This is really sad. He's homeless, living in a camper in L.A., according to this article that came out today.

What a fabulous talent, and what a waste.

[www.spinner.com]

Yes, very sad. I never appreciated Sly's talent as much as I should have back in the day. He was such a mess and his record label was in despair about it. He could have been much more popular if he'd had some self-discipline.

In last few years I have come to see his songs then as really remarkable.
Very sad when I read the above story this morning. Numerous people have tried to help him but the future doesn't look bright.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-09-26 05:54 by stonesrule.

He might prefer his lifestyle - maybe not but a lot of people with his diagnosis just walk away from society.

I know his history in the bay area before he was famous he worked for autumn records.

Most of my friends and I, seeing the Woodstock movie in 1970, became big fans of Sly based on that performance (as well as the Who, Santana, Ten Years After, and more).

I never went to see him when he came around on tour, but friends of mine who did either came back saying:

A. He never showed up
B. He showed up, but only played about three songs
C. He showed up, but was so stoned it wasn't worth going to the show

I always loved (still love cranking up) his part in the Woodstock movie, and I was always was kind of surprised he did go BIG TIME, like some of the bands at Woodstock did.... It seemed like he had as much, or more, charisma as anybody who played the stage that weekend...

It makes me kind of sad to learn he has fallen on hard times, but I am not worthy to judge him... I only wish Sly the best and hope he is doing what he wants to do... and if that is living like he is, then more power to him.

Thank you Sly for what you gave us musically, BIG thanks for the great songs, you made the world better..... and I hope you know that we could always use some more of your magic, if you ever feel like sharing..... feel free to take us higher

His new album was never going to sell loads but I guess the mostly bad reviews won't help.

Well, Mongoose, my story is this; I went to see him in the summer of 1971 and he showed up.....over 90 minutes LATE, he played a full kick ass set and yes, he was messed up but it didn't impact his performance much if at all. The crowd actually remained pretty subdued. I guess we expected he'd be late! Everything back then was one big love-in, festival atmosphere with enough pot in the air to stone an elephant so mellow was the word of the day.

That article won't load for me right now but hasn't he been homeless for years?

I found another article out today that talks about him being homless like it's a new thing but VH1 found him on the streets in the mid-late 90s. This is not a new development.

He needs to do a small club tour where promoters do not have to put a deposit down on the show and a settlement after show. Only pay for the show after he shows up when scheduled and does at least 60 mins. A small club tour with capacity around 500 and sell tickets in the $40 - $50 range.

There is enough of a curiosity factor that a club outting would do well.

Quote
KeefintheNight82
That article won't load for me right now but hasn't he been homeless for years?

I found another article out today that talks about him being homless like it's a new thing but VH1 found him on the streets in the mid-late 90s. This is not a new development.

here ya go keef
----------------------------------------------
Homeless Sly Stone Living in Camper, Still Recording Music
[www.spinner.com]
Sad news out of today's New York Post: Sly Stone, the mastermind behind the legendary psychedelic soul-funk outfit Sly & the Family Stone, has been reduced to living in a van in Los Angeles, eating meals given to him by a retired couple.

As the Post reports, the musician born Sylvester Stewart has been plagued by drug abuse and bad financial decisions. Back in the '80s, he sold Michael Jackson his publishing rights for $1 million, and last year, he filed a $50 million lawsuit against manager Jerry Goldstein, who he claims cheated him out of two decades of royalty payments. Earlier this year, he was arrested for possession of freebase cocaine.

Since his heyday in the late '60s and early '70s -- when he scored hits with such songs as 'Everyday People' and 'Family Affair' -- Stone has been one of music's most notorious recluses. After a performance in 1987, he disappeared from the public eye, resurfacing 19 years later for a brief, head-scratching cameo at a 2006 Grammy tribute. He toured Europe the following year, but according to the Post, he's now a "disheveled, paranoid" shell of his former self.

On the bright side, Stone has been recording new music, and while he's hesitant to trust managers or record labels, there's still a chance his new songs will see the light of day.

"My music is a format that will encourage you to have a song you won't forget," he told the Post. "That's why I got so much money, that there are so many people around, and that's why I am in court. Millions of dollars!"

"But now please tell everybody, please, to give me a job, play my music," he added. "I'm tired of all this s--t, man."

Thanks.

From my point of view, I don't think this is a case of a sad lost oppretunity. But it's more the reverse. It's amazing that he was able to achieve what he did years ago given his mental condition.

And I do think he has some sort of mental problem other than addiction.

NY Post article
Funk legend Sly Stone homeless and living in a van in LA
By WILLEM ALKEMA and REED TUCKER [www.nypost.com]

In his heyday, he lived at 783 Bel Air Road, a four-bedroom, 5,432-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion that once belonged to John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas.

The Tudor-style house was tricked out in his signature funky black, white and red color scheme. Shag carpet. Tiffany lamps in every room. A round water bed in the master bedroom. There were parties where Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Miles Davis would drop by, where Etta James would break into “At Last” by the bar.

