Talk:Sly & the Family Stone

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Featured article star Sly & the Family Stone is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do.
Main Page trophy This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on February 18, 2007.
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Contents

[edit] Page move

I moved this page from what was under "Sly Stone" because the text primarily covers the band, and really isn't a biography for Sly. Although the histories of both Sly & the band are, of course, very much intertwined, there should be seperate articles: one that focuses on Sly, and one that focuses on the band. The Sly article will be expanded to talk about his work & life before and after Sly & The Family Stone. --b. Touch 15:09, 11 Nov 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Great job, Wikipedians!

This band is so underrated that it should be a crime. Fantastic job! PennyGWoods 18:34, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. Great job with the article. All band and musician articles should be written like this one. Nhl4hamilton (talk) 06:30, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Stone Flower

Stone Flower redirects to Sly & the Family Stone, but currently has no pages linking to it! There is a notable 1972 album by Antonio Carlos Jobim called Stone Flower, and i'd like to create that in it's place. Are there any objections? Gareth E Kegg 09:34, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chart singles

24.239.177.32 19:55, 8 November 2006 (UTC)"Everybody is a Star" was not a #1 hit, according to Joel Whitburn's numerous Billboard chart books. The song is listed as "F," meaning a "flipside" that also received measurable airplay.

"I Want to Take You Higher" did not hit the Top 40 as a B-side; it took the Woodstock film to push the 1970 re-release to #38.

"Thank You" isn't considered the first full-fledged funk single in general; James Brown had had Top 10 funk singles in 1965. But "Thank You" was the first to hit #1 on the Hot 100.

For whatever reason, musicologists considered James Brown's 1960s work "proto-fnk", and had pegged "Thank You" as the first "Funk song". Nevertheless, that sentence is out of the article now. --FuriousFreddy 01:07, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Influences

Sly has influenced a lot of rappers. Arrested Development is alright, but the Black Eyed Peas are weak. There are much more important hip hop artists who have been influenced by Sly and the Family Stone.


[edit] Caption

The caption underneath the photo of the group was unreadable; all of the text was on top of each other. I edited it out. It has a cleaner look to it, now. Slater79 09:12, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Multicultural claim

The opening paragraph describes the band as the "first major American rock band to have a multicultural lineup". I wonder about Booker T. & the M.G.'s -- a strong case could be made that they were the first. (Or is the difference "rock" vs. "soul" music?) Perhaps the article should be amended to say "multi-racial and multi-gender" or something like that?Vandelay 18:08, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

It original went into an overly detailed description in the lead, but I got the impression that it just wanted to say multicultural. I think that's a fair proposal. — Deckiller 04:51, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
Another multicultural rock band was Love (band)... oddly, Arthur Lee had certain similarities to Sly Stone. snug 08:30, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
With Love, although hugely influencial, they only had one minor hit. I was thinking the same thing, i.e "but what about Love?", but I think as far as mainstream success, they are rather minor. Likewise, Booker T. is mainly famous for one song, plus being the backing band for several acts. Sly & the Family Stone had several major hits and are for the most part a household name. Freshacconci 23:00, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
I think Love had pretty good mainstream success, enough to qualify as `major,' although Sly and the Family Stone obviously sold way more records, played at Woodstock, etc. Lots of the SF Psychedelic posters featured Love, and even I remember `Little Red Book,' from AM radio, although I was only 8 when it came out. The Doors' original goal, I believe, was to be as popular as Love. Nice video of Love in 1966. But I can see your point... I wonder, however, if the existence of Arthur Lee ended up helping convince Sly Stone that he could succeed with his band. snug 21:13, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Another multicultural band before Love was The Paul Butterfield Blues band. 4.167.227.107 06:53, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Grammar

Shouldn't it say Sly and the Family Stone "was" an American Rock band in the first sentence in place of Sly and the Family Stone were and American Rock band? Sly and the Family Stone is one, singular band.

- -

"Sly and the Family Stone" is/are a band that's slated to appear in a "Back in the Day" concert on 7 July 2007 in Arena Green Park, San Jose, California. Technically speaking you're right since the music world so often recognizes official band names to include the "and" or "featuring" as part of the band's title. And sometimes the band uses the name of the lead singer or leader as its name. I think both tenses are OK.

DonL 23:17, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Use of first name throughout article

I believe that Wiki policy is to use full and then surnames. I realise that with various family members this may have been troublesome, but not impossible, to circumvent. Of course, as this has passed FA, this may have already been addressed. LessHeard vanU 15:13, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Actually, the guideline is to use first names when dealing with family members and surnames otherwise. ShadowHalo 17:50, 18 February 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Sly, KDIA and Sly's "Buttermilk" song

My recollection is that in the early Sixties Sly Stone was a DJ at KDIA (1310 AM), Oakland, California's soul music station. Sly had an early evening spot that often featured live phone calls from the Bay Area. He good-naturedly accommodated long, extended calls, with sometimes a dozen or so people, taking turns talking on the same call. Each one ended with "Sly, my little (cousin/brother/sister) wants to talk to you!" The callers' voices would sound younger and younger until the 4 year olds were on the line. All this, to the catchy music bed of "Buttermilk," an instrumental that Sly had cut, featuring himself on organ, bass, drums, and harmonica (and electric guitar, too?). Buttermilk is an old-school hangover remedy. The bassline in "Buttermilk" was used in "2120 South Michigan Avenue," an instrumental on the first U.S. Rolling Stones album, "12 x 15." The Stones said in an interview that the title was inspired from the address of a music studio in Chicago but that doesn't determine who used the bassline first.

I don't remember Sly being a KSOL DJ. Since I once was a broadcast engineer and still live in SF I may be able to contact folks who know. The Wiki article on KSOL has a history that doesn't mention the KSOL AM predecessor to the FM KSOL.

DonL 23:17, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How to spell the name?

Quick (and probably rather anal) question (found nothing skimming the article): I've ripped a CD with a track of this band, and the all-capitalized inlay card isn't helpful (also, unlike the article title, it uses an "AND" instead of an ampersand). - How should I name my file?

  • Sly & the Family Stone
  • Sly & The Family Stone
  • Sly and the Family Stone
  • Sly And The Family Stone

Is there an official/preferred/most common variant of the spelling and capitalization, or is it simply a matter of your individual interpretation of context and grammar? Thanks in advance, 84.129.143.207 11:29, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

"Sly & the Family Stone" is the Wikipedia standard (unless the band is explicitly named otherwise, all "So-and-So & the Whatevers" groups are supposed to use the ampersand, according to Wikipedia:WikiProject_Music/MUSTARD#Titles_and_section_headings.

[edit] 2007 appearances?

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/43112-sly-stone-performance-turns-into-tour

[edit] First popular recording with drum machine?

What's the source for this statement? Consider that Dick Hyman's 1968 hit "The Minotaur" used a electronic rhythm box that might well be considered a "drum machine." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.27.224.199 (talk) 18:47, 19 September 2007 (UTC)