Sylvester Stewart, aka Sly Stone, the leader of the legendary band Sly & the Family Stone, is the subject of a new documentary, Sly Lives! (aka The Burden Of Black Genius). The film is directed by Questlove, the ubiquitous drummer of the Roots, who also directed the Oscar and Grammy-winning doc, 2021’s Summer of Soul (…or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). Sly Lives! drops on Hulu on February 13. 

Questlove also runs a publishing company called Auwa Books, which launched in 2023 with Stone’s memoirs, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), in which the mercurial singer/songwriter/producer told his own story. Expect more of the same here, but some of his former Family Stone bandmates, Jerry Martini (saxophone), Larry Graham (bass and vocals), and Greg Errico (drums) have their say as well. There is also interview footage with trumpet player/singer Cynthia Robinson, who passed away in 2015. 

Other people who were interviewed for the film include Clive Davis, Andre 3000, D’Angelo, Vernon Reid of Living Colour, Chaka Khan, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Q-Tip and Nile Rodgers, among others. 

There’s a scene in Sly’s book that takes place in the ‘80s; he’s introducing himself to a woman who has no idea who he is. He names some of his most famous songs; they don’t ring a bell, until he gets to “Hot Fun In The Summertime.” It was kind of a sad moment: Sly & the Family Stone’s music is some of the best you’ll ever hear. It has influenced generations and has been sampled countless times. But he doesn’t have the status of many of his peers. Some of that is his own fault; he has definitely exhibited self-defeating behavior, even by rock star standards (the doc will surely go into that).

Over the years, there have been attempts to get the Family Stone back on the road, sometimes with Sly, but it has never really clicked, which is a shame. And Sly himself is a recluse. There isn’t really anyone promoting their music: hopefully Sly Lives! will remind people of their greatness and maybe even turn on a few new fans. It’s a wild story, involving insane amounts of money, drugs, women, guns and hangers-on, but none of the drama would matter without the music. 

Speaking of the music, if you’re not too familiar, here are some of the band’s best songs. Note that this isn’t a ranking; it’s a chronological tour through the band’s discography.

• “Underdog” from ‘A Whole New Thing’ (1967)

  The first song from the band’s first album. Sly Stone saw this as something of an answer to Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone,” which frequently asks, “How does it feel?” Each verse in “Underdog” starts with Sly singing, “I know how it feels.” As he wrote in his memoirs, he originally wrote it for the San Francisco rock band the Beau Brummels (you might know their hits “Laugh, Laugh” or “Just A Little”). Ultimately, he decided to keep it for his band, which was a smart move.

  He wrote in Thank You, “The underdog was anyone in society who wasn’t getting their due. It was partly about black and white, but it wasn’t limited to that. It was about anyone who was treated unfairly, stared at on the street, kept down, forced out.” So, it appealed to both black and white crowds; the band lived in both worlds, and played both the Harlem Cultural Festival (the topic of the Summer Of Soul documentary) and Woodstock in the summer of 1969. The song wasn’t a hit, but it announced the arrival of a completely unique band with a killer horn section.

  WHO SAMPLED IT: Cypress Hill (in “Real Estate”), Public Enemy (“Fear Of A Black Planet”)

• “Dance To The Music” from ‘Dance To The Music’ (1968)

  In 1967, James Brown announced that he wanted to “give the drummer some” in his classic song “Cold Sweat.” But in 1968, Sly Stone did a bit more than that: on “Dance To The Music,” he also gave the drummer some… as well as the guitarist, the bassist and his horn players. The song was basically about how great his band was, and how they could make you, in fact, dance to their music. Guitarist (and Sly’s little brother) Freddie Stone, bassist Larry Graham, trumpet player Cynthia Robinson, saxophonist Jerry Martini and drummer Gregg Errico all got their time in the spotlight in this three-minute gem.

  One distinctive element of the song is Jerry Martini’s clarinet playing. As he revealed in Sly & The Family Stone: An Oral History (a book which featured the participation of all the members, except for Sly himself), “It was snowing in New York, and if we wanted to get paid by the union, you had to bring an instrument to the session. If a union guy came in, you better have your horn. I was freezing and just wanted to carry my small clarinet [to the studio, instead of the saxophone]. I had already done my horn parts. I was in the back room, just f—ing around with the tune. Sly walked by and called me over.”

  He added, “This is how hits happen. He was smart. He heard something unique and it was the sound of a clarinet. When is the last time you heard of somebody in rock using a clarinet?” He noted that because of this, he then had to bring his clarinet on the road, in addition to his saxophone.

