Looks like they are headed into the studio without Sly or Larry

http://story.news.yahoo.c...lystone_dc

Sly Is No Show in Family Stone Reunion
2 hours, 50 minutes ago Add Entertainment - Reuters to My Yahoo!


By Paul Iorio

BERKELEY, Calif. (Reuters) - The Family Stone, the California band that paved the way for modern funk, is back in the recording studio for the first time in 32 years.


But missing is Sly Stone -- the heart and soul of a band that blended race, gender, music and politics in a glorious evocation of Sixties idealism.


"I'll put it like this," drummer Greg Errico told Reuters in an interview. "The B3 (Hammond organ) is on and running and idling, and the seat's warm, and whenever he (Sly) wants to come sit in it, he's more than welcome.


"But he's been a recluse for the last 20 years or so ... I don't understand it. Your guess is as good as mine," Errico said.


Sly Stone, 59, the innovative producer, singer, songwriter and keyboard player behind Sly and the Family Stone has not recorded an album since 1982. Drug-related legal and medical problems have haunted him over the decades and he declined comment for this story.


Hailing mostly from the small northern California town of Vallejo, Sly and the Family Stone smashed cultural stereotypes with its black rock guitarist, white funk drummer, female horn player and blend of soul, rock and R&B in hits like "Dance to the Music."


The band played at the 1968 Fillmore East concert, the 1969 Woodstock festival, and it was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.


SEEDS OF REUNION


The seeds of reunion were planted 18 months ago after the Family Stone gathered in New York to accept an R&B Foundation Pioneer Award.


"Everybody was there but Sly," said Errico. "We (wondered), 'Are we going to...put the group back together?' Everybody decided to do it. We waited for (guitarist) Larry (Graham) for about three or four months. After saying, yeah, he wanted to do it, he never responded."


Undaunted by the absence not only of Sly but also of his cousin Graham on bass guitar, five of the original members of Sly and the Family Stone have been in the studio recording some 16 new songs. The new tracks are being written and sung mostly by Sly's brother Freddie Stone and sister Rosie Stone, and the album is being produced by Freddie Stone and Errico. The band does not yet have a recording contract.


The reunited group also includes Jerry Martini on saxophone and Cynthia Robinson on horn, all of whom backed Sly from 1967 to 1971 on such classics as "Everyday People" and "Stand!"


Graham who went on to found the band Graham Central Station and has collaborated with Prince is replaced by Rusty Allen, who played on Sly and the Family Stone's 1973 album "Fresh."


Recalling the old days, Robinson said the group's songs always originated with Sly, who would write the material before coming into the studio.


"He and Freddie used to work together ... at home, creating the songs," Robinson told Reuters in a telephone interview. Then he would give everyone their parts by playing riffs on his keyboards.


She recalled Sly's striving for musical clarity in the, session that produced the 1970 single "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)."


"He made sure stuff wasn't cluttered, that good lines weren't covered up by other good lines," Robinson said.





For now, the Family Stone plans no live shows until after the new album is finished although several members -- Errico, Martini, Robinson and Rosie Stone -- are performing with others in the San Francisco Bay area in a funk jam group called the Funk Family Circus (formerly the Stone Family Circus).

"If you think about it," says Errico, "that's a hard legacy to live up to, what we've done in the past."

Or as Robinson put it, alluding to the title of the band's 1967 debut album, "This is a whole new thing again."
[This message was edited Wed Jun 11 12:24:48 PDT 2003 by chickengrease]

no sly?

I´m afraid that without Sly it will B
another oldies but goodies thing.
Now if Sly come back I´d rather see him
with some younger hungry cats willing 2 take his
legacy further.
/peace Manki

Well damn...it just ain't the same!!! Don't get me wrong, Freddie is bad on the vocals (and sometimes sounds like his brother) and so is Cynthia, but no one puts it down on that organ like Sly does!!! Who will fill that void? I alwyas thought Rusty was a good bass player after Larry left. He picked up the pieces and made the basslines his own (I love that popping on "Small Talk," "Livin' While I'm Livin'" and the end of "Say You Will").

Interesting article.


