Sly & the Family Stone: An Oral History

by Joel Selvin

Their music changed pop history, but we’ve never known much about the people who made it…until now.

“...a first-hand account of both the kaleidoscopic talent that drove Stone to the top and attracted so many people to him, and the madness that he soon descended into and never truly returned from, a victim of ego, drug abuse sycophants and the era.... It amounts to a definitive history of one of the rock generation’s greatest and most tragic artists.” —Jem Aswad, Variety, “The Best Music Books of 2022”

“…the musical trajectory of Sly & The Family Stone, and especially its namesake and leader, Sly Stone (born Sylvester Stewart), makes even the most shocking episode of Behind the Music look like Nickelodeon programming. Esteemed music journo Joel Selvin chronicles the good, the bad, the ugly (and the really ugly), in a new reissue of his 1998 book, Sly & The Family Stone: An Oral History.” —Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press

Sly Stone shook the foundations of soul and turned it into a brand new sound that influenced and liberated musicians as varied as Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, and Herbie Hancock. His group—consisting of Blacks and whites, men and women—symbolized the Woodstock generation and crossed over to dominate pop charts with anthems like “Everyday People,” “Dance to the Music,” and “I Want to Take You Higher.”

Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Joel Selvin weaves an epic American tale from the voices of the people around this funk phenomenon: Sly’s parents, his family members and band members (sometimes one and the same), and rock figures including Grace Slick, Sal Valentino, Bobby Womack, Mickey Hart, Clive Davis, Bobby Freeman, and many more. In their own words, they candidly share the triumphs and tragedies of one of the most influential musical groups ever formed—“different strokes” from the immensely talented folks who were there when it all happened.

“Joel Selvin, the veteran music critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, published a thoroughgoing, book-length oral history of the group in 1998 that is as disturbing and chilling a version as you'll ever find of the ‘dashed ’60s dream’ narrative: idealism giving way to disillusionment, soft drugs giving way to hard, ferment to rot.” —David Kamp, “Sly Stone’s Higher Power” Vanity Fair, August 2007

Available for the first time in years, Sly & the Family Stone: An Oral History, is an unflinching look at the rise and fall one of music’s most enigmatic figures.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1998

About the author

San Francisco Chronicle pop music critic Joel Selvin started covering rock shows for the paper shortly after the end of the Civil War. His writing has appeared in a surprising number of other publications that you would think should have known better.

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my review here: https://open.substack.com/pub/tosh/p/...

[Patrick Macke · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you dig Sly and the Family Stone and wanted to learn more about the music and the back story and the career arc, this book wouldn't help you ... There's no narrative here, no beginning and end, just a series of quotes, loosely strung together, from people that are hard to keep straight ... The author calls these attributed words "voices" and they paint a jumbled, murky picture with the only thing clear being that none of these "voices" comes from Sylvester Stewart himself ... Don't expect any joy here, don't expect any insights about songs, gigs and music

[Ralph Confredo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sly has always been an enigmatic character in music. As someone for whom his early music provided so much energy and positivity, watching his career spiral downward with accusations of extreme drug use and criminality while not knowing the details or the reasons for that descent, I found this book to be the most revealing of the ones devoted to Sly and the band. Surprisingly unpleasant and unseemly, it's clear from the book that Sly paid for his choices dearly. A revealing, unvarnished and unfortunate story.

[Rhuddem Gwelin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let it be known that I love Sly and the Family Stone - the music. I am saddened by the death of 82-year-old Sly.
This book is a massive disappointment. A bunch of interviews with people around Sly over the years. Mostly, 'And then we had a gig there' and 'And then we all got into drugs,' and 'Sly did like his sister', and 'Then he was with her and she was with him and Sly had kids with....'
I skimmed most of it. What I learned is that Sly wasn't a happy person, but a little more depth would have been nice. We already knew he was a musical genious.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing book.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is valuable for its insights into what life was like for the members of the band. As a fan, I would have appreciated some more discussion of the music itself and what was special about it.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbing trip from 60's sunshine to the heart of 70's darkness. Great musician, awful human being.