  Despite the tensions that later tore them apart, Sly loved his band. In the liner notes of the Dance To The Music album, he wrote an essay, calling out all of them, including their newest member, his sister Rose, who played electric piano (but wasn’t on the title track). “My association with the Family Stone makes me realize that the worst thing that could happen to me is for something to happen to any member of my group,” he wrote. Sadly, the band only lasted a few years. Gregg Errico left in 1971, and Larry Graham a year later. The band was finished by 1975. But they were great while they lasted.

  WHO SAMPLED IT: The Beastie Boys (“Egg Man”), N.W.A. (“Something 2 Dance 2”), Queen Latifah (“Dance For Me”)

• “Life” from ‘Life’ (1968)

  Unfortunately, this didn’t have the success of the prior hit “Dance To The Music.” “Life” only peaked at #93 on the pop charts. But hey, the pop charts get it wrong a lot. “Life,” which sounds like a psychedelic carnival song, is uplifting and catchy as hell. The song is simple but deep: the band sings, “Life! Life! Tell it like it is: you don’t have to die before you live!”

  Sly’s verse has some foreshadowing: “He’s the only person he has to fear/He’d only let himself get near/He don’t trust nobody.” In just a few years, he’d become much more paranoid as he became a bigger and wealthier star. Larry Graham sings, “You might get angry some times/but don’t let it turn you around.” But anger between Larry and Sly led to the bass player leaving the band in 1972.

  WHO SAMPLED IT: Cypress Hill (“Insane in the Brain”), Beck (“Sissyneck”), Insane Clown Posse (“Carnival of Carnage”)

• “Everyday People” from ‘Stand!’ (1969)

  “Different strokes for different folks” was something that Muhammad Ali said, describing how he catered his fighting style to different opponents. But Sly and the Family Stone popularized the term by using it in this song, and they walked it like they talked (or sang) it. There weren’t many other bands who looked like them. The Family Stone included men and women, and there were Black and white people in the group. They were setting the example for the world they wanted to live in, as they sang in the song, “There is a long hair/That doesn’t like the short hair/For being such a rich one/That will not help the poor one.”

  As Sly wrote in his memoirs, “It was the right time and place for a big leap forward. It was America in 1968, a year where everything happened,” citing examples including the Vietnam War, the murder of Bobby Kennedy, and protests at the Democratic National Convention. “There was no shortage of circumstance. The trick was not to become a victim of it. Being an artist meant more than just traveling through events. It meant channeling them.” “Everyday People” resonated: the song hit #1 on the pop charts and the soul singles chart and became an anthem of acceptance. The song has since been covered by Aretha Franklin, the Staple Singers and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.

  WHO SAMPLED IT: Arrested Development (“People Everyday”)

• “Stand!” from ‘Stand!’ (1969)

  This was a call to action: “Stand: In the end, you’ll still be you/One that’s done all the things you set out to do/Stand: There’s a cross for you to bear/Things to go through if you’re going anywhere/Stand: For the things you know are right/It’s the truth that makes them so uptight.”

  The song was an instant anthem. But it didn’t start out that way: Sly brought an early version of the song to a club and asked the DJ to play it. As he recalled, “It wasn’t producing the necessary effect. I went back to the studio and added in a funky breakdown with me and Freddie and Larry singing ‘Na na na na na na.’ That was a booster engine, and the song took off.”

  WHO SAMPLED IT: Public Enemy (“Who Stole The Soul?”), A Tribe Called Quest (“Rap Promoter”), Ice Cube (“Horny Lil’ Devil”), Kool Moe Dee (“Rise ‘N’ Shine” featuring Chuck D and KRS-One)

• “I Want To Take You Higher” from ‘Stand!’ (1969)

  Some classics are written in minutes, and some take years. This one was inspired by a song by one of Sly’s friends: Billy Preston. Preston’s song “Advice,” was co-written by Sly (it’s on Preston’s 1966 album Wildest Organ In Town!, and is a different song from Sly & the Family Stone’s “Advice,” from their debut album).

  Preston’s song included the lyrics, “I want to take you higher!” Sly & the Family Stone then recorded a song called “Higher” for Dance To The Music, which also had the line “I want to take you higher!”

  But those roads took the band to one of their biggest hits with “I Want To Take You Higher.” As Sly wrote, “Here it was again, new clothes on a stronger body.” Ike & Tina Turner, Kool & the Gang, the Jackson 5 and Duran Duran have all covered the song.

