- Album list
- Singer Intro
Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. The group's core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, and included Stone's brother and singer/guitarist Freddie Stone, sister and singer/keyboardist Rose Stone, trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, drummer Greg Errico, saxophonist Jerry Martini, and bassist Larry Graham. The band was the first major American rock group to have a racially integrated, male and female lineup.
Formed in 1966, the group's music synthesized a variety of disparate musical genres to help pioneer the emerging 'psychedelic soul' sound. They released a series of Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits such as 'Dance to the Music' (1968), 'Everyday People' (1968), and 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)' (1969), as well as critically acclaimed albums such as Stand! (1969), which combined pop sensibility with social commentary. In the 1970s, the band transitioned into a darker and less commercial funk sound on releases such as There's a Riot Goin' On (1971) and Fresh (1973), proving as influential as their early work. By 1975, drug problems and interpersonal clashes led to the group's dissolution, though Sly Stone continued to record and tour with a new rotating lineup under the name 'Sly and the Family Stone' until drug problems forced his effective retirement in 1987.
The work of Sly and the Family Stone greatly influenced the sound of subsequent American funk, pop, soul, R&B, and hip hop music. Music critic Joel Selvin feels that the importance of Sly and the Family Stone's influence on African-American music is such that for him 'there are two types of black music: black music before Sly Stone, and black music after Sly Stone'. In 2010, they were ranked 43rd in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and three of their albums are included on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
Members
This listing features the lineup from 1967 to 1975. After 1975, the lineup changed with each of the last four Sly and the Family Stone LPs. Personnel appearing on these recordings are credited in the individual album articles for High on You, Heard You Missed Me, Well I'm Back, Back on the Right Track, and Ain't But the One Way.
Sly Stone (Sylvester Stewart) (1966–1975): vocals, organ, guitar, bass guitar, piano, harmonica, and more
Freddie Stone (Frederick Stewart) (1966–1975): vocals, guitar
Cynthia Robinson (1966–1975): trumpet, vocal ad libs
Jerry Martini (1966–1975): saxophone
Little Sister; Vet Stone (Vaetta Stewart), Mary McCreary, and Elva Mouton (1966–1975): background vocals
Larry Graham (1966–1972): vocals, bass guitar
Gregg Errico (1966–1971): drums
Rose Stone (Rose Marie Stewart) (1968–1975): vocals, piano, electric piano
Gerry Gibson (1971–1972): drums; replaced Gregg Errico
Pat Rizzo (1972–1975): saxophone
Rustee Allen (1972–1975): bass; replaced Larry Graham
Andy Newmark (1973–1974): drums; replaced Gerry Gibson
Bill Lordan (1974): drums; replaced Andy Newmark
Sid Page (1973–1974): violin
Vicki Blackwell (1974–1975): violin
Jim Strassburg (1974): drums; replaced Bill Lordan
Dennis Marcellino (1975): saxophone; replaced Pat Rizzo
Discography
Main article: Sly and the Family Stone discography
1967: A Whole New Thing
1968: Dance to the Music
1968: Life
1969: Stand!
1971: There's a Riot Goin' On
1973: Fresh
1974: Small Talk
1975: High on You
1976: Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back
1979: Back on the Right Track
1982: Ain't but the One Way
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