Just four years ago, he resided in a Napa Valley house so large it could only be described as a “compound,” with a vineyard out back and multiple cars in the driveway.

Today, Sly Stone -- one of the greatest figures in soul-music history -- is homeless, his fortune stolen by a lethal combination of excess, substance abuse and financial mismanagement. He lays his head inside a white camper van ironically stamped with the words “Pleasure Way” on the side. The van is parked on a residential street in Crenshaw, the rough Los Angeles neighborhood where “Boyz n the Hood” was set. A retired couple makes sure he eats once a day, and Stone showers at their house. The couple’s son serves as his assistant and driver.

Inside the van, the former mastermind of Sly & the Family Stone, now 68, continues to record music with the help of a laptop computer.

“I like my small camper,” he says, his voice raspy with age and years of hard living. “I just do not want to return to a fixed home. I cannot stand being in one place. I must keep moving.”

Stone has been difficult to pin down for years. In the last two decades, he’s become one of music’s most enigmatic figures, bordering on reclusive. You’d be forgiven for assuming he’s dead. He rarely appears in public, and just getting him in a room requires hours or years of detective work, middlemen and, of course, making peace with the likelihood that he just won’t show up.

There was a time when Sly was difficult to escape. Stone, whose real name is Sylvester Stewart, was one of the most visible, flamboyant figures of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The multiracial, multi-gender band that Stone assembled fused funk, soul and psychedelic rock and became one of the most influential acts ever. The San Fran-based group released a string of hits beginning with the 1968 album “Dance to the Music,” followed by “Everyday People,” “Family Affair,” “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” and “Stand!”

The group’s costumes and showmanship were just as memorable. The members favored giant afros, flashy capes, Beatle boots, neon vests and leopard-print jumpsuits


Stone learned to sing in church as a child. He grew up in a middle-class, Christian household in Vallejo, Calif., and he and three of his siblings sang in a gospel group. As a young man, he studied music at a local junior college and worked as a soul disc jockey at a local radio station. He played in several bands with his brother, Fred, a guitarist.

The lineup of Sly & the Family Stone, which included Fred and sister Vet, solidified in 1966. The band’s energetic live shows, positive lyrics and diverse membership earned it buzz in the Bay Area, and the Family was signed by CBS Records.

Appearances on shows like “Music Scene” and “The Ed Sullivan Show” soon followed, and in the summer of ’69, at the peak of their power, they managed to turn what should have been a snoozy middle-of-the-night slot at Woodstock into one of the highlights of the festival. As the band began to play, tens of thousands of people creeped out of their sleeping bags to watch. They left the stage with the audience still roaring, “Higher!”

And then the inevitable cracks began to appear. Sly moved to Los Angeles while the rest of the band remained in the Bay Area. He started hanging around with unsavory characters. There were whispers of cocaine and PCP abuse, Mafia connections and guns being pulled on people.

Things got dark. Stone started missing rehearsals and even performances. In 1970, he failed to show up at 26 of the band’s 80 gigs and quickly developed a reputation as mercurial.

“There were these people that say I had to pay a $50,000 bond, so if I’m late, they keep the money, right?” Stone says. “It seemed that people saw to it that I was gonna be late, and I get there, and this promoter ran out and started shouting, ‘You gonna be late again? F--k you! We don’t need that s--t, man!’ I’m thinking about music, and the only time when I can play is when I am happy. So I just leave.”

Sly & the Family Stone began to fall apart. Drummer Greg Errico and bassist Larry Graham (who’s credited with creating the much-imitated slap-bass sound) bolted in the early 1970s, and by 1975 the group called it quits.

Drugs took a tighter hold. One night close to Christmas, Stone headed out to buy presents for his young son, Sylvester, whom he had with Kathy Silva, a model he married on stage at Madison Square Garden in 1974.

“I had about $2,500 to spend,” Stone recalls. “By the time I get [to the store], I had spent it all on drugs. Yes, I did. And when I getting close to little Syl’s house, I thought, ‘Oooh, man. I never should have done that.’ When I saw him, I said, ‘I spent your money up on drugs

Over the years, Stone has dropped tens of thousands of dollars on his other hobby: automobiles. In his early days, he drove a Jaguar XKE he painted purple. There were Hummers, a London taxi and a beloved Studebaker, which Stone asked to have painted in exchange for this interview. (The Post declined.) A few years ago, he would cruise around LA on a bright-yellow, custom three-wheel chopper. He was known to give cars to friends.

By 1980, the group’s popularity had declined enormously from its heyday. Stone appeared on an episode of “The Mike Douglas Show” and promised, “I’m going to do one more album real quick, and if it’s not instantly platinum, bye-bye.” Sly & the Family Stone’s 10th and final album, 1982’s “Ain’t But the One Way,” flopped.

Stone kept his word and mostly vanished. He was arrested a few times in the 1980s for cocaine possession and performed sporadically, but his days of sold-out shows and magazine covers were gone. A 1987 performance would prove to be his last for 19 years.