  WHO SAMPLED IT: TLC (“Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg”), De La Soul (“A Roller Skating Jam Named ‘Saturdays’” featuring Q-Tip and Vinia Mojica)

• “Sing A Simple Song” from ‘Stand!’ (1969)

  Sometimes, the simplest songs are the best ones. “Sing A Simple Song” is one of Sly & The Family Stone’s most sampled songs: Tupac, De La Soul, Dr. Dre, TLC and Public Enemy have all sampled the track; meanwhile, it’s been covered by the Supremes, the Jackson 5, the Commodores and Dusty Springfield. Sly wrote that the song “was one of my favorites on the whole record, deep soul with a simple message.”

  WHO SAMPLED IT: Dr Dre & Snoop Doggy Dogg (“Deep Cover”), 2Pac (“Temptations”), KRS-One (“Sound of Da Police)

• “You Can Make It If You Try” from ‘Stand!’ (1969)

  The last song of Stand! It has the optimistic tone that characterizes most of the album (save for “Don’t Call Me N—–, Whitey”). “You Can Make It If you Try” is still relatable, more than fifty years later: “You’ll get what’s due you/Everything coming to you/You got to move/If you want to be ahead.” Technology has changed nearly everything about our lives in the decades since this song was released, but the theme of working hard to get ahead still resonates, even if it wasn’t 100% true then or now.

  WHO SAMPLED IT: Ice Cube (“Wicked,” “True To The Game,” “The Product”), Yo-Yo (“You Can’t Play With My Yo-Yo” featuring Ice Cube), Mobb Deep (“Hit It From The Back”)

• “Hot Fun In The Summertime” from ‘Greatest Hits’ (1970)

  Stand! was the band’s breakthrough and, as is the case with many breakthrough albums, it was difficult to follow up. The spoils of success didn’t help matters either. There was more money, more drugs and more egos taking hold in the band. But Sly & the Family Stone released a few singles to follow up the album; “Hot Fun In The Summertime” was the first of them. The world seemed to be getting darker, but they kept things sunny with this single, which was, as the title hints at, an ode to having fun in the summer. The song climbed to number two on the pop charts.

  WHO SAMPLED IT: Lianne La Havas (“What You Don’t Do”)

• “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” from ‘Greatest Hits’ (1970)

  This was the follow-up single to “Hot Fun In The Summertime.” The sleeve to the 45” said in violet letters, “The Incredible and Unpredictable Sly and the Family Stone.” That’s probably how his record label felt, waiting for him to follow up Stand!

  But they couldn’t complain about the song: it hit number one on both the pop charts and the soul charts. The song celebrated the band’s history up to that point, name-dropping earlier classics “Dance To The Music,” “Everyday People,” “Sing A Simple Song” and “You Can Make It If You Try”; it also featured co-lead vocals from band members Sly, his sister Rose Stone, Freddie, Cynthia Robinson, Jerry Martini, Greg Errico and Larry Graham. Speaking of Graham, his bass playing on this song was earth-shaking and is generally regarded as the birth of “slap bass,” which would go on to define funk and disco music.

  Ironically, Graham never really planned on being a bass player. In Sly & the Family Stone: An Oral History, he revelaed that he was originally a guitar player; he played in a trio with his mother on piano and a friend on drums. At one club that they performed at, there was an organ on stage, and he played the organ’s bass pedals while playing guitar. When that organ broke down, he said, “We missed the bottom.” So he rented a bass guitar.

  At some point, the drummer left. “I would thump the strings to make up for not having a bass drum, and pluck the strings because I didn’t have that snare drum backbeat. And I developed this style, but I didn’t think I was developing anything new. It was just out of necessity. After a while of this… that’s just the way I play.”

  Most bass players didn’t command attention, which wasn’t to Graham’s liking. “Playing lead guitar and singing was kind of out front, where bass players were more in the background… which is cool if that’s where you want to play. But I was never there in my thinking. I was out front singing, playing lead guitar and stuff.” Unsurprisingly, when Graham left, he started his own band, Graham Central Station. He had a massive pop hit with “One In A Million You,” and had some funk classics with “Hair” and “The Jam.” He also went on to join another genius-led band when he started playing bass for Prince in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s.

  WHO SAMPLED IT: Janet Jackson (“Rhythm Nation”), Brandy (“Sittin’ Up In My Room”), Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre (“Thank You”)

• “Everybody Is A Star” from ‘Greatest Hits’ (1970)

  The B-side to “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” it also went to number one on the pop charts. Sly & the Family Stone’s music would get darker on their next album, but this still had the cheery and uplifting vibe of their classic material. The song would be great with just one singer, but it’s even more powerful because everyone is trading vocals here. Everybody literally is a star on this song. There are a few great lines: “You don’t need darkness to do what you think is right.” And of course, the one line everyone wants to hear: “I love you for who you are/Not the one you feel you need to be.”

