Editing Sly and the Family Stone (section)

=== Early years ===
In 1966, Sly Stone formed a band called Sly & the Stoners, which included acquaintance Cynthia Robinson on trumpet. Around the same time, Freddie founded a band called Freddie & the Stone Souls, which included Greg Errico on drums, and Ronnie Crawford on saxophone. At the suggestion of Stone's friend, saxophonist Jerry Martini, Sly and Freddie combined their bands, creating Sly and the Family Stone in November 1966. At first the group was called Sly Brothers and Sisters but after their first gig at the Winchester Cathedral, a night club in [[Redwood City, California]], they changed the name to Sly & the Family Stone. Since both Sly and Freddie were guitarists, Sly appointed Freddie the official guitarist for the Family Stone, and taught himself to play the electronic organ. Sly also recruited Larry Graham, Robinson's cousin, to play bass guitar.

Vaetta Stewart wanted to join the band as well. She and her friends, [[Mary McCreary]] and [[Elva Mouton]], had a [[gospel music|gospel]] group called ''the Heavenly Tones''. Sly recruited the teenagers directly out of high school to become [[Little Sister (band)|Little Sister]], Sly and the Family Stone's background vocalists.<ref>Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 88; interview with Elva "Tiny" Moulton.</ref>

After a gig at the Winchester Cathedral, [[Sony Music Entertainment|CBS Records]] executive David Kapralik signed the group to CBS's [[Epic Records]] label. The Family Stone's first album, ''[[A Whole New Thing (Sly and the Family Stone album)|A Whole New Thing]]'', was released in 1967 to critical acclaim, particularly from musicians such as [[Mose Allison]] and [[Tony Bennett]].<ref name="WholeNew">Selvin, Joel (1998), pp. 59–60; interviews with David Kapralik and Jerry Martini.</ref> However, the album's low sales restricted their playing venues to small clubs, and caused Clive Davis and the record label to intervene.<ref name="WholeNew" /><ref name="Fotenot">Fotenot, Robert. [http://oldies.about.com/od/soulmotown/p/slyfamilystone.htm Profile: Sly and the Family Stone] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105063147/http://oldies.about.com/od/soulmotown/p/slyfamilystone.htm |date=January 5, 2008 }}. About.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2007.</ref> Some musicologists believe the [[Abaco Dream]] single "Life And Death in G & A", recorded for [[A&M Records]] in 1967 and peaking at No. 74 in September 1969,<ref>Top Pop Singles 1955–1999. Joel Whitburn. 2000. Record Research Inc. p. 3. {{ISBN|0-89820-139-X}}</ref> was performed by Sly and the Family Stone.<ref>Santiago, Eddie. (2008) ''Sly: The Lives of Sylvester Stewart and Sly Stone.'' {{ISBN|1-4357-0987-X}}, 9781435709874. page 70.</ref>

Davis talked Sly into writing and recording a record, and he and the band reluctantly provided the single "[[Dance to the Music (song)|Dance to the Music]]".<ref name="Selvin60">Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 60; interview with Jerry Martini.</ref> Upon its November 1967 release, "Dance to the Music" became a widespread ground-breaking hit, and was the band's first charting single, reaching No. 8 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].<ref name="BillboardCharts">{{cite web | title = Sly and the Family Stone: Billboard Singles | publisher = All Media Guide, LLC. | year = 2006 | url = {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p5460/charts-awards/billboard-singles|pure_url=yes}} | access-date = January 26, 2007 }}</ref> Just before the release of "Dance to the Music", Rose Stone joined the group as a vocalist and a keyboardist. Rose's brothers had invited her to join the band from the beginning, but she initially had been reluctant to leave her steady job at a local record store.<ref name="Selvin60" />

The ''[[Dance to the Music (Sly and the Family Stone album)|Dance to the Music]]'' album went on to decent sales, but the follow-up, ''[[Life (Sly and the Family Stone album)|Life]]'', was not as successful commercially.<ref name="LifeReview">Erlewine, Stephen Thomas . [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r18261|pure_url=yes}} Review for ''Life'' by Sly and the Family Stone]. All Music Guide. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.</ref> In September 1968, the band embarked on its first overseas tour, to England. It was cut short after Graham was arrested for possession of marijuana and because of disagreements with concert promoters.<ref>Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 68; interview with Jerry Martini.</ref>