SLICE TONES: Sly Stone & His Infinite Influence!

...with 5 Music Players!

SLY STONE has turned 70!
To celebrate, here are Music Players with 4 decades of his disciples!

A music critic once said Soul should be divided into Before Sly and After Sly. In truth, all modern music since 1970 has been influenced by his group.

Here's a music player of The Family Stone's greatest works, followed by 4 Music Players* of 500 artists from all over the spectrum. All are in chronological order.

Music Player Shortcut links:
• 𝟭 SLY & THE FAMILY STONE: 1965-Today
• 𝟮 Sly Stone's influence: 1967-1979
• 𝟯 Sly Stone's influence: 1980-1989
• 𝟰 Sly Stone's influence: 1990-1999
• 𝟱 Sly Stone's influence: 2000-Today

*These are Spotify players. Join up for free here.

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S L Y
A N D
T H E
F A M I L Y
S T O N E

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE,
The Music: 1965-Today
by Tym Stevens

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Sly Stone produced the first records of upcoming garage and psychedelic bands in San Francisco, before joining his peers with the spectacular success of his group, Sly & The Family Stone.

The two architects of Funk are James Brown and Sly Stone. While they shared a tight propulsive rhythm, they were different in every other way.

• James kept a tight groove with Jazz touches, centered on rhythm and horns. Sly brought a freewheeling looseness that included wild Rock and avant Jazz.

• James was perfect process, sharp suits, and lock precision. Sly was power afro, brash bohemia, and happy chaos.

• James was backed by soul brothers. The Family Stone was male and female, maple and peach.

• James had national hits but was strongest within the circuit of black radio and clubs. Sly had international success while playing big festivals, including his legendary triumph at Woodstock.

• James was about the community. Sly was about a family of humanity.

Most Funk bands that followed assimilated James' tight groove with Sly's flair and philosophy.

The Family Stone has two phases: STAND and RIOT. All the music from 1967 leading into 1969's STAND album is sunny, fast, optimistic, inclusive. From 1971's THERE'S A RIOT GOIN' ON onward, the sound turns bluesy, staggered, critical, insular.

They are the two first and most essential Funk albums ever made.

★ Special spotlight should shine on Larry Graham. His invention of 'pluck-n-thump' bass-playing transformed modern music.

First heard on "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" (1970), it turned funky Soul into The Funk, and influenced Yes, Fela, Jaco Pastorius, Bootsy Collins, Gang Of Four, Bill Laswell, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Living Colour, Primus, Antibalas, the "Seinfeld" theme song, and scores more.

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S L Y
S T O N E ' S
I N F L U E N C E

Sly & The Family Stone opened up a world of possibilities that everyone explored.

Whenever you enjoy thump-ass bass, drum machines, vocoders and pitch shifters, funkadelic guitar, stabbing brass, strutting dance, political soul, empowerment anthems, and diversity bands...
say "Thank You" to The Family Stone!

Listen to the following acts and enjoy their influence in rhythm, sounds, philosophy, and fashion.

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S L I C E T O N E S /
SLY STONE's
I N F L U E N C E :
1 9 6 7 - 1 9 7 9

Stevie Wonder; Betty Davis;
David Bowie; Parliament

SLY STONE-esque:
1967-'79
by Tym Stevens
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*(This Player is limited to the first 200 songs.
Hear the unlimited Playlist here.)

Guests include:

Tony Joe White, James Brown, James Gang, Yes, Funkadelic, Chicago, Traffic, Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones, Rita Lee, Deep Purple, Miles Davis, Betty Davis, Frank Zappa, War, Roxy Music, Fat Albert, KC & The Sunshine Band, Mother's Finest, Steely Dan!