  WHO SAMPLED IT: The Roots (“Star/Pointro”), Madonna (“Everybody 1994”)

• “Family Affair” from ‘There’s A Riot Goin’ On’ (1971)

  Things started getting dark, and weird, on There’s A Riot Goin’ On. But “Family Affair” seemed to be the last gasp of the classic Sly & the Family Stone vibe. Ironically, the song was not really a “family affair” at all. Things were starting to fray within the band: the song only features Sly singing and playing nearly all of the instruments, and sister Rose on backing vocals. Even Freddie wasn’t on the song. They were accompanied by two of Sly’s pals: Billy Preston on additional keyboards and Bobby Womack on rhythm guitar.

  Sly discussed his vocals in his memoir: “I was downstairs in the house with others, partying, and I realized that I should be upstairs, by myself, making records. I had a drink. I had another one. I went up to the studio… and put down the vocal track. I was the only one in the room, [I was] the engineer and the audience and the performer. My voice was almost gone, so hoarse… but I made it do what I needed it to do. I was thinking not just about the Family Stone but about all families.” But that musical family was growing apart; drummer Greg Errico was gone by the end of the year, Larry Graham would leave the following year.

  WHO SAMPLED IT: Black Eyed Peas (“Weekends”), Ghostface Killah (“Dogs of War” featuring Raekwon, Trife, Cappadonna and Sun God), Janet Jackson (“And On and On”), NSYNC (“I Just Wanna Be With You”)

• “In Time” from ‘Fresh’ (1973)

  Before Fresh, the band’s album covers would show all of the members of the band, or none (as on There’s A Riot Goin’ On). But Fresh featured just a portrait of Sly, which was symbolic. At this point, he was building up the songs by himself, and then adding the other members of the band. Sly has noted that “In Time” is one of his favorite songs, “Funky as hell,” as he wrote in his memoir.

  The song addressed the struggles he was experiencing as he tried to navigate his fame. The song began with him singing, “There’s a mickie in the tasting of disaster/In time you get faster.” He explained in his book, “Fame speeds everything up and you have to speed yourself too or you get left behind.” Sadly, in a few years, pop culture did indeed leave him behind.

  WHO SAMPLED IT: Missy Elliott (“X-tasy”)

• “If You Want Me To Stay” from ‘Fresh’ (1973)

  As with “In Time,” it’s mostly Sly playing everything. He’s accompanied by longtime bandmates Cynthia Robinson on trumpet and Jerry Martini on sax, and newer members Pat Rizzo on sax and Andy Newmark on drums.

  Newmark shines on the album; Stone essentially swiped him from Carly Simon’s band. The drummer showed up at Sly’s place one night, during an intermission during Carly Simon’s set. Sly had him play on a tiny drumset in his room and then told him, “You’re my new drummer.” Sly recalled, “Of all the drummers I had, Andy was the best. I sometimes made fun of the way he talked – suburban voice, suburban accent – but he could keep a motherf—ing beat. And that motherf—ing album [Fresh] had no shortage of them.”

  Twelve years later, a young group called the Red Hot Chili Peppers covered the song on their second album, Freaky Styley, which was produced by Sly’s good friend George Clinton.

  WHO SAMPLED IT: Tha Dogg Pound (“If U Want Me 2 Stay” featuring Snoop Dogg), The D.O.C. (“Comm.2” featuring MC Ren), Dana Dane (“Tales From the Dane Side”)

• “Time For Livin’” from ‘Small Talk’ (1974)

  “Time For Livin’” was one of the highlights of the final album with the Family Stone. Although subsequent albums were credited to the band, after Small Talk, only Sly and Cynthia Robinson remained. Tellingly, the album cover again featured Sly without the rest of the band. But this time, he was photography with his wife Kathleen Silva and their baby, Sly Jr. They were married onstage at Madison Square Garden in June of 1974, but divorced five months later.

  Small Talk is far from the group’s best album, but it does have its fans. The Beastie Boys sampled the song “Loose Booty” for their song “Shadrach.” And they did a very unusual cover of “Time For Livin’”: they sang the lyrics to the song, while playing the music to New York hardcore punk band Frontline’s “Feel Like A King.” It’s a weird cover, that sounds nothing like Sly & the Family Stone but in a way, it really encompasses their spirit of combining all types of music without regard for formats or categories.

  WHO SAMPLED IT: This isn’t one that has been sampled much, but alt rock band the Charlatans covered it in 1995 and did a pretty nice job.

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