It's unfortunate- & still hard to believe- that Sly hasn't excised himself of these "demons" or whatever else it is that has prevented him from appearing in public or putting out new music. Sly was

SO FAR AHEAD

of his time, back then in the late 60s- culturally as well as musically.


His drug problems have been well documented- maybe too much so. That is probably a factor as much as anything else that has kept Sly "invisible" for over 2 decades now. Whatever fears or hesitations Sly has about making music &/or performing in public again, most of them would probably be removed- simply by him playing his music &/or writing new material. Sitting in the corner of a dark room (literally &/or figuratively speaking) 12 hours a day hardly does anything to put a person in a positive place where they can or want to get past.. the past. If Sly today is concerned about "living up to his past legacy", he really shouldn't be, because that legacy is UNTOUCHABLE. His music was too brilliant, too ground-breaking to ever be challenged or diminished by anyone.


I'm somewhat surprised that Larry hasn't been more active in this "reunion". I've heard him say (in the not too distant past) that he too would love to play with Sly & the Family Stone again.. yet it seems like he's simply "paying lip service"..
maybe he's too occupied being prince's "spiritual advisor" to reunite with the group..
Larry could use a GOOD break from "you-know-who" as much as the other way around.
Indeed, it's more than a little strange that the 2 most recognizable members of the group don't want to participate in it..


I admire the Family Stone for pushing forward & making new music without Sly. Really, though.. Sly is the heart & the soul of that group- always has been, very likely always will be. Maybe the Family Stone should simply drag Sly-
very literally.. DRAG him-
back into the studio & MAKE him play, until he gets over whatever IRRATIONAL fear or phobia is holding him back.


WHATEVER the reason for Sly's continued absense..
he simply needs to PULL HIS HEAD OUT OF HIS ASS
&
GET BACK WITH THE GROUP WITH WHOM HE DID ALL THOSE AMAZING THINGS.

If they all ever did get back together,
& even if they were only "half as good" as they were in their prime..
I would STILL pay
A L O T
of money to see this group..!


Come on, Sly! LISTEN to the words of your own song:

YOU CAN MAKE IT IF YOU TRY.

mltijchr said:

LOL!!! It's worth a try!!! Beat his ass onto that damn organ!!!

okaypimpn said:

I just hate this! whats a reunion if its not a REAL reunion?

Mltijchr is right, let 'em try the hard way.

musically, I think they could hang without Sly. Greg Errico did some pretty funky stuff with Betty Davis. Freddie popped in and out on GCS stuff. And the LP Rose Stone did under the moniker Rose Banks was pretty underrated. If it ever sees the light of day, I'll cop it.

Yeah, in theory they could do it, chickengrease..

but it would not be the same. Very likely, only serious, die-hard Family Stone fans would get into the reunion (as it currently is)..

If the Family Stone releases an album
(of course, after having secured a record deal)
I wouldn't be running to get it..
I'd want to borrow it or listen to it over the 'net or something, before investing my money in it..
with Sly's & Larry's participation
(as it well should be)
I'd buy the album without thinking twice about it.

I am a fan of Sly & the Family Stone.. not "the Family Stone".. as great as they can be on their own..
STILL, I'd be quite curious to hear what they could do on their own..


Just think about that for a minute:

in today's "pop music climate"..
WHAT type of music would they (with or without Sly & Graham) do? Would it be essentially their same "psychadelic 60s amalgam" that made them famous..
or would they (somehow) try for a more "updated" sound???

They could, in theory, do an album as good (or better) than their best work of the late 60s.. & how many people (other than their older fans) would dig it? Fans of Britney & Justin & 10 cent
(oops, Freudian slip revealing how much I think this rapper is actually worth)
et al.. it's hard to see them even beginning to "get" music from.. real experienced musicians who aren't just sampling &/or doing remakes of songs already done 20+ years ago..


I suppose all I can do is simply pray that in releasing new material, this will somehow "motivate" Sly (& Larry) to come out of hiding & make the group "full strength", as they SHOULD be.

What next? prince and the revolution reunion without prince?

This is dumb, why bother?

Larry Graham is a disgrace, all he's done for the last five years are SATFS songs, whenever prince rolls over and lets him take over the stage.what an asshole.