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𝟯

S L I C E T O N E S /
SLY STONE's
I N F L U E N C E :
1 9 8 0 - 1 9 8 9

Grace Jones; Tom Tom Club;
Prince; Red Hot Chili Peppers

SLY STONE-esque:
1980-'89
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

Guests include:

Magazine, Gang of Four, Zapp, Material, David Bowie, Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, Prince, INXS, Trouble Funk, fireHOSE, Sly & Robbie, R.E.M., Tackhead, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Lenny Kravitz!

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𝟰

S L I C E T O N E S /
SLY STONE's
I N F L U E N C E :
1 9 9 0 - 1 9 9 9

Lenny Kravitz; Beastie Boys;
Public Enemy; Meshell Ndegeocello

SLY STONE-esque:
1990-'99
by Tym Stevens

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Guests include:

Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Family Stand, Jane's Addiction, Living Colour, Arrested Development, Primal Scream, Joi, Primus, D'Angelo, Mercury Rev, Dag, Meshell Ndegeocello, Los Lobos, Fatboy Slim, OutKast, Ozomatli, Macy Gray, Beck!

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𝟱

S L I C E T O N E S /
SLY STONE's
I N F L U E N C E :
2 0 0 0 - T o d a y

Nikka Costa; Fatboy Slim;
Alice Smith; Cody ChesnuTT

SLY STONE-esque:
2000-Today
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

Guests include:

Nikka Costa, Gorillaz, Barry Adamson, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Gnarls Barkley, The Budos Band, Rhythm King & Her Friends, John Legend, The Roots, Susan Tedeschi, Jill Scott, Jurassic 5, Alice Smith, Cody ChesnuTT, Galactic, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings!

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"Everybody is a star
One big circle going round and round!"


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• FUNK, The True History: The 1960s, with 3 Music Players!

• FUNK, The True History: 1970-1974, with 3 Music Players!


• Sly Stone's "I Want To Take You Higher" And Its Unending Influence!, with Music Player!

• "Everyday People" - Sly Stone > Joan Jett > Arrested Development

• "Sing A Simple Song" - Sly Stone > Jimi Hendrix > James Gang > P-Funk > Chili Peppers > Public Enemy

• "If You Want Me To Stay" - Sly Stone > Bootsy Collins > Red Hot Chili Peppers > Prince > Nikka Costa

• "Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego!" - Funkadelic > Sly Stone > Beastie Boys

• ROCK Orgy: "Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)!"

• "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" - Bill Withers > Diana Ross > Sly Stone > Zapp

• Sly Stone > Prince, with Music Player!


• The Real History of ROCK AND SOUL!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" - Bill Withers > Diana Ross > Sly Stone > Zapp

ROCK Sex doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Let's do both singing along with "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh".

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We humans are crazy so relationships tend to go up and down with our emotions. Bill Withers captures the silly seesaw of our lives with this lesser-known Funk classic.

BILL WITHERS -"The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" (1974)



I tend to favor DIANA ROSS's funkier, sexier solo songs (e.g., "Love Hangover", "Upside Down"), and here she sways back and forth to Bill's song on the Disco floor.

DIANA ROSS -"The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" (1977)



Sly Stone basically invented the entire '70s Funk sound, and everyone followed in his tread. But he often winked at his peers with nods to their songs. Here's an original of his own that bounced off of Bill's song.

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE -"The Same Thing That Makes You Laugh" (1979)

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Sly used voice distortion tricks from 1969 on up, and there's another version of this song with a vocoder vocal that paves the way for Zapp (and the autotune singers of now).

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE -"The Same Thing That Makes You Laugh" (vocoder version) (1979)



Bootsy Collins introduced the vocoder device to Roger while producing this dance floor smash.

ZAPP -"More Bounce To The Ounce" (1980)




© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• FUNK, The True History: 1970-1974, with 3 Music Players!

-SLICE TONES: Sly Stone & His Infinite Influence!, with 5 Music Players


• "Use Me" - Bill Withers > Grace Jones > Jagger/ Kravitz > D'Angelo

• Bill Withers > Me'shell Ndegeocello > Queen Pen


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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