Rest in Funk, Sly Stone

Sly's gone, but there's still a riot goin' on.

Photo: Stephen Paley

Sly Stone died in LA during Black Music Month while there was a riot going on. He was 82.

James Brown was my first exposure to funk, but Sly and the Family Stone were right there on his platform heels. They started off urging us to dance to the music, but within a few short years, the good times gave way to harsh realities. Of course, not unlike Nero, the mainstream audience wanted to dance more than protest. Sly was having none of it. He answered Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin’ On (even though it was not posed as a question) with There’s a Riot Goin’ On. It was as far from “Dance to the Music” as one could get…or was it?

Sylvester Stewart was first a DJ (seen here at KDIA, “Lucky 13,” in San Francisco) and record producer. He knew how to pick songs, how to listen to what the kids were feeling and what they were dancing to. He funneled that knowledge, that natural talent, into his own music and his own group.

By 1969, social commentary and uplifting vibes had merged with an increasing exploration of funk and soul, driven by his groundbreaking, multiracial unit, whom he dubbed Sly and the Family Stone.

By the dawn of the new decade, however, the vibes had shifted. The difference between the two albums above is startling. Stand! shimmers with youthful hope and possibilities, while There's a Riot Goin' On is a dispatch from an older, wiser, cynical relative. It's a long way from "Everyday People" and "You Can Make It If You Try" to the dense, weary realism of Riot—the sad reality of idealism vs experience. There's still a sliver of hope, but it's justifiably cautious and suspicious.

More than half a century on, we're still working through the emotions of There’s a Riot Goin’ On, which is what happens when the idealism of Stand! goes unheard, or is purposely silenced.

Light and dark, hope and defiance - all set to an unstoppable, mammoth groove. Listen closely, and it can take you higher.

As news reports and social media accounts across the country shine a light on what’s goin’ on right now in the City of Angels, Sly’s lyrics ring truer and more powerful than they have since they were released. They remain just as relevant, yes, but they’re also uplifting, empowering, and necessary—no matter the era or the circumstances.

Stand for the things you know are right

It’s the truth, that the truth makes them so uptight

Rest in power, Sly Stone. Thank you for letting us all realize the strength and the power to be ourselves again.

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