Editing Sly and the Family Stone (section)

==Musical style and legacy ==

===Early years===
Sly Stone produced for and performed with black and white musicians during his early career, and he integrated music by white artists into black radio station KSOL's playlist as a DJ. Similarly, the Sly and the Family Stone sound was a [[melting pot]] of many influences and cultures, including [[James Brown]] funk, [[Motown Records|Motown]] pop, [[Stax Records|Stax]] soul, Broadway showtunes, and [[psychedelic music|psychedelic]] [[rock and roll|rock music]].<ref name="ErlewineSly">Erlewine, Stephen Thomas . [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p5460/biography|pure_url=yes}} Sly and the Family Stone]. All Music Guide. Retrieved on January 18, 2007.</ref> [[Wah-wah pedal|Wah-wah]] guitars, [[guitar effects|distorted fuzz]] [[bassline]]s, [[religious music|church]]-styled organ lines, and horn riffs provided the musical backdrop for the vocals of the band's four lead singers.<ref name="LifeReview" /><ref name="StandReview">Erlewine, Stephen Thomas . [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r18261|pure_url=yes}} Review for ''Stand!'' by Sly and the Family Stone]. All Music Guide. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.</ref> Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, Larry Graham, and Rose Stone traded off on various bars of each verse, a style of vocal arrangement unusual and revolutionary at that time in popular music.<ref name="TemptsSly">Williams and Romanowski (1988), pp. 138–139. Williams discusses Sly and the Family Stone's impact on the R&B industry, and how the group's multiple lead vocals and psychedelic sound inspired "Cloud Nine" and other such Temptations recordings.</ref> Cynthia Robinson shouted ad-libbed vocal directions to the audience and the band; for example, urging everyone to "get on up and 'Dance to the Music'" and demanding that "all the [[square (slang)|squares]] go home!"<ref>Sly and the Family Stone (performers), Sylvester Stewart (author). (1968). ''Dance to the Music'' (Vinyl recording). New York: Epic/CBS Records.</ref>

The lyrics for the band's songs were often pleas for peace, love, and understanding among people. These calls against prejudice and [[self-hate]] were underscored by the band's on-stage appearance. White musicians Gregg Errico and Jerry Martini were members of the band at a time when integrated performance bands were virtually unknown; [[racial integration|integration]] had only recently become enforced by law. Female members Cynthia Robinson and Rosie Stone played instruments onstage, rather than just providing vocals or serving as visual accompaniment for the male members.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vincent |first=Rickey |title=Funk: The Music, the People, and the Rhythm of the One |year=1996 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=0-312-13499-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/funkmusicpeopler00vinc/page/91 91–92] |url=https://archive.org/details/funkmusicpeopler00vinc/page/91 }}</ref> The band's gospel-styled singing endeared them to black audiences; their rock music elements and wild costuming—including Sly's large [[Afro]] and tight leather outfits, Rose's blond wig, and the other members' loud psychedelic clothing—caught the attention of mainstream audiences,{{Unreliable source?|date=November 2009}}<ref name="Kaliss">{{Unreliable source?|date=November 2009}} Kaliss, Jeff. [http://www.there1.com/browse_articles.php?action=view_record&idnum=109 Sly and the Family Stone: 'Different strokes for different folks.'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060212060616/http://www.there1.com/browse_articles.php?action=view_record&idnum=109 |date=February 12, 2006 }} There1.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2007</ref> and helped the group enjoy success as a pop act.<ref>{{cite book|title= Encyclopedia of Music in the 20th Century |editor-first= Lol |editor-last= Henderson |editor-first2= Lee |editor-last2= Stacey |publisher= [[Routledge]] |year= 2013 |isbn= 978-1-5795-8079-7 |chapter= Rock Music}}</ref>

Although "Dance to the Music" was the band's only hit single until late 1968, the impact of that single and the ''Dance to the Music'' and ''Life'' albums reverberated across the music industry.<ref name="TemptsSly" /> The smooth, piano-based "Motown sound" was out; "[[psychedelic soul]]" was in,<ref name="TemptsSly" /> and the band would become a leading exponent of the sound.<ref name="AllMusic - Psychedelic Soul"/><ref name="rollingstone.com"/> Rock-styled guitar lines similar to the ones Freddie Stone played began appearing in the music of artists such as [[The Isley Brothers]] ("[[It's Your Thing]]") and [[The Supremes|Diana Ross & the Supremes]] ("[[Love Child (song)|Love Child]]"). Larry Graham invented the "[[Slapping (music)|slapping technique]]" of bass guitar playing, which became synonymous with funk music.<ref name="LarryBass">{{cite web | last = Ankeny | first = Jason | title = Larry Graham | website = Allmusic | url = {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p17977/biography|pure_url=yes}} | access-date = February 1, 2007}}</ref> Some musicians changed their sound completely to co-opt that of Sly and the Family Stone, most notably Motown in-house producer [[Norman Whitfield]], who took his main act [[The Temptations]] into "psychedelic soul" territory starting with the [[Grammy Award|Grammy]]-winning "Cloud Nine" in 1968.<ref name=temptations>{{cite web | title = The Temptations | work = 1989 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees | publisher = [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] | year = 1989 | url = http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=199 | access-date = January 23, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061123064745/http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=199 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = November 23, 2006}}</ref> The early work of Sly and the Family Stone was also a significant influence on the music of [[Michael Jackson]] & [[The Jackson 5]] and soul/hip-hop groups such as [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]] & [[Parliament (band)|Parliament]]/[[Funkadelic]], [[Arrested Development (hip hop group)|Arrested Development]], and [[The Black Eyed Peas]].<ref>Planer, Lindsay. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r10005|pure_url=yes}} Review for ''Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5'' by The Jackson 5]. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.<br />* Liner notes from ''Smiling Faces: The Best of Undisputed Truth''. New York: Universal/Motown Records. Excerpt: "'Undisputed Truth was one of Motown's boldest acts. They were the brainchild of legendary producer Norman Whitfield, who described them as 'a perfect cross between Sly and the Family Stone and the 5th Dimension.'"<br />* Erlewine, Stephen Thomas . [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p5460/biography|pure_url=yes}} Sly and the Family Stone]. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-01-18. Sly Stone later toured and recorded with Funkadelic in the late 1970s/early 1980s<br />* Huey, Steve. [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p6/biography|pure_url=yes}} Arrested Development]. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.</ref>