He finally reappeared during a 2006 Grammy tribute, shuffling on stage, his posture hunched and his neck bent as a result of a fall he suffered at his home. He arrived midway through a medley of his classic hits, played the keyboard and sang for a few bars, waved, then inexplicably left the stage before the song concluded.

Today, Sly is disheveled, paranoid -- the FBI is after him; his enemies have hired hit men. He refuses to let The Post into his camper, but, ever the showman, poses flamboyantly with a silver military helmet and a Taser in front of his Studebaker.





The singer claims his money troubles escalated in 2009, when his royalty payments stopped flowing after Stone accused his manager, Jerry Goldstein, of fraud. Stone says he was tricked into signing a rotten contract with Goldstein in 1989, giving the manager control of his finances in exchange for a weekly paycheck.

Last year, Stone sued Goldstein for $50 million, alleging fraud and 20 years of stolen royalty payments. (Contributing to the singer’s dire financial situation, he foolishly sold his valuable music-publishing rights to Michael Jackson for a reported $1 million in 1984.)

Goldstein did not return calls seeking comment.

The performer’s cash-flow problems forced him out of his Napa Valley house that he rented with money from a 2007 European tour and into cheap hotels and the van in 2009. Stone hopes to soon put the lawsuit and his other woes behind him.

“My music is a format that will encourage you to have a song you won’t forget. That’s why I got so much money, that there are so many people around, and that’s why I am in court. Millions of dollars!” Stone says. “But now please tell everybody, please, to give me a job, play my music. I’m tired of all this s--t, man.”

Earlier this year, Stone released an album of his hits re-recorded with other artists. Stone has new songs, but he no longer trusts record companies or managers and is wary about making a deal to release another album. He works constantly on new music, often staying up for two days straight, then sleeping for the next two. (In a nice piece of symmetry, some of his 1971 album, “There’s a Riot Goin’ On,” was recorded in a Winnebago.) He has hundreds of new tracks recorded in his van that he keeps for himself. For now, at least.

“But, with new energy, it will feel good to step on stage,” he says. “I see all the guys playing those old songs. Let these guys know, like Lady Gaga, let me come in, just let me come in and pay me if you like it.”

William Alkema is the director of the Sly & the Family Stone documentary, “Dance to the Music,” to be re-released this year.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-09-27 01:37 by Max'sKansasCity.

Goldstein is and always has been very bad news.

Howdy

Yep - this is a sad state of affairs, i read a really long interview a longtime fan had a few years ago in one of the british music mags - he was recording then on his laptop and spoke of loads of new songs, playin a few bits an peices to the interviewer

Think it was around the time he was just starting his manager courtcase

Hopefully you'd like to think that he'll end up well, fit and able to live comfy soon - things like life and choices can mess this up though for sure

On a GREAT note tho, Has anyone listened to the 3 NEW Tracks on the album though?

check out the link below for one





Best one is defo 'Get Away' has the There's a riot goin on drum machine an vibe - sounds wicked (except the sterile muzack saxo bit ahem..)

Get Away
Plain Jane
His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Thanks for the post, links , songs

imuho Sly should not be overly concerned with putting a lot of new music, people wanna hear him sing Stand, everyday people, dance to the music, take you higher, Hot fun in the summer time, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)... and all of his other good ole songs... the hard part is done, play your existing songs Sly...

Sly,
go do what Joan Jett does... Joan is not putting out a ton of new music but she makes a good living playing live, and people love hearing great songs.

Sure.... keep recording, record some new stuff, but when you are out there, you know people will want to hear the old stuff, come on man, dont make it harder than it is... as trainarollin said above, one can make a lot of money playing 500-3000 seat halls for $30-$50 a ticket.... and some nuts will even pay $300.00-$500.00 to meet and greet you (not me, your breath stinks....JK

Rock and Roill never forgets Sly...
Look at Bob Seger... he is rolling in dough playing live these days.

Sly,
You might consider getting a "life coach", someone to help you keep on keeping on, someone to help you get to gigs on time, help you stay the course, help you keep away the demons and fight them when they come.... someone to help you not party too much to make gigs... just help you get/keep the whole thing rolling forward... CHA-CHING, make that cash register ring.

Good luck Sly, you can do it man... take us higher.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-09-27 04:11 by Max'sKansasCity.

I've read a few posts here talking about his mental condition or his diagnosis. What does this refer to exactly? I haven't really read a lot about Sly and don't know about his life.
'There's A Riot Goin' On' is one of the greatest records ever.

The man is a genius. He's also one of the greatest tragedies in music. I always found it poignant that his music, lyrics exude such positive energy, such joy, passion and empowerment...like some spaced-out pied piper.
and yet his personal demons were so great.

CRANK IT UP!!



so cool, so funky... gotta love this guy...









Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2011-09-27 06:12 by Max'sKansasCity.

Sad story. The man was the link between James Brown and Prince.

Few artists ever laid it out as raw as this, deconstructing and slowing down one of their biggest hits transforming it into a opiate-laced junkie dirge. Maybe I'm weird but I've always preferred this version.