Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)

A current documentary airing on Hulu from Oscar winner Questlove. Following the rise & eventual fall of Sylvester Stewart (Sly) & his band, we get a hallucinatory ascent of a mixed raced band who wowed audiences at Woodstock w/their mixture of rock & R & B which carried over to their many appearances on television at the time. Of course, one's demons reared its ugly head for Sly as his upward success came hand in hand w/his increasing drug use which by the time the late 70's rolled around the band were soon relegated to the past their prime heap but w/Questlove's expertise w/archival footage & interviews as well as modern takes on the band's output & influence from current songsmiths (Andre 3000 from Outkast, D'Angelo, Q-tip from A Tribe Called Quest) who put Sly & the Family Stone's music into righteous perspective.

This is fine and will do the job as placeholder. It's in the standard format of blending clips, stills, archive footage, with contamporaries being interviewed, to take us through a famous life, the ups and downs and perhaps lessons involved.

Here it's Sly Stone, who oould have been a Prince of sorts. Theatric, multifaceted, but it was the civil rights years, and his creative life mirrors that trajectory; ebullient hope to transcend boundaries, to bitterly dashed dreams.

One lesson, and it's generally offered, is that there was no scaffold, blueprint, on which to know what to do build next, how to play the role of superstar. He, along with everybody else, had to make it up as they went along. Another talking point here is 'black' genius, the particular tolls of it in a world where boundaries are drawn starkly against you.

There may be parallels with someone like Brian Wilson; 'genius' in being able to perceive music as visual world, as shared streets you explore, but limited in the means, work, and focused commitment required to consistently bring it to life.

At least his Riot album is as important as anything from the time, a dissonant extended improvisation on previous fabric of soul music, and that as mirroring a dissonant collapsing America. It's probably a cornerstone for all black music that followed.

My own takeaway is of a man who in terms of vision was second to none of the greats of the era; adept at improvising self, savvy enough to be able to see the larger fabric.

But there's no real stage for him to move to, fails to transcend, and probably had plenty of reasons against him. The drugs were probably ways to dissociate, make believe he was what he couldn't summon. So he periodically returns as caricature of himself, clowning it for the camera, unsure how to be the next version of himself.

Meanwhile, just as he was cratering, Bronx and Harlem youths were rediscovering him in record stores, and were about to speak once more about what he used to; the world of stark limits, and yet somehow joyful dance, ironically cruising through cracks. Interestingly, the new music, hip hop, would eschew the whole band format, and pare it down to narrator and rousing, sometimes soulful breaks that suggest world.

Sly stone was a genius, a tremendous success from 1968-1972, and a pioneer of multiracial rock funk & pop.

His greatest hits lp is beyond great.

Unfortunately his career was derailed by drugs booze and not showing up for live gigs, destroying the band and ultimately Sly himself. Ironically, sly worked very hard for ten years to attain his success by showing up on time and being there. His unraveling remains one of the mercurial questions of rock history.

That he was an all time great, there is little question. Sly and the Family Stone were inducted into the rock n roll HOF in 1993.

Sly is still living. He should be touring like Dylan, but he chooses not to. He remains an enigma within a riddle.

This fascinating look into the musical career of Sly Stone. The genius gets overused, but it should be applied to Stone, a DJ, arranger, producer, songwriter, and performer. His Family Stone is one of the few projects that was wildly inventive and insanely catchy. And the reification of a specific social ideal of unity that transcended pablum. Yet, the pressure of success, the increasing availability of drugs, and the special burden placed on Black artists (too successful - you're not legit, not successful enough - you out) led to Sly becoming a parody of himself. While the film doesn't shy away from the downside, there is more disturbing material that could have been included. Those stories have been told, and it is time to focus on a particular moment in music history that was defined by Sly.

With the recent passing of Sly Stone this lively and engaging documentary is a celebratory tribute to a unique and outstanding talent whose fantastic and profound musical legacy resonates undiminished with time. Produced by The Roots' drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson this hour and a half long jam is as funky as it is revelatory.

Kickstarting with Sly's roots in Texas and his formative years at the San Francisco Bay Area the film let's it all out with a streaming display of images and music as active and as festive as one of the great man's tracks. Starting out with a musical family Sly became a fixture in the SF music scene as a DJ and producer, honing his craft and gaining advantage as an open-minded color blind auteur in a highly segregated America, immersing himself with both black and white influences and benefitting from both. Forming a band of his own to fully bring out his budding musical gifts already in display, The Family Stone had IT from the get go. The musical collective of men and women and black and white had a simpatico chemistry that gelled perfectly to realize Sly's musical vision in sheer auditory bliss. A breathtaking soundstew of Funk, Soul, Rock, Psychedelia, Pop and R&B, no one had heard anything like it. After initial setbacks the band hit the big time and there was no turning back. One of the few genuine crossover artists to capture both the black and white listening world, Sly brought people of various races, cultures and classes together in a time of social and global turbulence. At the height of his fame when he was the perfect figurehead and symbol of a seemingly new era with hit albums, hit singles, television and print appearances and sold out concerts to signify his status the buoyant realism of his music gave way to the dark, withdrawn and isolated sound which perfectly symbolized his well-known descent into drugs leading to future troubles. Late appearances at concerts eventually leading to no attendances at all, departing band members, isolation and the erosion of his talent and relevance led the once shining star into becoming one of the great tragedies of music.

With priceless images and footage to front a rocking soundtrack this party-vibe doc is enhanced by honest and articulate interviews of Sly's family, bandmates, associates and by musical lights influenced by the man as they honestly convey Sly's impact on them. Musical legends like George Clinton, Nile Rodgers, Chaka Khan, Vernon Reid, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis together with stars of contemporary black music like Andre 3000, D'Angelo and Q-Tip interestingly relate how the music had a deep impact on them inspiring them to create their own lasting legacies.

When I found out Questlove was emceeing this I immediately had my reservations. Judging from his music and his attitude he seems one of those with personal issues that stain his persona and his work. Sure enough here he doesn't disappoint. There's an awkward and cringe-inducing scene where he brings race into the discussion in an interview with D'Angelo and one can see with his reaction he doesn't take too kindly with Q-love's irrelevant and embarrassing take on a subject who embodied the unity of styles, attitudes, cultures and races. The lack of white musical artists who could have been interviewed is telling. "The Burden of Black Genius"? While there's no question that blacks have their own distinct experience with history and how it gave them generally a different perspective from other races, Questlove seems to conveniently bypass the reality and the price of fame to anyone victimized by the onslaught of human adulation and fickleness. Jim Morrison? Janis Joplin? Syd Barrett? Ian Curtis? Kurt Cobain? Perhaps the weight of genius' burden weighs more on whites if we were to bring out the weighing scale to complement Amir's racial hierarchy of woes.

An all-out feast for the senses jamming in direct no frills non-stop action, this in the pocket release is a jubilant and sober memorial to one of the greatest and most innovative musical artists of the 20th Century whose talent and vision magnified and heightened the artistry and power of song. I still remember hearing "Stand!" for the first time and it was a musical revelation the likes of which very rarely comes in one's lifetime. The sheer quality of the music with the various voices both male and female seamlessly outpouring their souls individually or in unison and the different styles blending together in one riveting and awe-inspiring song after song epiphany in sound is one I'll never forget and made me fully realize the heights and peaks music can fully accomplish and achieve. See this.