a Star" always give me the chills. The way he uses his

some what limited voice is pure genius. Other great examples of his vocals are "Mother Beautiful" and his solo version of "For Real".

Good singer.

Fucking amazing voice!

SuperFurryAnimal said:

thats the problem with American Idol or The Voice. They emphazise technical ability but musicianship and creativity are lost. Some of my favorites have bad technical ability singing but they have the ability to create songs that work for them. sometimes in rock and blues someone with technical ability may not sound as good as someone with a raspy gritty funky voice.

THIS.

Some people think that if you have technical singing skills that you can automatically move people with your voice and that is not true.

I don't think there is anything special about technical singing skills because that is something that you can pretty much find anywhere. There are singers who do not have recording contracts with good technical singing chops. What makes singers distintive and special are how they use their voice, the emotion they put into their voice, their ability to change their voice, the soulness in their voice etc. Those type of things are things you are not going to find on a church choir, American Idol, etc. I personally think those things are a natural gift and you can not be trained to do those things which makes them even more special.

I LOVE Sly Stone and no he is not a good technical singer but he has a unique voice and puts alot of funk, soul and emotion into it. I think that makes him a good singer by default because alot of technical singers can not do that and besides, the number one thing that makes a great singer is their ability to move people with their voice. People in here are saying Sly is a good singer because he moves them with his voice, he puts emotion in his voice, the distintive sound of his voice etc not because of his technical skills.

mjscarousal said:

I LOVE Sly Stone and no he is not a good technical singer but he has a unique voice and puts alot of funk, soul and emotion into it. I think that makes him a good singer by default because alot of technical singers can not do that and besides, the number one thing that makes a great singer is their ability to move people with their voice. People in here are saying Sly is a good singer because he moves them with his voice, he puts emotion in his voice, the distintive sound of his voice etc not because of his technical skills.

This. Surprised no-one's mentioned how massively influential Sly was as a funk singer in the '70s and '80s. Just listen to his influence on Leroy Sugarfoot Bonner of Ohio Players (RIP one year ago today, I just found out from Wiki ), Gary Mudbone Cooper of P-Funk, Johnny Guitar Watson on his '70s funk albums, to name but a few.

For me, two of Sly's greatest vocals are on lesser known tracks like Time (from Riot) and Thankful and Thoughtful (from Fresh) . Hugely expressive and soulful singer. For me, the funkiest singer ever after James Brown.

kitbradley said:

Que Sera Sera