===Later work===
The later work of Sly and the Family Stone was as influential as the band's early work. ''There's a Riot Goin' On'', ''Fresh'', and ''Small Talk'' are considered among the first and best examples of the matured version of funk music, after prototypical instances of the sound in the band's 1960s work.<ref name="ErlewineSly" /><ref>Rosen, Dave. [http://www.inkblotmagazine.com/rev-archive/sly.htm Review for ''There's a Riot Goin' On''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921085438/http://www.inkblotmagazine.com/rev-archive/sly.htm |date=September 21, 2008 }} ''Ink Blot Magazine''. Retrieved on January 18, 2007</ref> A 2003 article for ''Rolling Stone'' commented; "Sly and the Family Stone created a musical utopia: an interracial group of men and women who blended funk, rock and positive vibes... Sly Stone ultimately discovered that his utopia had a ghetto, and he brilliantly tore the whole thing down on ''There's a Riot Goin' On'', which does not refute the joy of his earlier music."<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/|title=Music News|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> In a retrospective review, Zeth Lundy of [[PopMatters]] called ''There's a Riot Goin' On'' "a challenging listen, at times rambling, incoherent, dissonant, and just plain uncomfortable" with "some episodic moments of pop greatness to be found" and viewed it as a radical departure from the band's previous work:

{{blockquote|[It] sank their previously burgeoning idealism at a time when social disillusionment was all the rage. Sly had found something else to take him higher and, as a result, ''Riot'' is a record very much informed by drugs, paranoia, and a sort of halfhearted malcontent [...] listening to it isn't exactly a pleasurable experience. It's significant in the annals of pop and soul because it is blunt and unflinching, because it reflects personal and cultural crises in a manner unbecoming for pop records at the time. ''Riot'' can be classified as avant-soul only after being recognized as a soul nightmare—the 'nightmare', so to speak, being a reflection of an unfortunate and uncompromised reality, not a glossed-over pop-music approximation of reality.<ref name="Lundy">Lundy, Zeth (April 2, 2007). [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/slys-the-limit/ Review: ''There's a Riot Goin' On'']. [[PopMatters]]. Retrieved on 2010-10-16.</ref>}}

Writer [[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]] described the album as "unlike anything heard before in black music".<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|title=Guinness Book of Top 1000 Albums
|publisher=Gullane Children's Books|year=1994|edition=1|isbn=978-0-85112-786-6|page=292}}</ref> [[Herbie Hancock]] was inspired by Sly's new funk sound to move towards a more electric sound with his material,<ref>Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r140166|pure_url=yes}} Review for ''Head Hunters'' by Herbie Hancock]. All Music Guide. Retrieved on January 18, 2007.</ref> resulting in ''[[Head Hunters (album)|Head Hunters]]'' (1973). [[Miles Davis]] was similarly inspired by the band and worked with Sly Stone on his recordings, resulting in ''[[On the Corner]]''; the sartorial and band lineup changes hallmarked [[jazz fusion]].<ref>Selvin, Joel (1998), p. 163.</ref> Davis was particularly impressed with material from Stone's 1973 album ''[[Fresh (Sly and the Family Stone album)|Fresh]]''.<ref>{{cite web | title= Drummerworld: Andy Newmark| publisher= Drummerworld| url= http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Andy_Newmark.html}}</ref> British musician and [[ambient music]] pioneer [[Brian Eno]] cited ''Fresh'' as having heralded a shift in the history of [[Sound recording and reproduction|recording]], "where the rhythm instruments, particularly the bass drum and bass, suddenly [became] the important instruments in the mix."<ref>{{cite magazine | title= Brian Eno: "The Studio as Compositional Tool"| magazine= Downbeat| url= http://beatpatrol.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/brian-eno-the-studio-as-compositional-tool-1983/}}</ref> Artists such as Michael Jackson, [[Stevie Wonder]], [[Prince (singer)|Prince]], [[Outkast]], [[Chuck D]], the [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]], and [[John Mayer]] have also shown significant inspiration from the post-1970 work of Sly and the Family Stone.<ref name="KalissNote">Kaliss, Jeff. [http://www.there1.com/browse_articles.php?action=view_record&idnum=109 Sly and the Family Stone: 'Different strokes for different folks.'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060212060616/http://www.there1.com/browse_articles.php?action=view_record&idnum=109 |date=February 12, 2006 }} There1.com. Retrieved on January 18, 2007 [http://differentstrokesbydifferentfolks.blogspot.com/ ''Different Strokes by Different Folks''] [audio podcast—2 episodes]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment. Retrieved on January 18, 2007. [[Michael Jackson]], Prince, and Stevie Wonder's inspirations from Sly and the Family Stone are mentioned in this article. The other artists listed are among those who participated in the 2006 Sly and the Family Stone tribute album ''Different Strokes by Different Strokes'', and discuss their participation in the podcast.</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/t/outkast/|title=Outkast|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref>