Sly Stone Chronology

Part V

Fresh

19YYMMDD *:audio #:video

711206&07 Music Hall, Boston, MA [supported by Genya Ravan & Baby]

“Capacity 4000 hear Sly, Family Stone”
by Michael Nickolson
Globe Correspondent
Once upon a time, a certain leader of a certain big-name rock group didn’t show up or was late with legendary regularity. It was not a hype when he was billed as “unpredictable.” The jury’s still out on his performance last night at the Mib Music Hall, but Sly and the rest of the Family Stone did make it, and only a little behind schedule.
Genya Ravan (late of Ten Wheel Drive) and her new group, Baby, opened the evening in explosive style. Their standout number, “Oh Yeah,” burst upon an audience that came only to hear Sly, and made that audience listen. On record, Genya had been disappointment, her magnificent voice held back for some unfathomable reason. But in person, both in tone and vocal strength, she comes across sounding almost as good as Aretha Franklin, which is about as good as you can get.
She did “Stay With Me, Baby,” “Corinna,” and “I Can’t Stand It,” and it looks like she has the right back-up in Baby, a six-piece band.
After a short intermission, the near capacity crowd of more than 4000 was ready for Sly. What they got was a group whose name I didn’t hear, lost in a sea of “we want Sly. we want Sly,” who played for about an half hour. They tried hard against waves of audience hostility, and even got applause for the drum solo in their closing number.
It was after 10 when the various Family Stones wandered on stage, resplendent in flashy costumes, all various interpretations of a red, black , and white color scheme. Then came Sly, the flashiest of flashes, the coolest of cools.
In the middle of “Thank You–M’Lady” medley, Sly quickly got the rent-a-cops under his control, “Hey, man. All these people came here for a good time, not to cause no trouble. Please leave them alone” before swinging into “Sing a Simple Song.! Most of Sly’s material drags as he repeats the simple riffs over and over, but when they start playing for real, songs like “Stand” and “You Can Make It If You Try” come off well. Ol’ Sly still hasn’t changed. (The Boston Globe, MA 711207)

711208 MSG, NYC, NY [Originally scheduled for 711217. Special guest star Genya Ravan plus The Quin Aimes Band.]

“I remember seeing SATFS at MSG performing “Babies Makin’ Babies” and Larry was still in the group. I remember they had a SERIOUS funky and there were no lyrics other than “Babies Makin’ Babies”.” (Edde Lanier) [711208? 721123?24?] (https://www.facebook.com/groups/SlyFriends)

711210 Cherry Hill Arena, Cherry Hill, NJ [supported by Genya Ravan & Baby]

711211 Auditorium, Bangor, ME [711112: The show of Faces with Rod Stewart, supported by Cactus, on 711211 was canceled, and SATFS agreed to perform. 4 were fined for crashing gate.]

711216 Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI [“Thank You for Talkin’ to Me Africa”. Supported by Ruth Copeland.]

“I was at this concert too! A very exciting performance!” (Linda Emery)(https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10209711471980617&set=gm.10159884794623007)

“Sly dashes through Detroit”
By JOHN LAYCOCK
Sly and the Family Stone came to Detroit for one hour Thursday night.
They were in the city for longer, sure, but their show at Olympia lasted almost precisely an hour.
Sly led his mini-carnival through a set of their greatest hits, laid back to back with barely a pause. Little wonder that the audience ー less than 10,000, I estimate ー was hollering for more after the exhausting blast of Sly Stone’s special euphoria.
They shouted in vain. The lights stayed on and the equipment men started packing up. Sly had lifted the crowd higher and higher, but he wasn’t going to help them come down. When they realized he couldn’t be coaxed back, there were plenty of boos.
For once it wasn’t just greed. Sly had promised to play as long as possible; he barely filles minimum requirements. Wind him up, he does his routine, but no more.
Mind you, he did it well, with the intensity of the old Sly. And at least he did it at all. Constant cancellations, late arrivals, and general unreliability had earned Sly leprosy status. Detroit knows ー three shows in a row were cancelled at the last minute last year, at least two of them his fault. This time the Olympia required the promoters to post a $10,000 guarantee he would show.
Show he did. One song he sang was You Can Make It If You Try. It could be Sly’s theme right now, because he appears, at long last, to be trying.
The old excitement, the Nazi-youth-rally fervor, was back again ー while he was performing.
And he worked as hard as any rock performer could ー for that hour. He practically summarized the group’s career, from Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself through M’Lady, through Dance To The Music, through Music Lovers, and the rest. Adrenalin flowed, the music chugged irresistably with all the smoothness of a hundred-car freight train as Sly coupled the songs with that jouncy beat and heavy bass and wrap-around voice.
Yet he’d done it all before, not just once but many times. I think it was almost the same show as last year at Cobo Hall, though with far more energy. For that matter, it seemed very colse to what I saw him do 2 1/2 years ago.
Yet the man has a new album out, his first new material in a couple of years. He played not one song from the new album, not one unless you include the more sinuous version of Thank You that appears on it under the title Thank You For Talkin’ To Me Africa.
No matter how much he sweated, it’s cheating to merely exploit old memories without any indication of what’s been happening since.
Quite a bit has, to judge by the album, which is titled There’s A Riot Goin’ On (on Epic). It’s a strange record, a departure from Sly’s narrow if not quite straight path. The music has a playfullness, as if Paul McCartney had gone to work with James Brown. And the lyrics ramble in strange corridors. I don’t know if Sly has opened the doors yet. The concert certainly gave no idea.
If Sly worked hard, so did the audience. The show started his ritual hour late, and began with nearly an hour of Ruth Copeland’s unimpressive singing. Strange that her band can steamroller heavy rock better than she can.
The half-hour intermission wasn’t needed for equipment changes, but was taken anyhow. Lights went off for 10 minutes; once Sly arrived they kept flickering on and off. Rosa was missing, replaced by Copeland. Sly would appeal for calm, then sing Stand and the aisles would be full of dancers annoying the security guards.
Chaos adds to the illicit appeal of Sly the lone ranger. But I’m wondering about the silver bullets….. (The Windsor Star, Ontario 711217)

“Sly Stone Put Up the Bond, And Detroit Got a Concert”
BY JOHN WEISMAN
Free Press Rock Clinic
After the hassle of putting up a $10.000 performance bond, and then paying off an old hotel bill so that Detroit bailiffs wouldn’t impound the group’s instruments, Sly and The Family Stone’s concert at Olympia Thursday night might seem a bit of an anti-climax.
It wasn’t.
THE OPENING act was Ruth Copeland, who has toured with Sly for almost a year now.
Ruth is a shouting good-time rock and roll singer whose roots, at the moment, seem to be embedded in the blues. Her set was adequate, but uninspired, possibly a reaction to the crowd of roughly 7,000 which was waiting impatiently for Sly’s appearance.
It was after 10:30 by the time he got on stage, dressed in red, his immense Afro wider than his thin, almost toothpick frame.
Sly’s portion of the concert, which ran under an hour unfortunately, was made up for the most part of old favorites.
It took not more than 10 minutes for the band to bring the crowd to its feet, where most of it remained for the rest of the concert.
“JUST HAVE FUN,” said Sly from the stage. “You all do what the heil you pleaseーsit or stand or dance, it don’t matter to us.”
And by the time he rolled into his final number, “Dance to the Music,” the crowd was moving in time to the rhythms, surging into the red barricades in front of the stage.
Sly was shouting “Dance to the Music,” and Ruth Copeland was wailing behind him when one of the barricades was seemingly levitated, and, in a quick flashing of batons, the guards retaliated.
Houselights went on. “You go’an have to maintain yourselves.” Sly said, somewhat contradicting his earlier statements.
“There’s no need to put a hickey on anybody’s head.”
Musically, the evening was all right. Nothing inspired, but not a downer either. One’s greatest regret is that Sly didn’t stick around longerーthe shortness of his set didn’t help what was already a restless crowd. (Detroit Free Press 711218)

711217 Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, OH [supported by a local group Balderdash, who replaced Ruth Copeland] 

CINCINNATI Sly and the Family Stone rocked it to an estimated 6,000 payees at Cincinnati Gardens Friday (17) at a $5.50 top. Balderdash, a local group, served the warm-up, substituting for a combo stranded above the Cincinnati airport. (source?)

“Sly Makes Basic Music At Gardens”
by ROB COOK
Written For The Enquirer
Sly and the Family Stone are truthful. That is probably the main reason why they are so popular.
They are one of the few black rock groups that have not sold out to white musical tradition. They are primitive without being wild.
Sly, the lead singer of the group, may look unfamiliar in his black shirt with bird-like fringe. But his performance Friday night at Cincinnati Gardens, he came across basic, and honest.
There are no fancy guitar runs. There are no frenzied gyrations.
He plays his guitar almost calmly.
But the music speak clearly about people working together, and about personal freedom. The performance Friday was not inspired, but it was good basic Sly and the Family Stone, and as I said, being basic is what their music is about.
The evening began with a local rock band, Balderdash, substituting for an act stranded above the Cincinnati airport.
Balderdash follows in the rich tradition of bands like Grand Funk Railroad, which means they were loud, loud, and loud. Their finale sounded incredibly like a railroad train colliding with a diesel truck loaded with chickens.
After a brief wait the seven musicians in the lead act appeared on the stage in red spotlights. The audience literally cheered for them.
THE FIRST SONG could hardly be called a blockbuster, but it had the familiar S and FS beat. And it didn’t mess around.
The group was three electric guitars, trumpet, organ, saxophone and drums. As they sing, all members dance from side to side almost as a tribe.
You couldn’t call them sophisticated. Their music retains the amateurish carelessness that had when the group was first formed. But in a way, that is what makes them appealing. They don’t try to lay anything on the audience ー a cause or a message, or a philosophy.
What they have to talk about is joy, and the appreciation of life, and the possibilities of people achieving things together. Nothing in particular, just general hopefulness.
And they don’t assault you with that. Their music is loud. In fact, too loud. But is not whining or searing.
It would have been nice if Sly and the Family Stone could have tried a little harder for the concert. Cincinnati Gardens was over half filled with teen-agers, both black and white who turned out to hear them.
But I don’t think anyone went away terribly disappointed. Sly came and played honestly and that was enough. (The Cincinnati Enquirer 711218)

“Sly Stone family brings restless crowd to feet”
by Tom Scheidt
Journal Merald Spaciel Writer
Sly Stone and his musical family had a cool December crowd to warm at Cincinnati Gardens Friday.
The evening began with the disappointing announcement that the electrifying Ruth Copeland would not appear and that Balderdash, a local hard rock group, would perform in her place.
This announcement was met with a hearty round of indifference from the crowd.
Ruth may be unknown in these parts but she would have been better than the monotonous babbling of Balderdash.
The band exhibited excellent individual talent but failed miserably as a group. It’s best performance of the night was its announcement, “This is our last song.”
DURING an hour long medley of the Family’s hits, past and present, the unresponsive but restless audience finally came to life with the opening bars of “Sing a Simple Song.” And when the San Francisco group played “Stand”, the crowd took it literally by rising to its feet and mobbing the stage.
The situation was tense as individuals began grabbing for Sly and knocking over speakers and microphones, but the casual Sly kept his head, which prevented the frenzy of the fans from boiling over as has happened at other Sly and the Family Stone concerts.
THROUGHOUT the concert, the band lacked instruments proficiency, especially Sly, who used his organ and guitar as security blanket.
A chord here and a note there was all that could be heard from the superstar.
The Family Stone’s overall sound was disorganized, and at times confusing, but was saved by Sly’s superb stage presence and the unending rhythmical drive of the bass and drums.
The zenith of the show was reached with the number “I Want to Take You Higher.” With raised, clenched fists, the audience chanted the chorus under the direction of the almighty Sly.
After the concert, Jules Belkin of Belkin Productions said Sly and the Family Stone will be in Dayton at Hara Arena next month. (Dayton Journal Herald 711220)

“Sly Stone Concert Cold”
by MIKE KELLY
Journal-News Contributor
The Cincinnati Gardens is no place to have musical shows.
The sound that finally tickles your auditory sensors is pure, unadulterated noise. Echoes of echoes and indiscernible feedback are just two of the auditorial joys you will experience listening to a group at the gardens.
Ruth Copeland was to open the show. Unfortunately her plane was circling Detroit Metro Airport at a concert time. Balderdash a Cincinnati group, kicked out the jams in place of Ruth.
If you can imagine standing underneath an humongous church bell, while it is tolling, then you can readily appreciate where Balderdash music is at.
Their improvisations were too structured and repititiously boring. It must be a musical misconception among three piece groups that volume makes a nice fill.
The most, effective way to use back-up group is to have their music in some way relate to the headline act. Such as Tina and Ike Turner, and the Stones, or Livingston Taylor and Poco.
Back-up’s are on the bill to psyche the audience for the big group. Balderdash was out of place.
Sly came on with as much energy as a dead weasel. The group has obviously progressed musically but they have lost the excitement which used to be their trademark.
The family waded through all their classics like “Sing a Simple Song” and “Higher”, but they just didn’t seem to feel it.
The Sha-dunk-dunk-thwak beat was still as demanding as ever and I found myself dancing around listening and watching from different angles.
After Sly had left the stage it was obvious that a planned encore was in the making. The crowd, however, failed to bring him back with its feeble and sporadic applause.
The people stood on their chairs hoping for Sly, to take them ever higher, but Sly has slowed down and we can only hope that he rediscovers the vivacity that once was Sly and The Family Stone.(Hamilton Journal News 711221)

711218&19 Symphony Hall, Newark, NJ

720107 Civic Center Coliseum, Roanoke, VA [On time, 45 min. show. Supported by Jo Jo Gunne.]

“Sly and Family Stone
On Time, Leave Early”
By JOE KENNEDY
Times Staff Writer
Sylvester Stewart, better known as Sly Stone, failed to live up to his reputation as a late comer to his concerts by showing up in reasonable time Friday night at the Roanoke Civic Center Coliseum.
But he more than made up for his punctuality by departing the half-filled arena in mid-performance.
His unannounced exit at first was ignored by the audience, which apparently assumed he would return. Not until the Family Stone began “I Want to Take You Higher,” their show-stopper from the Woodstock Festival, did the crowd sense that the star had retired for the night.
The sudden diminishment of hand clapping and general pandemonium prompted one band member to say, “Come on and help out. Sly would like to sing but he’s kinda sick.”
When the song was over, the band too retired for the night, leaving the onlookers staring in disbelief.
“What is this?” some shouted, while others begged for “More!”
But the lights went up, scuffle broke out in front of the stage, the police removed a jostling fan, and the crowd headed for the exits.
In all, the feature attraction occupied the stage for about an hour, and performed seven songs, the last three without Stewart.
Post-performance comments included, “Well, they’re superstars, they don’t have to put out,” and “He couldn’t help it, man, he was sick.”
But everyone seemed to agree with the girl who lamented, “He didn’t even sing ‘Family affair’,” the group’s latest hit.
Earlier a new group, “Jo Jo Gunne” sought to impress the predominately booted crowd with a set of seven numbers.
The piano-playing lead singer, reminiscent of Edgar Winter and Jerry Lee Lewis, dominated the performance with a variety of gestures ranging from microphone stunts a la Mich Jagger to Fats Domino foot stomps.
He somehow resisted the temptation to adopt Little Richard’s classic leg-on keyboard stance.
Although physically he was a hybrid of many performers, vocally he was distintly ー and unfortunately ー himself.
Applause for the group nearly matched that garnered by the coliseum lights as they dimmed at the start of the show. (The Roanoke Times 720108)

“Sly’s ‘Riot’ A Comeback Bid”
by JIM COCHRUN
Teen Star Reporter
For the last two years Sly and the Family Stone have been absent from the music scene. They now seem to be trying desperately to regain their lost recognition with their new album release “There’s A Riot Goin’ On.”
There are many reasons why Sly and his family dropped from stardom. The main reason is Sly’s famous performance record. Sly has been labeled as rock’s most unpredictable musician.
IN 1970 HE canceled 26 of his 80 shows, and for those he did show up at, he was late eight times. His failure to show up on time at Chicago last year was labeled the cause of a violent riot that broke out.
So far this year [1971] he has canceled 12 of his 40 shows. Sly suddenly found himself in the spot where no rock promoter in the country would handle him.
Other reasons for his two-year slump could be personal problems, his musicians, the loss of all money he had made, and a $250,000 lawsuit. But he was given a chance to come back when he was booked for Madison Square Garden.
Their appearance at New York was called a huge success and they broke attendance records for the Garden. They were booked for three consecutive nights and like the Sly of old, he showed up late twice.
The concerts were supposed to be such a huge success that 30 more are being planned across the country. They may have retained the ability to perform live, but their latest try at an album leaves something to be desired.
The album “There’s A Riot Goin’ On” probably will sell, because it’s been a long time coming. The album itself is anything but good, and it sounds unnatural, which is understandable. The conditions it was recorded under were unnatural.
THEIR BACK PAY and royalties were being held until the family “produced.” The record is dull and unimaginative, and sounds as though it was forced. The vocals are rough and sloppy.
Although the record will not go down in history as a musical masterpiece, it has to be considered a success by Sly, since the number one song in the country, “Family Affair,” comes from the album.
Sly and the Family Stone have lost that spark of life that captured 400,000 people at Woodstock, but there’s no reason to write them off just yet. (The Indianapolis Star, IN 720108)

720108 Charleston Civic Center, Charlston, SC

720109 Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, NC

720112 Toledo Sports Arena, Toledo, OH

Bob Dylan will appear in concert once, and unannounced.
Sly Stone will be late. Again. And again. And again. (by Nathan Cobb, Globe Staff. The Boston Globe, MA 720103)

720114 Convention Center, Louisville, KY [“Family Affair”. Supported by Jo Jo Gunne.]

“Some bought tickets year ago
Long wait ends for faithful fans as Sly shows up with Family Stone”
BY CHARLES R. BABCOCK
Courier-Journal Staff Writer

Galen Roe needn’t have worriedーSly showed up last night.
The soul rock star flew in from New York by charter jet to join his Family Stone for a Convention Center concert before about 5,500 faithful fansーmany of whom had bought tickets for the show a year ago for which he did not appear.
Miss Roe, a Bellarmne College student, was thinking about that at about 8:45 p.m. yesterday as she tried to piece together the ticket stub she had torn to shreds. “All of a sudden, I remembered he might not show again and I’d need the stub for a refund,” she said.

Some of the faithful had faith
William Carthen, a 14year-old DuValle Junior High School student, also had some anxious moments. He’d bought a ticket to last year’s Sly and the Family Stone concert and been disappointed.
Last night he had a good seat in the fourth row and had his portable tape recorder. “I just hold the mike in my hand,” he said. “The sound comes out real good. I plan to get the Airplane next week, too.” (Jefferson Airplane, another group that’s had trouble keeping dates in Louisville, is scheduled again at Convention Center next Wednesday.)
Others in the audience last night seemed to have more faith in Sly. They were certainly unenthusiastic about the warm up groupーJo Jo Gunn from Los Angeles.
Inside, Joe Vetter, a St. Xavier High School student, and some friends were dispensing rather than seeking aid. But business at the Red Cross dispensary was pretty slow. “A few aspirin,” he said. “And cotton, lots of cotton, for their ears.”
At 9:45, Sly came out, and the cotton went in. Magnificence in black, Sly stalked the stage. Almost like a spider, he moved his spindly legs, his whole sheathed in black, broke only by lines by silver-studded snaps.
Things started slowly, with trouble on the bass amp, and Sly tried to soothe the audience with easy talk and some lefthand-only guitar work on “Thank You For Lettin’ Me Be Myself.”
The crowd was well-behaved. The Convention Center management had learned some lessons after having the stage stormed in a recent Jethro Tull blow-out. The stage was a good four feet higher this time, and at first people stayed in their seats.

Some were dissatisfied
And when the group went into “Stand,” the audience did just that, and started moving toward the stage. A white spotlight swept over the crowd. Its effect was like a spoon, stirring. People began to jump and wave their arms.
Only Sly went. playing with his fans, into “Dance with the Music” and “Gonna Take You Higher.” At 10:45 he stopped, returned quickly for “Family Affair” and more “Higher” and was gone again.
People went home, most, no doubt, satisfied. But others were disappointed. The enthusiasm had seemed forced at times, perhaps the beat of the different songs was too much the same.
When it was over, a harried Convention Center employe shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t worried about the quality of the performance, he said. “But I’m catchin’ hell from the fire marshal for those people crowding the stage.” (Louisville Courier-Journal 720115)

720115 Physical Education Center (College of Wooster Gym), Wooster, OH

?720115 Memorial Auditorium, ?, OH

7201XX Sly visited Don Wehr’s Music City, L.A., CA

720120 783 Bel Air Road. Video/Photoshoot for promoting the single “Family Affair” b/w “Luv N’ Haight” (711106 released)#

720121 Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO

“Fans Take Their Cues From Sly And Family Stone”
by WILLIAM H. DUNLAP
St. Louis rock fans are either forgiving or forgetful.
Several thousand of them hali-filled Kiel Auditorium Convention Hall to hear a performance last night by Sly and the Family Stone, a group that twice had stood up St. Louis audiences.
If there is anything for which Sly Stone and his family of two sisters and four brothers have achieved notoriety, it is showing little concern for their audience. No shows, late shows and short shows are not unusual.
Last night, however, Sly and the family were no more tardy than most groups today. After an hour or so setting up equipment, the group spent an hour playing several of its better known hits, then departed.
Sly Stone set the tone for the performance in his opening remarks urging the audience to abandon its seats and converge on the stage, to the chagrin of users and police officers.
“Do what ever you want to do,” he said, “just let us do what the hell we want to do.”
The group stresses musical as well as personal freedom. Its opening number was one of its better known hits, “Thank You Letting Me Be Myself.”
Despite Sly’s urging, the fans unusually orderly, retaking their seats after an initial surge to the stage. This atmosphere was maintained through most of the concert, until Sly again urged audience participation with “Stand.”
The audience showed its further suggestability when it responded to “Dance to the Music,” which wound up the concert.
Sly stuck mostly to the hard rhythmic rock sound that has stood him in good stead over the years. Little was heard from his latest album, “There’s A Riot Goin’ On,” which, despite its title, is more subdued than previous records.
So St. Louis finally got to hear Sly, although echoes and poor acoustics in the convention detracted from an otherwise professional performance. (St. Louis Post Dispatch 720122)

720122 Dane County Memorial Coliseum, Madison, WI [“Thank You for Talkin’ to Me Africa”. Came on stage about 10:20 p.m., after an hour of intermission, 40-min show. Supported by ?]

“Saw Sly in Madison somewhere in the late 60’s. He was an hour late and so stoned he barely could stand up or talk. The set was all of 30 minutes and the audience was so fucking angry at the whole shabby affair that he’s lucky they drove him away from there really fast. He made Amy Winehouse’s famous drunken/stoned performance look like a tour de force at the Met.” (Michael Rosenax)(https://www.facebook.com/100044381051343/posts/10154494997977040/?rdid=yIccVU0m5GAOeIpN)

“Stone’s Show Rocks Audience”
by ALAN J. BORSUK
Of The State Journal Staff
I like to think that I’m able to cope with a range of music, but the performance by and around Sly and the Family Stone Saturday night at the Coliseum was clearly the most bizarre musical thing I’ve ever seen.
Sly, notorious for missing shows, did appear, which surprised many. Indeed, it was quite some appearance.
AS IT SAW it, Sly came on stage about 10:20 p.m., after an hour of a warm-up act and an hour of waiting, played a basically incoherent 40 minutes of music, and abruptly left.
While Sly’s performance was weird enough, that of the crowd of about 4,500 was weirder. They went wild.
About the first 10 minutes Sly and the six family members were on, things were pretty normal. Then suddenly, some kind of wave passed over the crowd and everyone began standing and stomping and screaming and jumping. And they stayed like that the rest of the show.
I JUST don’t know why this happened. To me, the show was full of heavy 4-4 time, couple of recognizable tunes, and other odds and ends and wasn’t very stimulating.
As a matter of fact, I thought it was a big rip-off. To the crowd, it was the trigger to frenzy.
Sly, in the middle of it all, was incredible. I think he and I were the only two people in the place who didn’t know what was going on. But for different reasons. I was straight.
SLY DRESSED in a fancy red jump suit, wore a beautiful, dreamy smile. It looked like he was having a nice time recalling a recent trip to Saturn or somewhere comparable.
He sometimes played guitar or organ and usually sang at the apparently appropriate times. Once he walked off stage in the middle of a song and once, alter a 20 second pause after applause had died down, he suddenly said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you.”
Unexpectedly, he shifted into his best known song, “Higher.” With the crowd in a terrific frenzy he sang, “Wanna take you higher,” and the thousands screamed back, “Higher.”
THEN, EVEN more unexpectedly, he was gone. The house lights came up and the crowd roared for more. For more than five minutes no one budged, except the stage hands who were already breaking the set.
A guy next to me kept saying, “It can’t be over. I just can’t comprehend that this show is over.”
But it was. (Wisconsin State Journal 720124)

“Coliseum smolders
As Sly fiddles around”
by Fred Milverstedt
A YEAR OR SO AGO I had occasion to attend a rock concert at the University of Wisconsin Fieldhouse that featured Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, a good vibrations group from the San Francisco scene that has in the past seven or eight years successfully combined the acid and country sounds for a pleasant musical compromise that usually leaves its legions of devoted listeners happy and satisfied. The concert proved especally intriguing to me because just a couple of days before, I had sat in the same historic building at a perch along the press row to watch a Badger basketball game. The transformation of the crowd and the mode of action between the two nights was, at the very least, remarkable. For one who spends a good many winter nights each year eking out a living to the blare of the Varsity Band and the roar of several thousand rabid fans rising from their seats in either exhilaration or indigation, the influx to the athletic setting of hash pipes, wine bottles, and billowing clouds of marijuana smoke creates a profound impression.
With this odd paradox in mind, on a weekend when both the UW basketball and hockey teams were caught up in the death throes of semester examinations, I looked forward with some small anticipation Saturday night to the heralded appearance at the Coliseum of Sly and the Family Stone, a roving band of desperadoes who earned themselves a reputation for rocking charisma with a memorable performance at the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in 1969, and a group that through the considerable eccentricities of its leader, Sly Stone (alias Sylvester Stewart), has spent the three years past in a seemingly determined effort to tarnish its previous accolades.
SLY, YOU SEE has become, like several of his fellows near the top of the popular music pinnacle, strung out, burned out, and bombed out on addictive drugs. Cocaine is usually suspected to be the source of Sly’s ills, although some disciples of the pop scene contend that he’s into heroin as well. His manager, while alluding to Sly’s romance with the needle, insists his problems are magnified by intense ego confusion ー a marriage that is not uncommon among musicians who make it big.
Whatever his hang-up, Sly became infamous somewhere along the line for not showing up to perform at his scheduled concerts. He missed something like 40 of them since Woodstock and on nights when they succeeded in pointing him in the right direction, he was poured onto the stage for what were generally considered lackluster efforts. After a while, the audiences started to get wise, and Sly’s bookings and income began to slide with his dubious creditability.
Recent developments, however, have indicated that the ne’er-do-well was on the road to a comeback. Working under the enforced stimulation of a no-show-and-he-pays-through-the-nose contract drawn up by New York promoters, Sly appeared for three nights in Madison Square Garden and set the groupies on their ears with a performance that brought back memories of the Sly of Old. That in turn launched a nation-wide tour that painted the culprit in rejuvenated colors and lent some credence to the chance that he had indeed changed his spots. It was all a hoax.
THE CONCERT WAS SCHEDULED to begin at 8 p.m.
Some 45 anticipatory minutes later, after an announcement was made about a delay due to late equipment arrival (the roadies had already set up enough speakers to blow the roof off every house in Monona), the restless audience was tossed a bone for filler ー an unannounced San Francisco back-up group whose brassy mediocrity was rudely received by frequent cries of “We want Sly!” The pain of this enforced and extended wait for the star was anaesthetized, however, by the firefly spark of a hundred matches as soon as the house lights dimmed, and the broad Coliseum spaces more commonly and heroically occupied by Jim Makey, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and assorted traveling dog and horse shows were soon filled to the rafters with the sweet, pungent, unmistakable smell of burning marijuana. The ushers, quick to reprimand cigarette smokers before the lights went out, prudently turned the other cheek.
Sly, milking his audience and his Satanical mystique for all they were worth, finally deigned to show his super-Afro coiffure after an unpopular intermission of nearly an hour.
His music, while loud enough to clear clogged sinus passages, was not the foot-stomper the crowd was expecting ー nothing “extra.” Two solos were marred by microphone malfunctions. Worse yet, he pranced and wiggled for only a misery 40 minutes ー paltry by any standards, and about half the time the crowd was expecting. If his Coliseum audience had consisted of hockey fans instead of grass-toking music lovers, they would have rushed the stage, burned his equipment, and lynched him unceremoniously from the catwalks. As it was, the numbed heads in the crowd accepted his insulting, short-changed exhibition with little more than muted yelps for “More!” when they came to realize they had been duped and that was all they were going to get for their five bucks worth. They stumbled bleary-eyed from the premises, grumbling they had been ripped-off.
SINCE SLY HAD BROUGHT his guile and chicanery to Madison once before and had absconded with a handsome cut of the gate after only 15 minutes worth of music, the crowd should have known better, but naturally didn’t. They don’t call him Sly for nothing, you know. (The Capital Times 720124)

“Sly gets defender
In Merrit Mapp”
by Fred Milverstedt and Merrit Mapp

A GENIAL, SOFT-SPOKEN POET by the name of Merrit Mapp showed up here the other day with the weight of man’s inhumanity to man on his shoulders, a glint of hope in his dark brown eyes, and a copy of Monday’s sports section in his hand. Having attended the Sly and the Family Stone concert at the Coliseum, and having read my unkind criticism of same, Mapp was interested in offering a rebuke of sorts that would emphasize the positive instead of the negative.
In the course of our conversation, Mapp brought out two points that are worthy of contemplation ー that it is not completely fair to judge a creative artist on the strength of his personality alone, rather that he should be judged on the merits of his product, and secondly, that Sly Stone should stand as an inspiration of sorts to some because he is what he is and has risen above considerable personal adversity to achieve it.
I asked Mapp if he would care to scribble down a few lines for publication and he returned a couple of days later with the following account of the Sly show:

＊＊＊

By MERRIT MAPP

THE RAFTERS BUZZED MIDLY in anticipation of the often late and short appearances of Sly and the Family Stone. The only fire that matched the crowds’ excitement was the haunting of past performances, the ghost of which Sly’s charisma had to fight. The switch blade thoughts the critical fans brought with them bulged like the $5.50 door price. The Stone Family walked out on stage and the old charm was there as they played the new version of “Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself” to open the concert.

As Sly announced the song called “Stand” midway through the “could-have-been-longer” concert, many of the head-shaking crowd did just that and began to “Dance To the Music.” Except for some equipment failure and a faulty P.A. system that sent Sly off stage momentarily, both the crowd and Sly were having a good time.

Still glued to the ghostly feeling of the past performances when Sly shifted into “Higher,” nobody was ready, and sensing that “Higher” was the last song, many of the unexcited crowd began to mumble their discontent.

If Sly didn’t perform to the way we expected, it’s because our quick change attitude towards the rock star was still back at Woodstock. I bet he wishes more crowded coliseums would cheer like those 400,000 people.

＊＊＊

WRITTEN LIKE a true poet, Merrit.

I would assume a twofold position on the matter. For starters, I realize as well as the next guy that anyone who creates ー a musician, a writer, an artist ー is probably going to be a strange cat. Creativity is a highly personalized expression, and the creativity grows from experience and feeling, much of it drawn from social and environmental influences. In this respect, Sly is fully entitled to come on as spacey as he feels. I can dig it.

But I would also contend that any performing artist who is making his living from the support of his public must in turn reward that public for its patronage. He doesn’t have to play their game, to give them what they want instead of what he wants to present, but he can’t lean on them either. If he owes them nothing else, he owes his time and courtesy.

＊＊＊

SLY PERFORMED for somewhere between 40 and 58 minutes, not counting the tedious, hour-long lapse after his backup group went back stage. Herb Frank, the Coliseum promoter, phoned to tell me that one of his people had timed Sly at 58 minutes from the time he took the stage until he left. Both the reviewer in the Wisconsin State Journal and myself had him figured for 40 minutes. Frank said that Sly’s contract stipulated a 45-minute set.

This is to split hairs. When Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young played at the Coliseum two years ago, the concert lasted 2½ hours with a 10-minute intermission. Chicago played here for two hours. There was no bitter aftertaste whatsoever that paying customers felt they had not received their money’s worth. In Sly’s cast, however, much of the post-concert discussion was given over to wails of betrayal the old rip-off.

Sly Stone has a new album on the charts, “There’s A Riot Going On,” that has been hailed by some as one of the best packages of the year. There is no question of his talent, but if his personal appearances continue along the lines of his Madison visit, the riot may occur among his audience. (The Capital Times 720131)

720127 Hara Arena, Dayton, OH  [Supported by Shades of Joy. Sly arrived at the arena after 10. The show started at 11. 1 hour show.]

“Late Arrival Stirs Natives”
Some static at Hara arena last Thursday night due to the very late arrival of Sly and the Family Stone. Seems Sly doesn’t like to travel with his “Family”ーflies separately in a chartered jet.
Did so Thursday afternoon, according to management personnel at Hara arena. Sly supposedly left New York City around “4 or 5 p.m. with plenty of time to get to Dayton for the scheduled 8 o’clock performance but was weathered enroute and got to the arena after 10.”
No fault of Hara arena management. They just rent the facilitics to the various promoters and their acts.
I do wish this, though, that someone in charge would inform the patrons of an undue delay by having updated announcements made over the PA system.
In the case of Sly and the Family Stone, the precede actーthe Shades of Joyーknew of the circumstances. So did the various members of the “Family”ーwho were at the arena. On time. I’m sure other backstage personnel knew of the goof-up. Someone could’ve had the courtesy to tell the restless natives what was going onーwhile the Shades of Joy were going on, and on, and on… (Dayton Daily News 720131)

“Sly Kept Fans Waiting For Disappointing Hour”
By FREDERICK J, MacDAVIS
Sly & Family Stone ー A concert at Dayton’s Hara Arena. The first band on stage, ‘Shades of Joy,’ from San Francisco, was very poor. The more I listened, the more I heard shades of Santana (percussion), and horn ideas from BST. Neither of which they could produce with any accuracy. The trumpet player wasn’t that bad, at least he was clear and solid. The one vocal they did was a failure. The endings were sloppy. All the music they played sounded exactly the same given time and key changes, of course, was relieved to see them leave the stage.
There were a lot of teenie-boppers out that night. Some college students and a few adults all of whom waited two hours for the man to appear. Hara kept getting hotter and hotter. The people got restless.
When Sly finally did appear (at 11:00 p.m.), he played only for an hour. That was disappointing. Most of the concert seemed to be by rote.
True, the same energy prevailed throughout the concert that has come to be identified with the Stone music. People reacted with a kind of mania, but they were supposed to do that. I think the excitement was generated more from the fact that Sly showed up, rather than from the enjoyment of the music. (What would you do after waiting two hours?)(Dayton Daily News 720325)

?720128 Convocation Center, Ohio University, Athens, OH

720129 OSU St. John Arena, Columbus, OH [plus Shades of Joy]

“A group I was in [Shades of Joy] opened for him in Columbus, Ohio, to a mostly Black audience..He was late so we had to stretch. That didn’t go over. 😉 When he arrived he didn’t have his guitar. They asked if he could use mine (an early/mid-50’s gold Les Paul). I agreed and after the concert he returned it and said, “That was the most familiar, unfamiliar guitar I have ever played.” ;)” (Robert Gibson Hill)(https://www.facebook.com/groups/SlyFriends)

720130 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA [canceled]

720204 Met(ropolitan Sports) Center, Bloomington, MN [Supported by Shades of Joy. 1 hour late, 45-min. show.]

“Was their… Feb 4th 1972. They showed up very late and when they appeared on the stage one of them collapsed. Perimedics hauled him out. Was my wife’s 1st date with me and the date goes down in history. No refund for the tickets and day is totally remembered.” (Roger Burud)(https://www.facebook.com/groups/themetcenterconcerts/posts/583592132950091/)

“Rock concert proves dead as a Stone”
Reviewed by MARSHALL FINE
It’s pretty early to start casting votes for Bummer of the Year. But I will wholeheartedly give my vote to the performance Friday by Sylvester Stewart, alias Sly Stone ー one of the worst excuses for a concert ever foisted on a paying crowd at the Metropolitan Sports Center.
Sly and the Family Stone have a well-earned reputation for late starts and short shows, which they lived down to Friday night.
When they’re good, Sly and band are a throbbing, jumping group, capable of producing fresh, exciting music. Unfortunately, they have not been on their stride for about two years.
Friday evening, the group appeared an hour late. The first half-hour of their short (45 minutes) set was a collection of the most lackluster renderings imaginable. There is such a thing as being laid back but the way Sly does it, you have to check periodically to make sure he and the rest of the band haven’t fallen asleep.
They stuck with one tempo through most of that half-hour: slow. When they varied it, they got slower.
People were streaming toward the door as Sly suddently rammed into “Dance to the Music,” following it with “Music Lover”and “Higher.” But the damage was done. After the long wait, Sly was unfulfilling. The utter tepidness of the first two-thirds of the show didn’t help the dwindling excitement of the disillusioned crowd. When the group walked off after the short set, people were yelling, “Rip off,” and with good reason.
It takes colossal gall to keep a crowd waiting for as long as Sly did. It takes even more to offer the uninspired schlock that he served up. Despite Sly’s reputation, the sports center was nearly full Friday evening.
Eventually people are going to catch wise to this routine of his and stop going altogether.
Sly was preceded by a San Francisco group, the Shakes [sic] of Joy, a lethargic rhythm and blues group whose set left the crowd yawning. (The Minneapolis Star 720205)

720205 “Runnin’ Away” b/w “Brave & Strong” 7″ was released (Epic).

720205 University Arena, Albuquerque, NM [“Family Affair”. Arrived after 10:30. Supported by Shades of Joy and Baby.]

“Sly Pleases; Crowd Boos Fine Jazz Group”
by Charles Andrews
The term “star” may seem anachronistic to rock music and the counter-culture (in principle, anyway), but if there is someone whom that label rests comfortably on it’s Sly Stone. He may sing “Everybody Is A Star,” but he and the 12-14,000 people who nearly filled University Arena Saturday night knew quite well who the real Star was.
Sly brought his whole bag of tricks to Albuquerque, with the exception of a huge floppy knit hat (I’ve never seen him without one before even on TV and his infamous “no appearance” trick (but he did manage to worry the promoters by not making it to the Arena until after 10:30, as the preceding group was finishing its last number).
He was dressed like a star, though somewhat “conservatively” by his standards: black pants with knee-length white boots, and a black leather floppy-sleeved shirt ー coat with sold, silver, and red stars, brimmed along all the seams studs. (Left his good clothes at home, I guess.) The songs played were all-star too: eight out of the 10 numbers are on their “Greatest Hits” album, and one of the other two was “Family Affair,” a new hit single (the first they’ve had since before the “Greatest Hits” album. Sly rapped to the audience, especially during the last two numbers, and drew the expected quota of cheers, applause, and “Right on!” He left the stage after the encore with no fanfare or big finish as “Family Affair” wound down, he just got up from his organ and walked off stage as the rest of the group played out the last few notes. And, of course, the 20-minute version of “I Want To Take You ligher” was there at the end, part of it before the encore and continued during it. (I wonder how many thousand times they’ve done that song ー I’ve never heard or read of a Sly concert without it) It was a pretty lackluster go at the old Sly standard, though; everyone was on their feet by this time and most people were yelling “higher” along with Sly, but I’ve heard it when everyone roared the chant, Sylvester Stone and his family can do much better ーthey’re capable of setting any number of thousands of people dancing; but I can’t find any fault with their performance here Saturday. It was just what we’ve come to expect from them, just what all those people came to see. I doubt that anyone was very disappointed.
Rude Crowd
But the real news of the evening involved Shades Of Joy, the San Francisco jazz group who preceded Sly: the revelation that this unknown (here, anyway) band was so incredibly good; and the juvenile, rude way the crowd let them know they were there to see Sly and didn’t want to put up with anyone else, least of all this ungroovy group who didn’t know how to rock. Not everyone in the audience was booing or yelling “Get off!” or “We want Sly!” but a large enough portion that I feel obligated to apologize for Albuquerque on behalf of those of us who do know good music when we hear it or at least have the maturity to wait patiently for the man we came to see (who wasn’t even on the premises yet, don’t forget). (New Mexico Daily Lobo 720207)

720206 Midsouth Coliseum, Memphis, TN [“Family Affair”. 1 hour late, 45-min. show. Supported by Shades of Joy.]

“Music Moves CrowdーForward”
By JOSEPH WEILER
Sly and the Family Stone urged the crowd to its feet.
Then left.
The crowd of about 11,300 that had packed the Mid-South Coliseum last night to hear the funky rhythm-and-blues group was one of the most unruly lever seen at a local rock concert, observers said.
Sly started off his part of the show ー which had been delayed two hours by his late arrival from Albuquerque, N.M. ー by asking, then telling, a group of about a half-dozen policemen to move away from in front of the stage area. The crowd screamed out its approval.
He explained that the men in blue would ruin his rapport with his fans.
“They are here to protect us, but what they don’t know is that we don’t need it. I’m asking the police to stand to the side because we are going to do exactly as we please….”
After a little more urging, he was losing his patience and so was the crowd that had sat for two hours waiting. “I want you to get the hell out of the way.” And a few minutes later they did and the music started.
The first number failed to move the crowd much, but Sly ー 27-year-old Sylvester Stewart ー knew how to bring them to their feet.
He told them to stand up and “show yourselves.” Then he played a crowd pleaser ー “Stand” ー and indeed much of the crowd did just that. People began to stand and rush toward the stage, while police ー with reinforcements ー stood to the sides.
Part of the crowd was now standing ad pushing up against the stage. Some were sitting on each other’s shoulders singing and swaying… screaming.
E. E. ‘Bubba’ Bland, general manager of the Coliseum, said it was the worst crowd that he had ever seen, and preparations hastily made as the crowd pushed forward showed he feared trouble.
But Sly proved not only to be a master composer-performer, but also a master crowd-controller as he explained to the crowd that the police were doing their job and urged his listeners to “respect them.” The crowd took heed and cooled it.
Then he sang and played on with his Family Stone, evidently moving the excited crowd with “It’s A Family Affair” and “Dance To the Music.”
After about an hour, he hurried away in a limousine while the crowd called out for more.
It didn’t get more.
To the audience, the performance was short, and for those who were not crushing the stage an apparent disappointment. For a moment it was brilliant… only for a moment.
But he had brought the Coliseum crowd to its feet like no one had before.
It may have been the worst Memphis had seen, but his manager said calmly, “This was small.” (The Commercial Appeal 720207)

“Rock Group’s Long Delay Irritating”
By SUSAN ADLER
Press-Scimitar Staff Writer
Sly and the Family Stone, a popular rock musical group, came to town bringing less-than-par music and poor showmanship.
Relying on their fame from numerous hit records, they drew a near-capacity crowd at the Coliseum last night.
After showing up two hours late, the group began its concert with a ten-minute talk about fresh popcorn and policemen. As if that wasn’t enough to dampen over 11,000 anxious spirits, Sly and the Family Stone performed for only 40 minutes using an amplifying system which should be thrown away. Throughout the concert, sound men were alongside the artists moving, removing and working on equipment.
The show was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., but the show’s sponsors failed to ease the audience’s irritation when they did not offer an apology for the delay. Five minutes before the Sly concert began, they finally blamed the delay on bad weather that the group had encountered en route to Memphis.
Shades of Joy, an instrumental group, began at 8:15 and finished around 8:30.
Following a 35-minute intermission, Sly and the Family Stone appeared at 9:05.
The leader of the group, Sly, delayed his performance even further while poking fun at the police.
“Can you imagine playing rock and roll looking down on a policeman’s helmet?”
Sly asked, mentioning that he knew they were there to protect him.
The audience howled. The stagehands worked feverishly.
“But I want you to get the hell out of the way,” he insisted.
His audience applauded.
The policemen left. And the stagehands kept on working.
Sly and the Family Stone thrive on a driving rhythm spiced with a little blues and a lot of rock.
They managed to coax half of the crowd to its feet as they played three of the songs which helped make them famous, such as, “Stand”, “Family Affair” and “Dance to the Music.”
The young fans, who had waited for so long, seemed determined to have a good time. The performers’ music blared through more than a dozen amplifiers while part of the crowd danced in the aisles and crowded around the stage.
By the time the show ended at 10, the audience was left haif-satisfied with only 60 minutes of music (both groups), 35 minutes of intermission, an hour and a half of waiting for a rock group that promised “to play the best they could” but didn’t. (The Memphis Press Scimitar 720207)

72021X ?, ?, OH

720211 Memorial Gym, Kent State University, Kent, OK [featuring Shades of Joy]

“IN 1972 was a very good year for me Sly & the Family stone played at KSU [Kent State Univ.] a hour late his Roadies jam for a little bit before Sly & Larry Graham came out Ricky got hooked on LG Funk & Marvin got hooked on the Hammond B3 LYFE BAND AND SHOW STARTED THE FUNK” (Ricky L Fletcher Sr.)(https://www.facebook.com/100044381051343/posts/10154494997977040/?rdid=yIccVU0m5GAOeIpN)

720212 ?, Knoxville, TN

720213 International Amphitheater, Chicago, IL [40-min. late.]

“This Time Sly’s Worth the Wait”
BY CLARENCE PAGE
IF SLY and the Family Stone would only muster up a little more professionalism they might be the biggest name in rock music.
During the last five years their combination of black soul and white psychedelics, has earned top record sales in both cultures. But they remain questionable as stage troupers.
Their afternoon show yesterday in the International
Amphitheater was received by a sparse crowd for this massive arena.
Apparently, many fans remained wary of Sly Stone’s notorious tardiness record and decided to wait for the evening show.
His tardiness in the summer of 1970 sent an outraged Grant Park crowd into a disastrously violent show of disapproval.
Memories of that summer day returned yesterday as the announcer said there was to be “a 30-minute intermission’ before Sly would appear. This has to be some kind of record for slow stage crews, even if it wasn’t Sly’s fault.
Forty long minutes later, Sly and the family appeared in a storm of grateful applause.
Sly churned up a solid backbeat on his guitar and the group joined in with the tune, “Thank You for Lettin’ Me Be Myself Again.” Blending from one song to the next, the group’s style consisted of maintaining their strong beat then whipping variations off of it with their brass, organs, and guitars.
Sly tries to bring the Woodstock spirit with him wherever he goes and he did not fail with those who were dancing in the aisles. Good vocals and instrumental solos faded into oblivion as the total emotional effect took over.
After about 50 minutes the show was over, the lights came on, and hordes of cheering faithfuls finally brought the group back onstage for a brief encore of “Higher.” In spite of the faults, the group showed how exciting they can be when the audience is willing to be patient. (Chicago Tribune 720214)

720217 ?, New Orleans, LA

720218 Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, FL [Pat Rizzo joined. “Family Affair”. Late (22:30), 1 hour show. Supported by ?]

“Sly True To Rude Reputation”
by MICHAEL MARZELLA
of The Times Staff
Two and a half hours is too long to wait for anything. Even Sly and the Family Stone.
When more than 7,000 people paid $4 to $6 to see the exciting soul-rock group, the management at Curtis Hixon Hall should have offered some explanation to the grumbling Friday night crowd.
Instead, repetitious and badly spliced tapes of rock blared for nearly two hours beyond the advertised starting of 8 p.m. The conglomerate audience ー　black, white, mostly young ー was up for the concert.
Crisply tailored cartoon character coats of crushed and smooth velvet cruised the aisles rubbing shoulders with blue work shirts.
THERE WERE things to do while they waited. Eat lollipops. Buy popcorn. And watch the warm-up group.
About warmup groups. They’re often little-known, up ward bound rock bands that travel with a big star. They pave the way in the evening’s entertainment. Sometimes they are so bad that a down performance by the name group still seems overwhelmingly great.
Friday’s warm-up group (obviously a last-minute substitute) has surely attained yea plummeted to, a new level. Unannounced and unafraid, three middle-aged men in crisp gray suits and pink shirts whizzed back through time to doggerel rock of 1961. They tried to be hip and all that with “My Sweet Lord” and fright wigs, but it came off like the end of a long tour of Quality Court poolside revues.
SLY? HE SHOWED up. At about 10:30.
“What’s he doing, taking the money and splitting?”
“We want our money back!”
“Hey, it’s about time, isn’t it!”
Shouts from the crowd and a growing tension in the great hall. But no explanation came to soothe the anxious.
Sly did. In coral cape and pants, Afro teased high like the ones in the audience. Slim, confident and proud.
“IF YOU HEAR some music that makes you want to move, get the hell up and move,” Sly muttered.
So few words and so much response. Immediately the aisles filled with bodies swaying to the insistent rhythms Sly and his band of friends and relatives were producing. Clumping clustered to the stage, the people gathered. No shoving or crush, but leaving enough room to dance. Individual dances, mostly vertical in the confines of a crowd. On chairs, standing, sitting, squatting, thousands doing their own small dances to the master’s pipe.
Sly was the master. Anticipation made his followers anxious to follow. There must be some deep-set instinct in Man that comes to life under certain rhythms. An instinct to dance, to move freely and forget deportment and posture. Sly’s found the rhythms, the lost chords, and grinds them out with brass, guitars and organ.
“GONNA TAKE YOU Higher” Sly shouted, poking the curling smoke over his head with V-sign fingers. Thousands answered in concert, echoing his cry and gesture. Suddenly at 11:30, someone somewhere hit a switch, cancelling the red and blue lights dancing on the stage and flooding the hall with harsh white.
Almost as suddenly, Sly left, disappointing many who had waited more than twice as long as his band was on stage. His reputation for discourtesy to an audience has been perpetuated. (Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg 720221, FL)

“‘Sly’: Long Wait For Short Show”
BY PHIL ROGERS
Independent Reviewer
TAMPA Curtis Hixon was packed and waiting for quite a while before Sly and the Family Stone finally made their appearance on stage last night.
Sly did show, somewhere around 10:30 but before that was a long wait with only slight entertainment by a group that tried to fill in some of the empty space.
I didn’t catch the name but the quintet was not enough for the crowd, waiting for Sly, that booed every song they did. After the third song the singer had opened his grey suitjacket, loosed his tie and was starling to sweat a little and I didn’t think it was because of the heat. Actually, individually, their guitar and bass weren’t bad but the singer just couldn’t be heard. The whole impression was of a night club act that someone got on stage to occupy time until Sly got around to showing up. Well at least credit for intestinal fortitude to the group for staying on as long as they did.
“I think I’ll go home and break all my Sly and The Family Stone albums,” a young girl seriously joked. At the time she was probably more serious than joking. About a quarter to 10 an announcement came over the loud speakers. “Sly is here…” It sounded as if the managers themselves had doubted if the group would show up. For up to $6 a seat patrons had a great opportunity to hear Curtis Hixon’s sound system playing lot of sometimes-tired recordings.
And now for a real treat, a 10 minute bass tune-up by some stage hand but still no sign of Sly.
Then in flowing capes, jumpsuits and tee shirts Sly cruised on stage around 10:30 and started to tune and retune their instruments. And finally Sly (Sylvester Stewart) Stone. “If you want to move get… up and move.” And move they did. The whole crowd that was in the back was suddenly at the front standing on seats, jumping and clapping. A long wait had come to an end.
“Thank you for letting me be myself… again..” Sly got it on with move music. Nobody sat (if you did you were liable to be sat on) while Sly turned on some good saxes, chucking guitars and some nice screams. As the introduction to “Family Affair” applause came from the audience at its recognition. Starting slow, getting progressively faster “Stand” had the already up crowd moving even more. “You can make it if you try… daaance to the muuusac..” Sly played for an hour. At 11:30 the house lights came on, Sly finished their song and left not even to return to the persistant pleas for more.
Well patience is a virtue it is said and six bucks could have bought an album that could be played for more than an hour; ‘nuff said.

(source?)

720219 ?, Greensboro, NC

720220 ?, Jacksonville, FL

720225 Fieldhouse, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA [Two shows: 7 & 11 p.m.. Sly arrived at 9:30 and watched TV in his dressing room for more than an hour. After the 1st show, Sly again watched TV for another hour-and-a-half. 2 hours late, 2nd show slightly longer. Supported by Albert Brooks, a comedian (no 2nd show, after being shouted offstage).] 

“SlyーYou Blew It“
BY EDD JEFFORDS
Friday night’s Sly & The Family Stone shows were more akin to a rock festival than concerts, both in their length and in the discomfort experienced by the audience.
Attended by more than 10,000 persons, the largest audience ever gathered here for a rock show, the concerts couldn’t have satisfied anyone other than hardcore Sly fans. And after Friday there probably aren’t many of those left.
A crowd of several thousand began gathering at the Fieldhouse at 6 p.m. for the scheduled 7 p.m. performance. The big auditorium was packed when at 7:30 the show finally got under way with comedian Albert Brooks. As a comedian, Brooks may or may not have been funny. He was impossible to hear above the din of an audience who had come to see Sly and had little patience with the opening act.
There followed an interminable wait, first because the “star,” Sly Stone, hadn’t even shown up in town. Then, when he finally arrived at 9:30, he spent more than an hour in his dressing room watching television while his fans cooled their heels.
I’ve never seen such utter contemptuousness and disregard for an audience displayed by an entertainer.
When Sly deigned to go on stage he was greeted by a chorus of boos which only gradually changed into cheers from the long-suffering crowd.
But the cheers were short-lived. Whatever magic the fans had been expecting was not delivered.
Sly looked like a zombie, and his act, which consisted of nothing more than a monotonous re-play of his hit records, reminded me more than anything else of the final tours of Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison. It was as if the band knew this was the last time around and only stopped by to pick up the money.
The whole act seemed to be deliberately designed to rip off the crowd’s energy while giving nothing in return.
When he finished, there was little applause and no demands for the encore which had been carefully planned in advance.
While leaving, one young group seemed to express the crowd’s feelings by chanting “Sly, you blew it.”
After the intital travesty there was another hour-and-a-half wait by the second show audience while Sly again sealed himself in his dressing room with a portable TV.
There was no opening act for the second show. Albert Brooks having left the auditorium after being shouted offstage. Sly may have tried to make up for that with a slightly longer show, but after waiting two hours, who cared?
Sly Stone’s egotism and contempt for his audience is inexcusable and almost incomprehensible, and yet the strangest thing is that the same people at the concert probably will help turn his next album (if there is one) into another million-seller. He doesn’t deserve it.
If there was any positive value deriving from the concert it was only that several thousand dollars was raised for scholarship fund for economically disadvantaged students… And I think everyone in attendance learned $4.50’s worth. (The Tacoma News Tribune 720227)

By Fred Milveratedt
SOMEONE MIGHT REMEMBER that rock and roll opportunist Sly Stone caught gas in this column a few weeks ago for the rip-off concert he staged at the Dane County Coliseum, a concert soiled by an irritating delay and subsequent abbreviated performance. Sly is still running true to form, as told in the following clipping from the tabloid, “Rolling Stone,”
“Nothing new under the sun: Sly Stone did a benefit for a minority scholarship fund at the University of Puget Sound up near Seattle, drew 10,000, and he’s the same, thank you: a two-hour wait for the audience while Sly watched TV in his dressing room, and a wake-like set that moved Edd Jeffords to write in the Tacoma daily: “Sly looked like a zombie, and his act, which consisted of nothing more than a monotonous replay of his records, reminded me more than anything else of the final tours of Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison, It was as if the band knew this was the last time around and only stopped by to pick up the money.”
Sly pulled basically the same stunt at Madison Square Garden, played for a reported five minutes, and took a dive. The New York promoter later said that was it ー no more Sly bookings for him. It’s a bitch to be burned out. (The Capital Times 720420)

ーSly Stone still is a ripoff. He did a benefit concert for a minority scholarship fund at the University of Puget Sound near Seattle and 10,000 people showed up. The crowd waited two extra hours while Sly watched TV in his dressing room. Reportedly, when he finally did perform, it was pretty drab. A Tacoma critic noted, “Sly looked like a zombie, and his act… consisted of nothing more than a monotonous replay of his hit records… It was as if the band… only stopped by to pick up the money.” So what’s new?
ーDespite Sly’s rotten attitude toward his audience, he continues to draw and his records sell well. Recently, he signed a fat contract with Epic, rumored to give him a million an album. Epic denies the guarantee. (The Post Crescent 720430)

720226 Paramount Northwest, Seattle, WA 

720227 Convocation Center, Ohio University, Athens, OH [Supported by Tony Joe White.]

“In January [February?] of 1972 Sly and the Family Stone had a concert booked in the Ohio University Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio. Thad a photo pass from the yearbook. The concert began with the band playing without Sly. Sly then appeared and after several songs he left the stage. The band continued to play a few more songs and ended the concert. I went back stage and found that everyone was looking for Sly. At some point he was found in a restroom and escorted to his limo that was parked inside the Convo loading area. There was a crowd hanging around. A girl was making pictures with a Polaroid camera and handing them to Sly through the window. As the pictures developed in his hand he was laughing hysterically. It was a very memorable concert but not for the music.” (Andy Burriss)(https://www.facebook.com/groups/SlyFriends)

“I worked that concert as an usher on the floor. The worst concert I worked was Sly and Family Stone. Sly showed up for the concert, VERY LATE [over 2 hours], high as a kite. He said wouldn’t go on until he got a pizza. So someone went and got him a pizza. As I recall his show was under 1 hour [about 45 minutes].” (rpbobcat)(http://m.bobcatattack.com/messageboard/topic.asp?FromPage=6&ForumPID=10&PID=352105&Page=2)

“I flew from MA to Athens, OH to see Sly at Ohio U. Opener was Tony Joe White. Sly didn’t show, and Tony Joe played in something like a dorm cafeteria.” (Tom Schneiter)(https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10209711471980617&set=gm.10159884794623007)

720303 Montreal Forum, Montreal, QC, Canada [No Cynthia. Supported by Ruth Copeland.]

“Montreal rock fans endure the waiting for the star game again”
by BILL MANN
of The Gazetti

8 p.m. Saturday: Delaney and Bonnie Show scheduled to start at Maisonneuve Centre.
8:45: First ‘Please be patient’ announcement. Crowd of 4,000 or so bides time by sleeping, smoking, or mainly by just being bored.
9:45: Show finally starts, Jim Messina and Kenny Loggins.
10:40: Messina-Loggins finish.
11:20: Billy Preston comes on.
Midnight: Preston set over.
12:45: Delaney-Bonnie on stage after only the second-longest wait of evening.
That’s an awful, awful, lot of “dead air” ー three hours and 10 minutes to be exact.
“You’ve been remarkably patient,” the groups would tell the crowd in classic understatement knowing full well that, in some cities, people would have started throwing and/or burning things long before.
The seemingly interminable delays before the show and between the three acts were nothing less than an insult to the crowd.
And it left bad after-taste to what should have been a fine evening of music.
All three acts were excellent, but many of the younger fans there had to leave (parental curfew) before the headline act even hit the stage.
The usual (but often avoidable ー by arriving very early) customs problems were pleaded, as well as “the sound system people who have never worked with us before,” but all of that dead time tended to suffocate partially stifle each act once it did make it on stage.
Loggins and Messina, late of Poco and the Buffalo Springfield, started things with their bouncy Poco-like sounds, and the Loggins-Messina vocal blend should keep the group intact for some time.
The rhythm changes were done perfectly, and one of the sidemen was especially noteworhy. He played tenor and alto sax, cowbell, recorder and electric violin, all well.
Billy Preston was easily the dominant act of the night.

BLUES

His incredible blues organ just engulfed everything, including Bonnie and Delaney, when he filled in for their regular organist.
On one number, Preston switched from Bach to Ray Charles just to blow a few minds. It’s just too bad that the people who say things like “Fern Lapierre is a great organist” never go to concerts like this. If there’s a better keyboard man than Preston anywhere, I’d like to hear him.
The Bramletts, as usual, had the crowd dancing with their foot-stompin’ mixture of country blues and white gospel. Their horn section was its usual nonpareil self.

FRIDAY NIGHT

It wasn’t just the delay (customs again) that did in Sly Stone. It was none other than old Sly himself as 12,000 or so sat with their fingers crossed in the Forum Friday. They saw just what they saw last year ー a bad joke.
Ruth Copland, a blues singer who has been causing some stir in the States, was first out. And, while she was indeed nice to look at, her Gracie Slick impression left the rational part of the audience cold.
Then out comes Sly, in slo-mo as usual.
As the group is playing, equipment men are blithely walking around stage, Sly’s manager is sitting on an amp, and the customary crowd of groupies are pressing up to the stage.
Sly is, in a word, wrecked.
He’s missing his fine chick horn player, Cynthia, so what does he do? That’s right, he launched into “M’ Lady,” which is built around a great funky horn riff.
Then, during Dance to the Music, Sly, about two bars behind the rest of the group all evening, blows his organ entrance and, in fact, never plays it.
The height of absurdity was reached during one unmemorable number that lasted well over 10 minutes.
Sly decided he didn’t like the vibes, so he strolled offstage during the song.
Then, also in mid song, he decided he’d like a new organ. So a new organ was hooked up as the Family Stone faked it. Then, not liking the new organ, Sly picked up a guitar. Then discovering (to no one’s surprise) that he couldn’t play it, he nonchalantly dropped the $500 Gibson onto the stage.
“This is the third time he’s been here, and the third time we’ve been ripped off in three years,” said one soul brother afterwards. He was not at all alone in his estimation.
The next time Sly comes to the Forum, or Montreal, let’s hope that it’s just to watch a hockey game. (The Gazette 720306)

“Two other shows: One late. one great Sly in ‘why-make-the-effort’ form”
By JUAN RODRIGUEZ

Staging, as well as going to, rock shows can be an unnerving business. The times are rough, nobody knows what will succeed, let alone when and where. But the winter has been relatively good for both promoters and rock fans in this city and it all snowballed on the weekend with three shows, each with their own expectations.

On Friday night at the Forum it was Sly and The Family Stone, a promoter’s hazard if there ever was one. As it turned out, the ubiquitous Sylvester Stewart decided to turn up for his own show, as well as a large crowd estimates ranged from 8,000 to 12,000).

Unhappily for his fans, Sly did one of his stoned-out, why-make-the-effort performances. When he’s good, he’s good, a creative, original force with his own special kind of appeal. But Sly doesn’t care whether he’s good or not, and he seems to careless, for his audience, and Friday night was one of those nights when everything seemed out of sync.

Slated to appear in Ottawa the following night, Sly was last reported still in Montreal as of 5 p.m. Saturday, three limousines waiting outside his hotel while Sly made up his mind whether he was going to show. Ah, Show business, show business…

At the Centre Maisonneuve on Saturday night the Dawson

College carnival attraction was taking place. Slowly, the first

act, Kenny Loggins & Jim Messina (the latter being a former member of Buffalo Springfield and Poco) got on stage at 9:50 p.m. Numerous excuses for the late start circulated around the hall; the stage was too small, all the equipment hadn’t yet arrived Messina and Loggins were late from a promotional appearance at CHOM-FM.

The media-freaked Dawson crowd waited patiently if wearily,

throughout the delays. Dawson is where the kids go to learn how to watch television and, sure enough, the centre of the hall was filled with several TV sets, simultaneously transmitting what was, and wasn’t, going on onstage. Loggins and Messina went through a routine set of what is known as country rock, backed by a group. The music, witless and pretentious, never got off the ground, which was the story of the entire evening.

Around 11, Billy Preston the funky-gospelized organist-singer, started his set with a few weak undistinguished numbers. He finally hit his peak with his big song, That’s The Way God Planned It, followed by a jumping reading of George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord. Unfortunately, Preston chose to do an encore, which finally bogged to an end.

Delaney and Bonnie, the featured attraction, had arrived at the scene of the crime a good two hours before they were to finally play at 12:30 a.m. They were pretty upset over the entire situation. Many people had left and their regular organist had quit the night before (Preston filled in). I asked John Bramlett, D & B’s manager, how things were going; he seethed, “We’re running late.”

They were tired when they got on, as was nearly everyone else, except those buoyed by the energy of an endless trip. They gave a reasonable often exciting show under the circumstances, although Delaney wavered between playing his usual, forthright and fluid down-home guitar (he’s a superb guitarist) and boring, mindless drivel. But it was one of those evenings.

The only pleasant surprise of the weekend was Roberta Flack’s recital at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier last night. I’ve never been much of a fan of her records (they all seem a little too pristine and calculated for comfort) but her career has skyrocketed in the past year and people compare her with Nina Simone and Carmen McRae. I could never understand why she was voted number one female vocalist in the Downbeat poll. Last night I found out why.

She is controlled and calculated alright, but seldom in her performance did this make her songs stilted. She is a tremendously personal stylist who pours herself into her songs. They are at once interpretations, tastily crafted (an equally meticulous jazz group backed her up with aplomb), yet they are also torrents of experience. Her version of Dylan’s Just Like Woman was more stretched out in concert than her recording of it and it did wonders for her performance. She gives her songs remarkably sustained sensuality.

Accompanying herself with sparse piano lines, glowing in the darkness, she was as one of her album titles describes her: Quiet fire. (The Montreal Star 720306)

720304 Civic Centre, Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, ON, Canada [“Thank You for Talkin’ to Me Africa”, “Everyday People”, “Family Affair”, “Stand”, “You Can Make It If You Try”, “Dance to the Music” & “I Want to Take You Higher”. 2 hours late. Supported by Ruth Copeland.]

“The Family Stone turns over, dies”
by CHRIS HARDY

There used to be a time when going to Sly & The Family Stone affair was a time for unleashing energy and frustration, in a surge of funky excitement; of community and peace that no other band could instill the way Sly’s could.
But Saturday night at the Civic Centre for more than 8,000 persons was, to repeat one prominent critic “Like watching a junikie nod.” The band established itself as a super-group several years ago with the release of the album Stand! No concert was complete without presentations of Stand! I Want To Take You Higher, Sex Machine, Everyday People, Dance To The Music, and Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).
No concert today would be complete without these; and therein lies the problem. Both audience and performer seemed to feel the way one would feel after spending three years in the same grade at school. For after three years, they’ve released only one new album, There’s A Riot Goin’ On.
Typically, The Family Stone started two hours late, After a lengthy, almost tedious prelude of a revised version of Thank You ー this time paraphrased For Talking to Me Africa ー they worked their way into Everyday People. Boy, everyday people sure are dull. Then they dragged themselves into Family Affair, the kind where you dress up for Sunday portraits standing in front of a 1960 Edsel.
The Family Stone had shifted into fist gear and there they stayed/staid (Get It?).
Then they tried Stand, You Can Make It If You Try and Dance To The Music. Well… you try it, with your trousers hanging around your knees.
The core words of late ’60s rock; the message, the medium, have soured. This was the day the music died.
In a word, Sly & The Family Stone gave a very perfunctory performance. If this is all there is to letting them be themselves, they aren’t welcome. (The Ottawa Journal, Ontario 720306)

“Sly and the Family Stone
Group bombs in monotonous show”
By Bill Provick

Sly and the Family Stone were Sly and the Family Soporific Saturday night at the Civic Centre.
The audience chill factorー80 minutes, the time spent performing, minus 77 minutes, the time it took to get the group out on stageーwas a mere 3 when Sylvester Stewart, better known as Sly Stone, finally wandered on stage.
By this time the Family Stone had performed six minutes of a well-played yet monotonous instrumental and any hope that Sly’s arrival would spark things to made life was casually dampened when he slid into a rut of the mumbled lyrics and super cool instrumental backing.
This is a new side of Sly and unfortunately his Saturday night super cool was super boring.
At the 34-minute mark Sly was still sitting quietly behind the organ having dragged his way through three hits: Thank You, Family Affair and Stand.
The crowd was about 7,000 with a third of the people on the floor in front of the stage.
Boos in order
Perhaps their proximity made these people more hopeful but those sitting in the seats managed to break through their boredom long enough to issue a few rounds of boos.
While the audience sat and wondered whatever happened to the exciting Sly stage act and brand of music, the group continued to sound like their albumsーplayed at a slow speed.
Technically the group was together and the instrumentation was goodーit just lacked any life.
Even the horns sounded tired when the group performed what had to be the most sedate version of Dance To The Music.
Some of the audience was dancing but, after all, there was little else to do.
By the 40-minute mark the crowd became more divided with some on the floor, obviously in a good mood and waiting for somethingーanything to happen, cheering the group, encouraging it to get excited and cut loose with some hot music.
Others, back in the seats, roused themselves from sleep and began trickling out of the Civic Centre.
Polite clapping
Even the final number, I Want To Take You Higher, lacked spirit and left most people cold and clapping only politely.
A hard core of diehards, less than a quarter of the audience, somehow saw fit to shout for more but after receiving, as an encore. 10 minutes of a weak repetition of Higher even they were happy to silently leave the building.
As it turned out nothing was worth the wait.
The warm-up set by Ruth Copeland and her band hadn’t been any better.
Dressed in a white fur jacket that made her look like she was wearing shoulder pads and sporting a pair of purple knickerbockers to complete the football-player image, she screamed her way through a few numbers.
She opened with It’s The Wrong Time And The Wrong Place To Be Together and in general the audience agreed with her. (The Ottawa Citizen, Ontario 720306)

720311 Hollywood Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, FL [“Family Affair”. Supported by Ruth Copeland.]

“In Sultry Whispers
Sly Stone Leads Magic Affair”
By JANE ROSS
Special To The Herald

Sexy, sloe-eyed Sly Stone and his Family pushed 10,000-plus people “higher” Saturday night in an appearance that was marked by professionalism, but a dearth of new material.
Sly was turned out with flash resplendent in a salmon-colored leather suit studded with silver nail heads. He dripped baubles, bangles, beads and a diamond-studded watch that would make Zsa Zsa green. All eight of the group were good to look at and to listen to, but Sly is magic when he pours his sultry whisper into the mike, or bends, suspended, over the keyboard.
The Stone Family brand of rock pulsating, twangy, stacatto and ever-climbing, was complemented by tightly blended harmony from the brass.
MUSICAL PHRASES that started mellow were tortured to a turn, and the release usually came in a lyric command.
This may be one of the secrets of Sly’s success. Most of his lyrics are positive. He sings, “I want to take you higher,” “Dance to the Music” or “Stand” (by what you believe), and the responsive audience chord is struck.
The concert version of their hit single, “Family Affair” was an unexpected surprise. There was some good jazz-like work from the tenor sax and the whole number was infused with a swing and a musicality that couldn’t help but conjur up the big-band era.
SLY AND the Family Stone have done more frenzied performances than Saturday night’s, if that is your rock show thermometer. They seemed cramped by the amplifiers which were in a ‘wall of sound’ close to the front of the stage.
The onenite act that travels with Sly deserves mention more for future reference than for its performance, which was undistinguished.
Ruth Copeland, willowy English beauty, came on backed by four American sidemen. At 22, she’s the oldest of the crew. The act was rare: the sound was hard and driving and Ruth was giving it a go at wailing.
SHE KEPT getting lost in the roar of the amps, but every now and then you could catch traces of a full-thorated vibrato.
Her sustained, high vocal pitch became a little grating and, in the middle of the set, she began to wilt. (She came off shaking and weak and said she had gone on with the flu.)
Her “Gimme Shelter” (by The Rolling Stones) didn’t have the shading that made Merry Clayton’s version an unreal hateful-lullaby. But there’s nothing easy about warming up a Sly audience. (The Miami Herald 720313)

720312 Memorial Auditorium, Greenville, SC 

720313 Macon Coliseum, Macon, GA

720317 Indiana State University Arena, Terre Haute, IN

720318 John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH [Gerry Gibson’s last gig?]

“Only saw him once. He was so stoned they carried him in on a chair and then he fell of the stage and the concert was canceled.” (Rick Creger)(https://www.facebook.com/UniversityHeightsCityHall)

7203XX Andy Newmark visited Sly at 783 Bel Air Road with Jimmy Ryan and got auditioned.

Andy Newmark: I was in Los Angeles with Carly Simon playing at the Troubadour, and I knew the saxophone player with Sly, Pat Rizzo. Pat told me that Sly needed a drummer. Gregg Errico, the original drummer, had quit. They had a replacement who had been there for six or eight months, but no one was happy with him. So Pat said, “If you can possibly get up to Sly’s house in Bel Air and get an audience with him, you might be able to conduct some sort of an audition.” In between shows at the Troubadour, I ran up to Sly’s house, and was taken into his bedroom where he was lying on a water bed, pretty much out of his head. There were three or four other people in the room, and it was all very heavy, and sinister, and weird, and dark. Eventually he got himself together enough to speak to me from the bed. He said, “You’re a drummer?” I said, “Yeah.” And he said, “Are you funky?” And I said, “Yes.” [laughs] Not even “Yeah”, but “Yes”, deadpan, with no emotion, in my perfect WASP whiteness. Then he said, “Play.” There was a set of Remo practice pads next to his bed with a real hi-hat and a little mashed up cymbal. I knew I’d have about 20 seconds to either make an impression or not, so I just played the funkiest beat I could. All of a sudden Sly came to life. He jumped off the bed and started dancing in the room. And in 30 seconds the whole family was brought in. Sly said, “This is the new drummer”— no name or anything. “Yeah, Freddie, this is the new drummer. Tell the other guy he’s fired. Okay, what’s your name?” “Andy.” “Right. You’ll do the next show or whatever. Welcome.” And that was it. (https://www.moderndrummer.com/article/february-1984-andynewmark/ [no more existed])

Jimmy Ryan: Andy Newmark and I were two of Carly Simon’s backup musicians in the early 70s on a gig at the famous Troubadour in LA . Andy heard Sly & the Family Stone, were looking for a drummer. Gerry Gibson, Sly’s drummer, had left the band, and our Andy got a call from his friend, Pat Rizzo, Sly’s sax player to throw his hat in the ring. There were all kinds of internal conflicts going on within the band that could mean trouble on the horizon, but Andy knew nothing about them and was eager to jump in and audition. Here’s the true story:
We would finish our first set with Carly, and after a quick equipment shuffle, Cat Stevens would come on and do an hour and fifteen minutes. Then, the first audience would exit, and the second would be seated, which takes about forty-five minutes. That leaves a two-hour window to get into our little Budget Rental car and head to 783 Bel Air Road, Sly Stone’s Beverly Hills mansion. I volunteered to be Andy’s wingman. The Troubadour isn’t far from Beverly Hills, so the journey took about fourteen minutes. We pull up in front, park in the driveway with a few other cars, and look at each other.
Me: “You ready for this?”
Andy: “Yeah… I mean no… I mean I don’t know. It’s kind of weird just showing up.”
Me: “Did Pat call Sly and tell him you were coming?”
Andy: “Not sure. Maybe.”
Me: “Oh what the hell, let’s ring the doorbell. What’s the worst that can happen?”
Andy: “Ok. Yeah. Let’s go.”
We do that. We’re met at the door by a very large gentleman who looks like he spends ten hours per day at the gym and hasn’t had a pleasant thought in twenty years. He opens the door with a grimace and says, “What do you want?” Andy explains the call from Pat Rizzo and the possibility of auditioning for the drummer position and Mr. Big says, “Wait here,” and closes the door. He comes back a few minutes later, still looking like he caught his wife cheating with the pool boy and makes the “my boss said to let you in” head gesture. He then walks away and leaves us standing in the vestibule. So far, so good. Everyone’s being nice. A woman approaches from another room. It’s Rose Stone, Sly’s sister. She says in a fuck-you accent, “Go sit over there.” Not wishing to be nosey and ask her if someone just punched her in the face, we oblige and take our seats on a narrow bench in the hallway. After about ten minutes, an older gentleman comes into the hallway, and without introductions or “welcome to the happy home of the Family Stone,” simply says, “Sly will see you now. Go upstairs, first room on the right.” That was Sly’s dad, we found out later.
Stuck in what feels like a carnival funhouse, up the stairs we go, cautiously approaching the first room on the right. As we enter, we notice three men in suits sitting in chairs facing a large waterbed on which Sly is lying face-up, eyes closed. Are these people Sly’s lawyers? Managers? Accountants? Have we walked in on a business meeting from the Twilight Zone? It’s not clear whether Sly is asleep, unconscious or dead. The room’s floor, ceiling and walls are covered in black fur. I’m sure it was insulation to keep Sly warm in the harsh and unforgiving Beverly Hills winters. Everyone looks up at the two, twenty-something, skinny white boys walking into this room from outer space, wondering what the hell we are doing there. By Sly’s side is a bulging manila file folder with nothing written on the tab. Soon enough we learn about the contents of the folder. Sly partially awakens, and with one eye half-open, rolls over, and opens the folder to reveal a large mound of white powder. He scoops up a handful, puts it to his face and sniffs a deep inhale of whatever it is into his lungs… and flops back down onto his pillow. It’s now smeared all over his mouth and nose like he had gone face down in a bowl of flour.
There are no free chairs in the room, so we sit on the rug with our backs to the wall. Quite comfortable with all that fur. I’m unable to take my eyes off of Sly’s almost child-like, comical face with what I assume to be cocaine smeared all over it. I’m also wearing large, coke-bottle-bottom glasses that make my eyes seem a tad larger than they actually are. My pupils are probably dilated too. I guess I was gawking. My bad. Sly, now awake, lifts his head from the pillow, looks at me with an evil frown and blurts out, “What the fuck are you looking at?”
He lets out a coughing laugh and continues, “Yo, bug eyes — you look like you seen a ghost.”
Nervous laughs erupt from the audience of three. He lifts his head up a bit more, looking down his white powdered nose, examining Andy, then me. His brow furrows a little, a pause, then in that deep, grainy Sly Stone voice he says, “Who the fuck are you? What the fuck are you doing here?”
Andy seizes the moment. “I’m Andy, this is Jimmy. My friend, Pat Rizzo, told me you’re looking for a drummer. I think I’m your man.”
Sly mocks, “You… are my man? YOU? Are My Man?”
More snickers from the court of three.
Andy: “Yes.”
Sly: “M’man says yes. Are you funky?”
Andy: “Yes.”
Sly: “Show me, white boy.”
Ouch! Ok, Sly has a set of practice pads in his bedroom. They’re just grey rubber pads set up like drums with Toys ‘R’ Us cymbals, and they make a clicking noise, exactly what you would expect from hitting hard rubber with drumsticks. Andy looks at them with dread, but like I said in the car, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Well, they could all laugh and tell us to get the fuck out of there. So what? Who cares? They’re strangers, and Sly is so out of it, why take any of it seriously? Andy stands up, walks over to the pads, sits down and kicks into an amazingly intricate funk beat that even on the pads sounds like the hippest drum beat you ever heard. He had been listening to Tony Williams, a famous jazz drummer who perfected playing drum fills past the downbeat where most drummers usually hit a cymbal and go back to the normal beat. It’s a clever way to make the fill sound cooler. He’s nailing it like a pile driver. Sly gets up on the unstable surface of the waterbed and starts dancing. The waterbed is rolling like a vat of Jello in an earthquake. The three others track his movements with bulging eyes, ready to catch him before he loses his balance and impales himself on a bedpost.
Sly lets out a hoot and shouts, “You ARE funky. You a funky motherfucker. That’s what I’m talking about. That’s the shit. Play that shit. I love you, man. You in my band, motherfucker. You in the Family Stone.”
After fifteen seconds, Andy plays another how-the-hell-did-he-do-that fill and ends with a hilarious splat on the crappy tin cymbal.
Andy says, “Thanks. Wow, that’s great. Listen, I’m really sorry, but we’re playing at the Troubadour tonight, and we have to get back for our second show. Can I leave my number?”
The others now demonstrate that they can in fact speak, and one of them approaches. He extends his hand and says, “Cool man. You made m’man happy. We’ll be in touch.”
Sly says nothing more. No hand shake. No congratulations. No discussion of upcoming gigs or rehearsals. He just collapses on the bed, takes in another handful from the manila folder, closes his eyes and resumes his waterbed stupor with the audience of three, in the black fur-lined room, at the top of the stairs, in the mansion on Belle Aire Road, in Beverly Hills, California… and we take our leave. I want to be overly friendly to Rose on the way out as a send up to her prison warden greeting when we arrived. But neither she nor anyone else is around. We let ourselves out. Before we get into our humble little rental car, we run into Sly’s driver who is hanging out by his car in the driveway. Unlike his employers, he is friendly. I notice a pit bull behind the fence eyeing us with a disquieting low-frequency sound coming from his throat.
Looking back at the driver, I ask, “Is he friendly?”
The driver says, “Yeah, friendly. Well, someone messed with that little guy a couple of weeks ago. He took a shovel with a maple handle and leaned on the fence, teasing the dog with the handle. The dog bit the handle in half with one chomp. Do you have any idea how hard it is to bite a maple shovel handle in half? It could take you five minutes to saw through it.”
I had the feeling he was pulling our chains, but after everything else we witnessed that night, I was not interested in putting it to the test.
Sly’s next gig was in Philadelphia. Andy’s many attempts to get together with the band and rehearse proved futile. Sly and the Family Stone were notorious for not showing up for gigs or having individual band members not show up, so that added to Andy’s discomfort and frustration. The band had been mired in internal disagreements, excessive drug use, and had become dysfunctional to the point where rumor had it that the only reason they were still together was to support their drug-fueled lifestyle. The Philadelphia date came around, and the first time Andy played with them was that evening when he walked out onto the stage. Larry Graham, Sly’s bass player, became Andy’s ally and friend, so he maintained eye contact during the show, telegraphing the song endings so Andy would know what was coming. Andy lasted with them for about a year and a half. (“It’s a Family Affair” by James Ryan. Sep. 30, 2021 https://medium.com/@james.ryan_84272/its-a-family-affair-395ccb53e9e)

720319 Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA [Andy Newmark’s first gig]

720324-27 Fri.–Sun. Apollo, Harlem, NYC, NY [Two shows on each night. On Friday, Sly was late. On Saturday, he was even later for the late show and people were walking out long before the set was finished. On Sunday, Sly was there but no show, because Freddie passed out… Audio: “Instrumental”, “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”, “M’Lady”, “Sing a Simple Song”, “Family Affair”, “Stand! > You Can Make It If You Try”, “Dance to the Music” & “I Want to Take You Higher”]*

In: Youth Beat
By E. GUGLIELMO

… Sly Stone lost a few more fans in the Harlem area because of his late arrivals and no-show one night at the Apollo. Sly just didn’t feel like going on. Now he’s going to have a hard time being booked anywhere because of his “unpredictability.” (The Pittsburgh Press, PA 720520)

“I remember many many years ago at the Appollo in NYC Sly was very very very late. When he came on stage he said “i have a new guitar its black and its proud” and they yelled back Shut the F**k up and play!! It was not a good night looking at this photo reminds me of that night.” (Kevin G Kennedy)
“Yeah, the Apollo crowd was tough. The one and only time Sly didn’t show up for a concert that I attended (and I’ve seen them at least 12 times) was at the Apollo. Man all kindza $hit happened. A lot of it was pretty funny, but I got out of there before all hell broke loose. I could feel a riot comin’ on. Maybe I’ll write it up one day…” (Edde Lanier)(https://www.facebook.com/groups/SlyFriends)

“1971 [1972?], I was there. That is my recording! We were sitting in the 2nd row, stage left in front of Larry. It was an incredible show. The review is awful. Sly was late, but the show was wonderful. We didn’t gave great digital equipment to record what it sounded like there…It was recorded on a sad Norelco 120 cassette tape. You can hear us carrying on as the show went on…Sly had just got a New synthe and explored the sounds onstage. It was the first time Pat Rizzo was in the group playing soprano, Larry’s rendition of “Family Affair” took it to another level. The group had been playing their classics for a while so the creativity of approach live was a blessed experience. Freddie grooved hard, it was a great show, an important part of my childhood memories.
Many special tapes of mine were lost in storage… Wow!
I remember playing it for Sly he smiled.
So much more to the story… Peace, Space” (William S. Patterson)(Facebook)

?720331 ?, Dallas, TX

?720401 ?, San Antonio, TX

?720402 ?, Oklahoma City, OK

?720403 ?, Houston, TX

720407 First Electronic Rock Concert [telecasted in color via closed circuit television from the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum (Fort Worth, TX) to Idaho State University (Pocatello), University of Utah (Salt Lake City) and New Mexico State University (Las Cruces) by Joshua Television (Joshua White and Lee Edman)]

“Sly Concert Via Screen Falls Short”
by David Proctor
‘IN’ Music Writer

So… This is the very first electronic rock concert (a hyped-up name for closed circuit television.) A large screen sat on the floor of the University Special Events Center and a sparse crowd of Sly fans and curious sat back to check it out.
It was like watching American bandstand live. Well at least Sly showed. Not the legendary, charismatic Sly Stone and Family, but it was Sly.
The show originate in a very Salt Palace-like arena in Ft. Worth and was shown in Salt Lake, Pocatello and Las Cruces, N.M. It’s supposed to be the coming thing but it can keep going as far as I’m concerned. It has all the emotional involvement of a TV baseball game and is almost as boring.
As for Sly, he doesn’t seemed to have improved in his two-year layoff. His set consisted of filled out versions of his old hits and on the whole it dragged. If there is some of the old Sly Stone magic left it certainly didn’t come across on the silver screen. And that’s sad.
Although he did appear to be having a good time, the U. audience wasn’t too thrilled.
Electronic rock concerts? The Stones and Dylan and Presley could maybe pull it off. I’ll pass on the rest. (The Salt Lake Tribune, UT 720408)

“Audience Danced–But Not in Dome”
by JOAN MAUPIN
Journal Staff Writer

Sly and the Family Stone is a tremendous act. Really.
They can take an audience and put It on its feet and dancing.
They did that in Ft. Worth, Tex., but not In Pocalello, Idaho. The reports are not in yet from Las Cruces, N.M. and Salt Lake Cily, Utah.
A certain soft drink company, which may prefer to be nameless, inadvertently proved “live” is not “In person” and “electronic” is not “electric.”
The Minidome concert Friday night was billed as “the first electronic rock concert.” Closed clrcuit color televlsion brought Sly and the Family Slone, Ruth Copeland, and Shawn Phillips from the Will Rogers Coliseum in Texas to the other three cities menlioned. Unfortunately, a magnetism between performers and an in-person audience can’t travel a cable.
It’s a shame to get hung up on technology while discussing a top-talent rock concert. In this case, It’s unavoidable, since the medlum was billed along with the stars.
Much of the concert, before and between acts, was flited with an announcer in a studied hip faded blue denim uniform golly-gee-whizzing about what was going on. To those of us at the aukward age, too old for the Peps! Generation and to young for Medicare, it brought back memories of the early days of home television, when the least little event on the screenーor even the fact there was a screenーwas a signal for amazement.
Except for !he musicーand it was good musicーFriday evening was reminiscent of roller derby days and foot shuffling live events from clear across town broadcast on a 12-inch screen. We’ve come a long way, but we’re still impressed when the screen gets biggerーin this case 24 by 32 feet. Instead of a living room the screen was halfway distance in Minidome Intimate. So we contemplated our technological navel.
The commentator easily named Salt Lake or Las Cruces. A tone of wonder or awe was felt in his voice when he pronounced “.. and.. (pause) Pacatello, Idaho.” He never did seem to get used to saying the name. At last, after the concert he turned folksier–“Potato-land. “
Both Shawn Phillips and Ruth Copeland did exclting things with their voices. Their oral acrobatics took amazing control. A singer just doesn’t span those ranges or jump those intervals without knowing where to put vocal chords. Milss Copeland carried on the Grace Slick tradition. She sings all the way. Which brings up the only praise of the evening for electronic staging, It was possible to watch her facial expressions and see her fingers move as her music worked through her. That you can’t find in person unless you perch on the stage.
And Sly? What can be said aboul Sly Stone and his group?
They’re electric! “Dance to the Music” had the Ft. Worth audience doing it. They took everyone in Audience I higher.
Some of it almost broke through the silver screen. Almost. There was too much distance and the figures were too flat.
The camera work was good and there were some nice optical effects, but the sound was blurred at times and the color varied. For example, does Miss Copeland have red or brown hair?
Basically, the small Pocatello audience seemed inclined to wanderust. The picture never quile connected. Maybe some were trying to find a way to watch Sly and the Family Stone.
It was a good try, Pepsi People. You probably won’t pick Pocatello for a closed circuit show again, but you showed us why Sly can get $10 for a personal appearance ticket. (Idaho State Journal, Pocatello, Bannock, Idaho 720409)

720409 Joe Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, TX [supported by Ruth Copeland]

720422 “(You Caught Me) Smilin’” b/w “Luv N’ Haight” 7″ was released (Epic).

720500 Europe tour [canceled]

“Not only Sly, but sometimes just plain damn evasive”
ROY CARR talks to SLY STONE ー Why he missed Bardney and other tales

LOS ANGELES IS America’s Sodom and Gomorrah ー a city of dreams and extremes, which is painfully reflected in the dog-eat-dog instantly disposable life-style enacted daily by is multi-millions.
Situated slap bang in the middle of the San Andreas earthquake fault, it’s been prophesised that one day LA will be swallowed up in the bogest natutal holocaust known to man. UntIe then, it would appear that the whole place is going crazy.
In this sun-baked, smog draped City Santa Maria de Los Angeles, you’re either a winner or a loser. There are no varying shades. And if you should achieve election to the coveted winner’s enclosure, you are then obliged to secrete yourself behind the heavily locked doors of your TV-in-every-room air-conditioned apartment or burglar-proofed mansion, while your opposite number ー the loser ー stalks the street hustling for recognition, Jesus or spare change.
Sylvester Stewart alias Sly Stone is one of the winners. Yet, from the alarming manner in which he has chosen to manhandle his career. It would seem that Sty has an almost self-destructive urge to reverse his position.
So far the public refused to allow rock’s enfant terrible to blow it, but believe me he’s tried.
Indeed, Sly appears to have what can only be described as a masochistic relationship towards his career.
With constant regularity he blatantly abuses both himself and those who have elevated him to present stature.
As far as Sly Stone is concerned bad news is good news, for his notorious reputation ー failing to show for gigs and a reluctancy to put out regular record releases ー surprisingly hasn’t affect his commercial appeal.
Thousands still turn out for his concerts, maybe just to see if he shows or not, and grab his records by the million.
Somehow, Sly Stone vividly mirrors the paranoia that abounds in “Tinsel Town U.S.A.” He’s the personification of the cosmic super-spade: the stoned soul brother who, in terms of avant garde haute couture male appeal, is black and beautiful.
But in the realm of reliability, he is a walking nightmare for those who have to pander to his schizophrenic moods.
Single-handed. Sly has probably aged more promoters overnight, perpetrated more peptic ulcers and instigated more riots than any other artist, due to the fact that among his numerous? idiosyncrasies he was once alleged to have kept an audience waiting for up to two hours while he watched a movie on TV.
Sly and the Family Stone were scheduled to appear at the first Great Western Express Festival at Bardney. The organizers say signed contracts were exchanged. Sly’s name was displayed on the billboards, but few were surprised when the man didn’t show.
When talking to the artist, one has the feeling that he has no conception of time and space, or his previous whereabouts. This characteristic is clearly ?plified in his rather confusing excuse for his failure to fulfill the Bardney commitment:
“Well, I guess it was like this,” he began, in his familiar slow, laid-back manner, “if I didn’t come to England wherever it was, it was because I was somewhere else at that time. And that was probably a much better place for my head at that precise moment.”
“Actually, there weren’t a lot of dates around that particular time that make much sense to us. You gotta understand that we like to explode, and we didn’t explode in England.
“We exploded somewhere else, so that’s why we weren’t there. You know what I mean?”
I didn’t, but Sly did, for he persisted in tagging on that phrase “You know what I mean” at the end of each answer to my questions.
Apart from a “Greatest Hits” collection, a period of precisely two years was so elapse between the release of the “Stand” album and the last “There’s A Riot Goin’ On”.
Twelve months before the release of “Riot” album, Sly gave me an exclusive preview of the finished tapes, along with many hours of equally fine material by the Family Stone, Little Sister and Joe Hicks.
These tapes are still scattered around Sly’s home.
Beneath his exaggerated hirsute halo, only Sly knows the reasons for their non-appearance. His explanation is, to say the least, pixelating?:
“Whatever you are… painter, carpenter, mechanic, God forbid a producer… things have to take their time. Now if I was in an 85-dollars a week job it would be easy to put things out. But it’s so much more than that. So, in those terms, two years wasn’t a long time to put my last album out.
“You heard the tapes a long time ago, so you know that all the songs were made long before the album was made. No, I don’t think that two years was too long.
“I personally feel that “There’s A Riot Goin’ On” was a very truthful album, made and then released at a very truthful moment in time. That’s what it was all about, because I know that the truth always prevails.
“And that’s exactly what my music is all about… it’s only concerned with the truth and nothing else. You know what I mean?”
When I tactfully attempted to find out when the Joe Hicks “Life And Death” album and Little Sister’s LP debut would finally be unveiled on the Stone Flower label, he was somewhat evasive.
“It took two years to release my album at a time when it would make sense. They’ve got their own problems and therefore their records will only be available when the time is right for them.” When that would be he wouldn’t say, but he indicated it would be soon. Yet knowing Sly’s sense of time that could mean another two years.
Because of the erratic nature of his recording schedule, it is alleged that an agreement has been reached whereby Sly Stone receives from CBS, one million dollars cash-on-delivery for the master tape of each album.
Had this any bearing on his policy of delaying his product?
“There you go, rumours go around and around, so you can give rumours my regards.” he replied.
“There are always delays when you’re involved with general agreements with large organizations. It’s all a problem of gravity. I look forward to certain problems like putting out records and being on the road.
“Omitting that the band can’t get it together musically, the people of the group are only artistically inclined to use their talent to advantage, so that when we come to England later this year we’ll have smiles on our faces.”
Sly and The Family Stone are, musically, a unique aggregation, and because of the lack of any positive competition they have created their own market to the extent that any Sly record is a guaranteed million-plus seller within hours of its release. Sly has no immediate plans for putting out any new recording. He attempted to clarify his policy.
“For me, new songs are always a forward progression. Therefore, I assume situations for others and then explore new and exciting environments. Everything that happens to me is always new and truthful.
“I’m always working on new songs and then I put them into new albums. Time happens, things change and after a certain while I suddenly say, ‘Yeah, we need another album.’ and I put together an album that I feel makes sense and tells the truth.”
Again, I tackled Sly on his dubious record of not showing for gigs. At one time the odds were 8-1 on him not appearing.
“All that’s changed,” he informed me, “we’ve done 50 out of the last 51 shows.”
I suppose the isolated gig was his Bardney date?
Even if the public seems destined to remain in a state of bewilderment concerning Sly Stone’s directive, the artist is of the opinion that he knows his own destiny.
“Because of life in general, and the realisation that you can do more than one or two or even three things, this has made me aware of trying to do other things,” Uhmm…
He continued: “I suppose I don’t know what my ultimate ambition is, because I may never achieve it. Does anyone reach the point where they are satisfied?
“I may know the moment, should it ever come,  but then I may not. If you know the group you can tell there are many things that I want to do.
“Chatter ain’t necessary. Just listen to the music. You know what I mean.” At which point I figured it was a good moment to terminate our conversation… You know what I mean? (New Musical Express 720729)

720625 The Jackson Sun
“SUING SLY–Three Dog Night’s roadie, Robert Tommasco, filed a suit of $750,000 in assault and battery charges against Sylvester Stone, better known as Sly from the Family Stone. Tommasco claims he was attacked by Sly. No comment from Sly people.”

720718 Sly, Freddie and four others (Sylvester Stewart, 26, SF; James Brown, 27, SF; Frederick Stewart, 24, Bel-Air; Anthony Logan, 29, L.A. and April Silva, 21 and her sister Kathleen, 19, both of North Hollywood) were arrested in Hollywood after police searched their tour bus and found about two pounds of marijuana and two vials of cocaine. Sly and Freddie were released on $5,000 bond each, and the others were held in lieu of bond. (source: The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA 720718; The Los Angeles Times, CA 720719; The Charlotte Observer, NC 720719; San Antonio Express, TX 720719; The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, CA 720720)

Sly took to cruising the freeways and boulevards of L.A. in a 36-foot Winnebago, a sealed chamber even more hermetic than the studio at 783 Bel Air Road. ‘We used to ride around, getting high and making music,’ Bobby Womack remembered. ‘We would ride all up in the hills and he wouldn’t never stand still. He’d say, “Keep drivin’”! I was already spaced out because I was losing my wife. He said: “I ain’t never gonna give no woman that much action.” He said: “You’re too nice. I’m nasty, I don’t give a fuck.” He gave more of a fuck when the Winnebago was stopped and searched by police on Santa Monica Boulevard in July 1972.’ (“Looking at the Devil” by Barney Hoskyns. The Guardian March 19, 2006 https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/mar/19/urban.popandrock)

720812 Wildwood Convention Hall, Wildwood, NJ [Sly was supposed to start at 10:30 PM, but his plane reportedly landed at the wrong airport and his limousine was later bogged down in traffic. Sly didn’t appear on stage until 0:15 AM, and the show was stopped 45 minutes after because of Wildwood’s 1 AM curfew for under 18-year-olds. No refunds.]

WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP)

Rock fans who claimed they didn’t get their money’s worth of entertainment at a Sly and the Family Stone festival here last weekend are out of luck:
No refunds will be granted.
“Sly and the Family Stone did play and were paid in advance,” a festival spokesman said Wednesday night.
“Whose going to pay for the refunds?”
Sly was supposed to begin his performance at 10:30 p.m. last Saturday. However, his plane reportedly landed at the wrong airport and his limousine was later bogged down in heavy traffic. He didn’t appear on stage until 12:15 a.m. Sunday.
The show was stopped 45 minutes after his performance began because of Wildwood’s 1 a.m. curfew for under 18-year-olds. This left some 2,000 rock hungry fans with the feeling they had been short-changed.
The decision not to grant refunds was announced following a meeting between Mayor Guy F. Muziani, and Tyrone Enterprises, Inc., which leased Convention Hall for the concert. (The Philadelphia Inquirer 720806)

“Group Pulls Sly Trick”

I sent a letter to Wildwood Convention Hall in Wildwood, N.J., requasting a refund of $10 for two tickets we purchased to see Sly and Family Stone. They never showed up and we haven’t heard anything about aur refund. We don’t think we should have lo pay for something that never occurred. – W. G., Chambersburg, Pa.
According to a spokeswoman for convention hall in Wildwood, the group pulled a sly trick. They showed up In accordance with their contract, only they didn’t make it until midnight. They played from midnight to 1 a.m.
Since the contract wasn’t broken, the Wildwood Convention Hall will not give refunds on tickels purchased for the performance. An investigator for consumer protection in Camden, N.J., however, asks that you write them about your problem, including copies of all correspondence and photostatic copies of your tickets. Write to Consumer Protection Office, 530 Cooper St., Camden, N.J., 08104. They’ll see if they can help you get a refund. (The Daily Mail 721011)

720813 Festival of Hope 1972, Roosevelt Raceway, Long Island, NY [Festival of Hope benefit for Easter Seals. On 12th: Jefferson Airplane, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen, The James Gang, Elephants Memory, McKendree Spring and Stephen Stills Manassas. On 13th: SATFS, Bo Diddley, Looking Glass, Dr. Hook, Lighthouse, Billy Preston, Sha-Na-Na, The Shirelles and Ike & Tina Turner.]

“Sly and the Family Stone At Rock Festival Finale”
by Don Heckman

When Sly and the Family Stone closed the Festival of Hope‘s two‐day music festival at Roosevelt Raceway early yesterday morning the feeling of anticlimax was in air. Sly has been known not to show up for performances on occasion, but he was raring to go this time; ironically, his readiness came at a time and place when it really didn’t matter very much.

The few thousand listeners who waited through long hours of tedions equipment changes and other, less specific, delays were pleased enough to hear Sly, but neither their pleasure nor Sly’s performance could have any positive effect upon what may have been an economic disaster for the festival’s sponsors.

Sly’s group is a superb musical unit in every respect. It moves freely and easily from roaring jazz improvisations to raunchy rhythm and blues, from Sly’s infectiously simple riff melodies to the beautifully balanced interplay between soloists and ensembles.

In a program dominated by superb black performers —Ike and Tina Turner and Billy Preston, in particular— Sly’s unit, bolstered by a powerful new drummer, earned its position as the festival’s featured closing act. (New York Times 720815)

“Maybe $10 Is Too High for the Beach”
By Robert Christgau

The rock event called the Festival of Hope, which took place at Roosevelt Raceway last Saturday and Sunday, was at least as pleasant as a weekend at the beach. It was also somewhat more exciting and somewhat more expensive. Which sounds like a left-handed putdown and isn’t. The festival was fun, and I hope I can attend again next year. We gathered in little enclaves of chairs and blankets, met new friends we may or may not meet again, and participated in a large common experience. We played frisbee, we made out, we got high, we feasted on all manner of junk, and every once in a while we were immersed in something as thrilling as the briskest surf.

I belabor the metaphor because it is apt.

The Festival of Hope was a lot of things, most of them good, but because it took place in Nassau County, it was not a rock festivalーit felt more like… an outing. This distinction is not about those nasty old urban (or suburban) vibes. Sure, it was a small bummer to see all the blankets and sleeping bags spread over an expanse of asphalt when the green grass of the infield was on the other side of the brand-new 12-foot cyclone fence the Raceway had insisted that the festival construct. It was a big bummer to observe the Nassau County Police Department (also at the behest of the Raceway) march in when the fence came down during Jefferson Airplane’s climactic first-day set. But festivals thrive on adversity some have even survived an almost total lack of music. The Festival of Hope had nothing to thrive or even survive about. It was just there, all by its unpretentious self. For, when the music was over, everybody went home. Forget the smattering of out-of-town campers, forget the locals who would have liked to crawl into their sleeping bags between programsーthis was a gathering of commuters. Commuters, we know, simply don’t form fertile communities, and a successful rock festival is about community, in all its exuberance and garbage. So it wasn’t a rock festival, not really. Yet it wasn’t just a concert, either, not even in the festive post-Woodstock sense of an enormous audience joined in loose fellowship for an evening of music. The day was too long, and the ecstatic release that is the aim of almost all rock events had to be achieved gradually, organically.

Musically, the festival was superb, especially on Saturday. James Brown and Chuck Berry were both below their incomparable best, probably because they went on first and didn’t get anything like their fair share of feedback. Elephant’s Memory lived up to its power-boogieing reputation and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, veering crazily to the far sides of rockabilly all the way from pseudo-trucking songs to “Scenic Cruise”ーprovided one of their notorious and literally off-beat triumphs.

The Airplane seems finally to have coalesced around Paul Kantner and Grace Slick, with all the new-comersーguitarist David Freiberg, fiddler Papa John Creach, and drummer Johnny Barbataーlocked into the most cerebral, anti-funk hard-rock format this side of Jethro Tull.

But the most gratifying revelation was provided by the return of Stephen Stills from artistic limbo. The double album that Stills recorded with his new group, Manassas, is mostly filler, but in concert he and Chris Hillman provide a complete reinterpretation of the Los Angeles rock tradition to which they are so central, setting great songs from the Byrds and the Burritos and the Springfield and Stills’ more recent ventures into a perfectly conceived multi-percussive context.

Stills seems to have outgrown some of his old arrogance. He even danced a little for the peopleーa significant trendーand it was fitting for him to join the Airplane on their final encore. He belongs in the best company once again.

Sunday wasn’t as good. While some marvelled and others slept, I did the crosswords through Billy Preston, and solutions kept coming to me during Bo Diddley’s disappointing set. But the point of the outing was that there was no need to attend to everything. Lighthouse has evolved from the annoying contrivance of their early arrangements into jazz-rock that manages to be simultaneously bland and arty, but so what?

More crosswords. On the other hand, when the Shirelles came on I could move through the relaxed crowd for a closer look at Shirley Alston, who was once the finest female singer in the music business, and dance for old times sake. That was the way it went. Ike and Tina Turner would have been better spotlighted in the dark, but they got everyone going anyway. Dr. Hook was a funny surprise, Sha Na Na a not-so-funny non-surprise, and Sly and the Family Stone gave the best set I’ve ever seen them offer.

Of course, this catalog of judgments and prejudices is at least half irrelevant, because what happens at a gathering like the Festival of Hope happens not on stage but in the crowd. Since I knew more about the band than 95 per cent of the crowd, I enjoyed Commander Cody from the start, but I enjoyed them a lot more when the Commander himself shambled out from behind the piano for “Hot Rod Lincoln,” the group’s Top 10 novelty, and the crowd went wild with simple recognition. It’s easy to be snobbish about the propensity of audiences to love what they know, but the process is a natural one. The first task of any artist is to infuse his work with identity.

He can accomplish this cheaply, or honestly, and his audience is better or worse for his effort, that’s all.

The greatest virtue of stretched-out events like the Festival of Hope, in fact, is that they permit identities to developーthe

Commander and Elephant’s Memory will be starting off a lot more propitiously the next time they play Long Island. One would hope some similar advantage would accrue to the large proportion of black acts that appeared. Even though only one of the seven, James Brown, appeals primarily to a black audience, it seems that this year, at least, the failure of white audiences to identify intensely with black artists was one reason the Sunday show drew so poorly. Not even Sly and the Family Stone inspires the kind of excitement among white kids that makes ventures like the Festival of Hope economically feasible.

For that’s the rub. What was undoubtedly the finest two days of rock music ever to take place on Long Island really didn’t draw. Attendance figures are unclear, but 25,000 Saturday and 15,000 Sunday (in a 40,000-capacity space) is an extremely generous estimate. The Nassau Easter Seal Society, which produced the festival, can offer lots of reasonable excuses. The advertising could have been better, several of the biggest attractions have been around a lot lately, and false rumors of bust and sell-out proliferated as usual. But, in the end, maybe the problem was simply that the festival was too pleasant, too professional, too unclimactic. If the Airplane and Steve Stills can each sell out, say, Nassau Coliseum at $6.50 per seat, why can’t they draw 32,000 fans between them when for an extra $3.50 fans will get six additional acts? Maybe because even the best of days at the beach just doesn’t seem to be worth 10 bucks. (Newsday, Nassau Edition 720820)

Mary McCreary left Little Sister in 1972 to start a solo career, married Leon Russell and later recorded two albums with him. She was replaced by Lucy Hambrick. From this period, Little Sister started to join SATFS shows as background vocalists.

720826 Edmonton International Pop Festival, Alberta, Canada [Little Sister: Vet, Elva (a.k.a. Tiny) and Rose (Mary McCreary had just left the group.) with Freddie (org/trp/dr/vo), Cynthia (trp), Rustee Allen (b/dr), David Stallings (g) and Willie Sparks (dr).]#

720917 783 Bel Air Road. Photoshoot by Stephen Paley

720923 John Euless Park, Fresno, CA [More than 95-min. late. Supported by Stoneground, Commander Cody and Slade.]

“Rock Concert Falls Short”
by David Hale
Fresno Bee Arts Writer

There may be other rock concerts in John Euless Ball Park and Silvermorningmoon, a new Fresno production company, may book them. But the chances are that Sly and the Family Stone will not be invited to appear.

A marathon, six-hour concert Saturday night was the first promotion of Silvermorningmoon and the young Fresnans who are its coleaders. Mark Chenault and Russ Bader. Sly Stewart and company, one of pop music’s with “largest” groups, with origins in Sacramento and East Bay, was the headliner in a show which also included Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, Slade, an English group relatively new to this country, and Stoneground of San Francisco.

Slade (Stars)

Musically the evening was not an auspicious one for anybody, but if comparisons of applause and enthusiasm mean anything, the real star of the show was Slade, with a performance mixing thumping hard rock and theatrics. 

As a concert, in fact, the evening was more of a “happening” in which pickets greeted the arriving thousands, a rock and bottle barrage occurred in which at least one man was reported injured, and Sly and the Family Stone appeared about 90 minutes late under circumstances which were confusing to say the least.

Most of the drama was more obvious to those who took part in the concert from the outside, from roofs trees or frontlawns, than it was to the crowd in the ball park. The rock-and-bottle barrage came from outside, perhaps from some of the pickets whose placards demanded “better rock concerts” and “lower prices.” Police who had been patroling the perimeter of the park, retreated inside to avoid a confrontation and after a while the siege subsided. The only damage: A head injury claimed by one and and damage to the hood and windwhield of an ambulance.

Drugs On Hand

Drugs obviously were on hand; there was more than tobacco in the pall of smoke that hung over the stadium. The promoters, with foresight, had ordered the ambulance. Attendants treated two persons for drug overdoses, they said, taking one to the hospital. Otherwise the injuries were minor a turned ankle, a cut toe, a splinter in the hand.

Stoneground, which consists of four girl singers and several other musicians, opened the concert a few minutes before 6 p.m., performing on stage set up in the left field corner of the park. They deserved a better lot, playing about 45 minutes to little effect.

Slade was a group of as much interest visually as musically in a wild assortment of costumes. They had much better luck getting the crowd’s attention, due in part, me thinks, to the cheer-leading theatrics of lead singer Noddy Holder. But Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, a strong group in the 1950s rockabilly tradition, attracted enthusiastic applause only for its biggest hit, “Hot Rod Lincoln.”

Crowd Has Long Wait 

The crowd clearly was marking time until the appearance of

Sly and the Family Stone. They waited a long time after the departure of Cody, with extraordinary patience. The only sounds from the stage from 9:30 o’clock to about 10:45 were periodic announcements attributing the delay to faulty equipment.

In truth, the reason for the delay was Sly Stewart, a performer notorious for his disregard for punctuality. Many of the fans had already departed the scene before the leader in typical grand style arrived in chauffeur-driven limousine with police escort.

When Sly and The Family Stone finally did reach the stage, they made little pretense of having come to play. The first number, 20 minutes long, might have been conducted with a metronome, for all its inventiveness and was an insult to the crowd which had waited so long.

Enthusiasm Lacking

Performances of other old hits such as “Sing a Simple Song” “Dance to the Music” and “Stand” also were received by the audience with singular lack of enthusiasm for a band noted for exciting the crowd to a frenzy. “Higher,” the tune famous for electrifying the multitudes at Woodstock, roused some audience participation, but not much.

As far as the majority of the crowd was concerned the performance was a case of too little too late. Even promoters Chenault and Bader professed themselves disillusioned. But then they had the comfort of the gross they claimed as the largest in Fresno concert history ー some 10,000 persons at about $5 a head. (The Fresno Bee Republican 720925)

720927 783 Bel Air Road with Clive Davis [Photo: Stephen Paley]

721007 L.A. Forum, Inglewood, CA [25-min. late. Supported by Tower of Power, Cymbal & Clinger and Rastus.]

“Sly, Family Stone at Forum”
by Michael R. Ross

The reviewer experienced violence at the Forum Saturday night.
It was ugly and unreal, and it outraged him. He saw rows of seats turned into barricades and a hundred kids trampled as they tried to dance to Sly & the Family Stone’s music.
He saw a burly security guard shove a young girl against a chair, and she was out. He saw a fellow reviewer cursed to her face by the same man. He saw a little child, who loved Sly, leaving the Forum in tears.
He saw middle class kids treated like “niggers” by men just obeying the rules, and he saw those kids come alive to a great rock band. Then, later, he understood the spiralling euphoria of Sly Stone’s music.
Sly, whose flamboyant clothes, eccentricities and performances have marked him as a magnificent weirdo, provides as ecstatic an experience as rock has given. He is a missionary of freedom, and there are crypto-cops, in and out of rock arenas and uniforms, who don’t touch the stuffーor tolerate anyone who does.
The greatness of “Dance to the Music,” “Family Affair,” “Life” and “Everyday People” has little to do with deepness of thought. For Sly, they reflect his world, and the multilayered songs and funky rhythms are his way of saying, “I did it my way.” He wears a red ribbon in his natural, and he tells the truth.
When you talk about a Sly & the Family Stone performance, you are talking about a religious service, no less than one by Kuhlman or Margot. It is an intrasoul religion based on exhilaration ー that you’re not going to die today, that you know who you are, that you’re going to live. Sly lives.
Tower of Power, the current champs of horn-heavies, preceded Sly with a slow, sure, surprisingly banal set. The 10-man East Bay band reaches an audience that believes, in good faith, that their boys can out-soul-rock all comers. Despite the considerable appeal of the “Down to the Nightclub” hit, that’s just not true.
Cymbal & Clinger, a sort of post-pubescent Paul & Paula, also performed to the meager-sized audience. Once or twice, they reached the heights of adequacy. They wrote “Rock Me Baby” for a “Superstar,” and also one tune about sleeping alone that seemed like a rip-off, both in melody and sentiment, of the Shangri-Las’ “Leader of the Pack.” (Los Angeles Times 721009)

721026 Shady Grove, Rockville, MD [Originally, the concert was scheduled for October 26, 27 and 28 but was changed to October 26 only.]

“I saw Sly and the Family in October 1972 at the Shady Grove music theater in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The band was about an hour late and they came to the stage without Sly. They played all the hits with Freddie and Larry singing most of the songs. After about an hour set, they had to help Sly to the keyboard. He picked up his guitar and played what sound like Sex Machine from the Stand album for about an hour and that was the show. The ’72 show still had Graham on bass and I was in close proximity of greatness.” (Joe Rodney Bush)(https://www.facebook.com/groups/SlyFriends)

“I worked for Pizza Man in 1972 and delivered a pizza to him in a penthouse on the Sunset Strip. He gave me a $5 tip, which was big money!” (Steve Ullman)(https://www.facebook.com/100044381051343/posts/10154494997977040/?rdid=yIccVU0m5GAOeIpN)

721115 783 Bel Air Road
Sly interview by Chris Van Ness, Los Angeles Free Press

“SLY STONE TALKS!”
by CHRIS VAN NESS

Interviewing Sly Stone [721115] is a bit like trying to talk to a trained doorknob.
I was met in the lobby of Sly’s Beverly Hills apartment building by two of Sly’s advisors and Gary Bookasta (for background on Bookasta and the interview see the article below). We rode up on the elevator together to Sly’s eighth-floor apartment where we were met by Sly’s bodyguard, a burly but otherwise pleasant fellow named Ron. I was told that Sly had just gotten out of bed (it was 6:30 in the evening), was taking a shower and would be out in a few minutes.
While I positioned myself on a couch in one corner of the room and readied my tape recorder, the four characters sat in the opposite corner looking like the jury out of Kafka’s The Trial ー as directed by Tom O’Horgan. We sat quietly and waited for Sly. It was a rather quiet and bizarre fifteen minutes.
Sly finally made his entrance ー and it was an entrance. Fresh out of his wake-up shower, he was dressed in a gold lame dinner suit without a shirt. He smoked a cigarette in an ivory holder as he paced up and down in front of me making sure I got the full effect. But it was Sly Stone, the man who never talked to the Press, and he was putting on a show for me ー fully costumed and choreographed.
Someone on the jury, after an awkward minute or so, suggested to Sly that he sit down. “Sit down?” he answered, “Sure,” whereupon his feet flew out from under him and he hit the white shag carpet with a dull thud, bursting into a fit of near-maniacal laughter as he did so. During the interview, he would frequently burst into this weird kind of defensive laughter whenever the questions got too tough or vague which was frequently. (Also, not noted in the text of the interview except where they were excessive, are the pauses which inevitably followed every question I asked.)
The show was further enhanced, after about ten minutes of vain questioning, by the appearance of a very attractive Oriental lady in a matching gold lame outfit who brought Sly a glass of water and sat at his feet for the rest of the interview. Barnam would have been proud.
The tape started with Sly prone on the floor laughing at his pratfall. I knew the interview was going to be difficult, but I persisted. What follows is a word-for-word transcription of what was said:

We’ll start with the concert; that’s what I’m here to talk about really.

Well, get started; will ya? Get started with the concert, and we’ll start acting. Get on with the show.

How and why did you decide to do a big benefit?

A benefit? Oh…. A benefit? I don’t know what you’re gonna ask me, man. Get that hump out of your back, will ya? Ask me a question.

You haven’t been performing lately that much, as a rule.

Huh?

Am I wrong?

Yeah, we’re performing a lot. There’s no rule…. I don’t think. What are you firing up?

A cigarette; that’s all.

Watch yourself; you’ll get street cancer.

I’ll try again: Why are you doing the KROQ show?

I get a chance to play for people. 

Do you like the idea of the big audience as opposed to a normal-size concert?

I’d just rather play right here, really. It just happens that a lot of people can’t be right here.

Then you don’t like the big halls?

It doesn’t make any difference. You can’t see past wherever you can’t see past; I don’t care where you’re at. If you’ve only got so much range, you’ve only got so much range; I don’t care where you’re at.

So then you’re playing for the first eight rows no matter what the situation is?

I just play for the people, no matter what the situation is. Know what I mean? I mean, like right now even. For all the people. Power to the people. And you. And me.

Have you been recording a new album?

Yeah. Always.

Can you say anything about it? Do you want to talk about it, or wait until it’s out?

I can do all that. I can say something about it or wait until it’s out or what. It’s called Babies Making Babies. Can you dig it?

(It is at this point in the interview that the Oriental girl in the matching gold lame outfit enters. Sly speaks to her in an assumed Chinese accent.)

Ah, who are you? Velly solly, did not recognize you when you walk into room. Velly far out.

(To interviewer) She a member of Sly and the Family Stone. Know that group? Velly far out. K-ROQ.

Okay; let’s back up a few years. You came out of what was known as the San Francisco scene.

Yeah.

Probably Sly and the Family Stone was more identified with that scene than a lot of other groups ー

Yeah, we were…… I don’t think so. Ask Bill Graham.

But what happened to all that energy ー all the performers and positive things ー 

I don’t know. Is it dead?

Yeah, it’s dead.

It did die? Honest to goodness?

The Fillmore’s closed; there’s nothing left.

Well, power to the people.

Is that the stock answer for everything?

No; it just seems like that’s the way it is. It deserves the power. Not stock people…. Come on, man, let’s get down. Ask me somethin’. No; it just seems like that’s the way it is. It deserves the power. Not stock people….. Come on, man, let’s get down. Ask me somethin’. 

Okay, let’s try a heavy question: For a while you were having problems with concert dates. Right?

What do you mean?

You weren’t showing up, or you were showing up late.

I was on time, buddy.

Okay.

But what was all the commotion about your never showing up for gigs?

When I got there, I played. It was cool. What was happening before I got there, I couldn’t help. But a couple of times there were riots. Before I got there. It just goes to show you.

What?

That riots happen before I get there.

Okay. But sometimes you get there late. Now, did you get there late so a riot would happen?

No…. that ain’t no fun, I don’t think.

Am I getting into something you don’t want to talk about?

It doesn’t matter; I’ll talk about anything…… This ought to be on television.

Television would never have it.

Yeah. Guess not.

Okay. New topic: I noticed some changes in the music on your last album. The energy level on your last album did not seem as high as on the ones before.

Okay.

You had more instrumental things happening, and the structure of the music seemed looser. Is that fair?

Is that fair? It’s fair to be loose.

Was this a conscious change on your part? Are you making a change in your music, or is this something that’s just evolved?

All of that. It’s a conscious change ー something that evolved ー and I’m making a change. All that.

How would you define the change?

Evolution. When I start to say that, then I start to say “nickels and dimes.” Know what I mean?

Is that what it comes down to?

I don’t know, man. Change. Nickels and dimes. Change. This ought to be on television.

Sure.

It should be, man…… On “Hee Haw.” I like that one.

You’re over-dressed for “Hee Haw.”

Think so, huh? Okay.

One more try: Would you call your music revolutionary?

Sometimes.

Okay. When is it revolutionary, and when is it not?

(long pause)

You still want me to answer that?

Yeah.

When is the music revolutionary?

Right.

Revolutionary? How do you spell “revolutionary?”

How do you spell it?

Yeah.

R-E-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y.

It’s those times when things are so disciplined that it’s a drag to be loose; that’s when the music is revolutionary.

Because the music makes it loose?

Sure.

Is that, then, the purpose of what you’re doing?

Sure. Music is a way of communicating to other people without having to necessarily speak to them as a politician or something. It’s a vibe that you can listen or dance to and get out of the drag of it all. It’s excitement, man. Entertainment.

Everybody likes it ー Nixon, everybody.

You think Nixon would like Sly and the Family Stone?

Yeah; sure. He likes “Family Affair.”

But doesn’t all that make you a kind of politician, too? You, as a musician —

Well, I ain’t runnin’ for anything. That’s my point: You, as a musician, control a lot of —

Maybe I am, though. I am runnin’ for something.

What?

President.

Of what?

The United States on out.

Okay. On your own ground, though, right?

That’s where I’m at. Okay. As a musician, you do have control over a lot of people — especially in a concert situation.

Well, they put all the lights on me. But you know yourself that when there are riots, you can go out and play and cool people off.

That’s nice.

But are you conscious of that power you have over people? Are you aware that you have that much to work with — just as a man up there on a stage?

Yeah, I’m aware that I make sense.

How? How am I aware of that? Because people stop fighting. And when people stop fighting, they enjoy the music: and they like to hear it. It’s fun.

Do you always enjoy performing? You must have had bad shows —

The only time I ever did bad shows is when I wasn’t there. Every time I play. I’m happy.

Is that all it is? Being happy?

When I’m playing, that’s all there is.

Would you rather play in front of an audience or record?

I like to do all of it. It’s all one thing. But in a studio, you’re not getting any feedback from an audience. It’s just you and the microphones and the technicians.

But I’m still loving the music. And I feel the energy of the music and the energy of the people who are going to react to the music. And I know they’re going to react happy; they’re not going to react mad. It’s fun.

Are you going to keep doing keep what you’re doing?

I want to do more of it.

Are you happy?

Yeah, I’m happy.

(Los Angeles Free Press 721124)

721119or20 Sly attended Elton John show at Carnegie Hall, NYC

721122 “Babies Makin’ Babies” was registered.

721122 afternoon Sly was charged $25 at Harvey’s Radio Co., on 45th St. off 5th Avenue, NYC, NY for waving his toy pistol looking like a Colt .44.

“Wild West Moves to 45th St.”/”A Phony Cowboy Invades 45th St. Store”
by Frank Faso and Jean Crafton

It was just a little after high noon when the stranger in the buckskin jacket, levis, Afro haircut, silver-studded holster and imitation Colt .44 stalked through the doors of Harvey’s Radio Co. 2 W. 45th St.
And although midtown Manhattan is a far place from Tombstone, he might still have gone unnoticed if he had started brandishing that six-shooter and hollering.
Neither the eight to 10 customers nor the employes could make out exactly what he was hollering. But the Colt 44 looked like the real thing and there was much ducking for cover and moving out of the way.
A man on the sidewalk glanced into the window, did a double-take, then dashed for the nearest police call box. A cowboy was holding up Harvey Radio Co., he told the Midtown North Precinct.
Sirens screaming like nothing the old west ever heard, squad cars converged on Harvey’s and a quartet of cops dashed into the store.
He Rocks a Lot, Too
“Hey, Man. I’m from Fort Worth, Tex. and I’m a cowboy,” the cops quoted the stranger as saying as they escorted him from the store. That was after the cops discovered that the gun was really a toy.
Later, in the W. 54th St. stationhouse, the stranger confided that he really wasn’t a cowboy. He was really Sylvester Stewart, 28, a record producer, and he lived in San Francisco, he said.
The cops did not know until Stewart’s lawyer showed up that he’s also Sly Stone, leader of the rock group Sly and the Family Stone which is an annual sellout at Madison Square Garden.
Sly got a summons on a charge of threatening people with an imitation gun for which he could be fined up to $25.
The cops also told him to hang up his gun and holsterーin the 54th St. precinct.
Stripped of his six-shooter, Sly and his lawyer faded away into the westering traffic. There were no changes in the scheduled opening today at the Garden. (Daily News, NY, NY 721123)

721122 Music Hall, Boston, MA [Supported by Rhythm, a Boston-based pop-soul group.]

[The show] began with a 15-minute instrumental warm-up leading into “Thank You (Falettin Me Be Mice Elf Agin)” followed by “M’Lady” and “Stand,” the flashy, high-energy material through which he attained national recognition.

From his later period of musical self-examination came “Family Affair” featuring a horn break by new member Pat Rizzo and a keyboard solo by Sly himself. “You Can Make It If You Try” closed with a slow gospel-shouted refrain. “Sing a Simple Song” enjoyed a long drum surge by Andy Newmark, who used to back Carly Simon.

Although the music was competent and of reasonable duration (the group played for 90 minutes), except for a few numbers the excitement that characterizes Sly and the Family Stone at their best was missing. The lights went on and the rest of the band walked off stage as Newmark pounded the finale to “Higher.” Then, with a minimum of applause, the crowd departed too. (“Another Stone arrested; only this time it’s Sly” by Bruce Sylvester. The Boston Globe, MA 721124)

721123&24 MSG, NYC, NY [With The Staple Singers, plus Bulldog. Songlist (721123?24?): “Thank You Falettinme Be Mice EIf Agin > M’Lady”, “Hot Fun in the Summertime”, “Stand”, “Everybody Is a Star”, “You Can Make It If You Try”, “Sing a Simple Song” & “I Want to Take You Higher”.]

Photos by Don Paulsen

“Sly is back and behaving well”
by Rick Atkinson

Sly and the Family Stone came to New York last week and proved to everybody in the area that they are far from dead. It took quite a bit of doing, since Sly and company seemed to be in a hopeless tailspin professionally for more than two years.
When he first appeared, Sly showed some of the arrogance that had gotten him in trouble in the first place, telling the audience, “…start having fun right now. Don’t wait until the last minute and then complain that we didn’t play for long enough.” He also told the police, politely but in no uncertain terms, that they should back off, because the people had paid to have a good time.
From the moment they began to play, Sly and the Family Stone demonstrated a charismatic power without equal. The first notes of the show lifted the audience to its feet, where they remained until the final chorus of “I Want To Take You Higher” had died out in the cavernous room.
They opened with “Thank You Falettinme Be Mice EIf Agin,” then charged straight into “M’Lady.” They did a set that could only be described by one of their album titles: “Sly and the Family Stone’s Greatest Hits.”
During the course of the evening, the program included “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” “Stand,” “Everybody Is a Star,” “You Can Make It If You Try,” and “Sing A Simple Song.” When the house lights came up the entire audience was singing the song. On cue they roared back the word higher and waved their arms in time, completely caught up in the music and spirit of the event.
So, prophets of doom, beware! Sly is back and better than ever.
(The Sunday Record, Hackensack, NJ 721203)

“Saw Sly and the Family Stone upon Thanksgiving night in 1972 [721123] at MSG, NYC. True to form he was over an hour late but put on a great show.” (classicrocker)(https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/sly-the-family-stone-live.957248/)

“I remember seeing SATFS at MSG performing “Babies Makin’ Babies” and Larry was still in the group. [711208? 721123?24?] I remember they had a SERIOUS funky and there were no lyrics other than “Babies Makin’ Babies”.” (Edde Lanier)(https://www.facebook.com/groups/SlyFriends)

721125 KROQ’s Ultimate ‘ROQ’ Concert, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, L.A., CA [Larry’s last gig. KROQ’s Ultimate ‘ROQ’ Concert, proceeds went to L.A.’s Free Medical Clinics. With Bee Gees (–1:30am), Stevie Wonder, Chuck Berry, Sha-Na-Na, Elephant’s Memory, Merry Clayton, Love, The Four Seasons, The Raspberries, Keith Moon, Flash Cadillac, Batdorf & Rodney and Marjoe. SATFS was the last act after Bee Gees. Mott the Hoople, Crazy Horse and The Eagles had to cancel out because of lack of time (Live concerts must end by 2am in L.A..).]

“Sly opened his act (very late) saying…. “Fuck you all…..”” (Don Brown)

“By the time Sly came out, it was past ending time for the concert, but he was obviously too high to play anyway. They weren’t even plugged in – I remember him saying something like “look – no wires”” (Jeff Levin)

“I was there! Does anyone remember how late Sly was and how absolutely f’d up he was???? I think the crowd just booed them off stage. All day and all night concert, loved it. Four seasons were great as were Bee Gees before all that saturday night live disco stuff.” (Chris Colburn)

“I was there too. John Lennon called in, Keith Moon was MC. I remember the band [Family Stone] was vamping on Thank you for what seemed like 5 minutes before Sly came on with a guitar banging on it out time wrong notes, they took him off saying gonna get the guitar in tune ….. band came back vamping thank you again … sly comes out banging on piano…. taken off again ….. comes back out by himself with his toy cowboy gun threatening to shoot out the lights. that’s about all i remember about that one. I seem to remember badorff and rodney or seals and crofts there also. and of course the L.A. PO Lice. For some reason I thought it was a buck. fuckin 60/70’s” (Ron Fast)

“I was there too, Sly was stoned out of his mind. I seem to remember him threatening to blacken the promoters eye. It was so friggin cold nobody’s instruments would stay in tune. All in all a very unpleasant night.” (Rick Hathaway)

“I remember waiting forever for Sly.” (Carolyn MacLean)

“I was there too. Sly came out totally wasted & he had a gun in his hand. They did not even perform which was a shame because I had seen them in their prime & they were great. It was kind of a nightmare show! I remember the cops came in & busted a bunch of people. The highlight of the whole show was Stevie Wonder’s performance! I was on acid & the whole night was just crazy!” (Bob Roehrman)

“I was also there. Sly fucked up. Stevie Wonder was insanely great. The group that surprised me was Sha Na Na! They were so much fun. We stayed sober because of the amount of LAPD. Chief Davis was a fucking dick.” (Nick Altieri)

“I was there with some friends & we left before Sly & The Family Stone appeared. We were listening live on the car radio to KROQ when Sly came on stage & it was quite apparent he was drugged out of his mind. He was cursing something about the lights, live on the radio. I think the lights were turned off purposely to try to get him off the stage because he was so STONED!!! I remember John Lennon’s phone call which was put on the P.A. system for everyone there to listen to.” (Jeff Halbert)

“I was there. There had been a rumor that Lennon would be a surprise guest. It was Yoko I believe that made the phone call [“John and I can’t be there, but we’re with you in spirit”]. I think I learned later that the Bee Gees were angry that the phone call had interrupted their set.” (Miguel Garcia)

“I was there! Loved Chuck Berry and singing along to pre-disco Bee Gees songs. We waited for Sly and then he was too stoned to perform. An anti-climactic end to a memorable event.” (Marian Dent Johnson)

“Weren’t there like 200 undercover LAPD arresting people left and right here? I had 3 friends arrested. Ruined their college athletic careers.” (Harry Grace)

“Remember it well and what a weekend it was!! Was there from start to finish and smoked a months worth of weed over the weekend. I remember Sly constantly dropping “F” bombs and just acting like a complete ass. Who cares as it just added to the experience. For the most part, a good time was had by all!” (Thomas Wilson)

“I was there. Sly came in all FD up and wanted the lights turned off, was hurting his eyes. He couldn’t even play one note on his guitar. He ended up leaving.” (Henry Roedell)

“I was there, they made Sly get off the stage because they said it was past the time music could be played.” (Emily Smith)

“We were there from beginning til near the end (when Sly Stone stopped song to tell powers that be to turn down Stadium lights). Our parents showed up to find us on the field near the stage, after seeing news reports of arrests and crowd troubles.” (Del Belisle)

(https://www.facebook.com/LAColiseum/photos/november-25-1972-on-this-day-in-history-at-the-los-angeles-memorial-coliseumnew-/10159785736020171/)

Hamp (Bubba) Banks (Sly’s personal assistant): I was the cat that fired Larry Graham. We were in New York City, getting ready to goto Madison Square Garden. Larry Graham had his whole little entourage, and Sly hated this cat. I hated him, too. I called and said that it was time to be at the limousine. Now, he’s got his henchmen. Sly is no longer the only cat with the bad guy. (Larry’s) got himself his own tough guy. I said, “Put Larry on the phone and tell him the car is waiting downstairs.” He said, “Tell everybody to go ahead.” I said, “No, you are coming down now.” I sent everybody else and stayed in his car. I was getting ready to intimidate now. I went in his room and his little henchman was walking around behind me. I decided to do something to him after the gig at Madison Square Garden.

Ken Roberts (band manager): We were playing Madison Square Garden and then we were gonna be flying back to do a show in Los Angeles. I had to hire a jet in the middle of the night and getthem back here. We flew back in the middle of the night. Sly was sleeping, but we knew we had to catch the plane. We actually sacked Sly on a chair and had two guys carry the chair down the elevator and go through the lobby of the hotel, to the back entrance on 58th Street. All the security guards were looking at this guy going out in a chair. They thought he was dead. The limousine was there and Sly had a plaid vest and leather black pants on. The guy stopped me at the door because they thought he was dead. We said, “He is sleeping.” They said, “How do you know that he is sleeping?” “When he goes through this door, you will see that he is sleeping.” Why? Because it is freezing. It was so cold, when the door opened, Sly went “whef.” He just woke up. We pushed the chair and threw him into the car. We went to the plane back to California. The show was out at the L.A. Coliseum.

Robert Joyce (road crew): We had an overnighter, Madison Square Garden to the L.A. Coliseum. We didn’t know if we could get the equipment turned around fast enough. What we planned on usingwas all brand-new Acoustics, out of the box, delivered from the factory to the job. We had a private jet, so there was no room. We had a 24-footer truck full of gear. All I would do was take the organs on the plane with me. No way we were going to get it done.

Vernon (Moose) Constan (road crew): Everything was working good (before the show at Madison Square Garden), but Sly was all screwed up. He could hardly walk. He was really fucked up on drugs. He got up on stage and he tried to play this Farfisa organ, a new one. He thought that it wasn’t working. I don’t know if it was really busted or not. So he made this announcement. “Moose, get out here and fix this organ. Here’s the guy. It’s all his fault this is not working.” I went out there and did something. I don’t know if I really did anything, but I got it working. He went back out and played. He was mumbling and he was obviously too fucked up to be out there.

Joyce: There was some fucking major problems that night. Stevie Wonder opened the show and kicked our ass. Sly had to come out behind that. There was some technical difficulties. We got it licked in minutes. We had a bad show. Sly was getting booed. When Sly came offstage, he pointed his finger at me, indicating it was my fault. I said, “Hey, it wasn’t my fault.”

Constan: Sly came into my room. I was sitting on the bed. He said, “Why did you do this to me––give me the fucking organs that don’t work?” I said, “There was nothing wrong.” Boom, somebody kicked me in the head. They were all standing over me, like, do you want me to kill him? They did me in pretty good. I had cuts on my face. I was almost knocked unconscious on the first blow. They went through their karate shit and f-ucked me up a little bit, mainly to the head. I didn’t have any broken ribs. I was sitting down, so I just fell back on the bed. I don’t even know who it was. I never even saw the guy. He just kicked me from behind. They left. They took Rob’s (Joyce’s) girlfriend. We were really worried about finding her because she was, like, kidnapped, didn’t want to go with them. They took her. I got pretty tore up. I went to the hospital for a concussion.

Edward (Eddie Chin) Elliott (associate of Banks): That was my party. Moose, he stole equipment or something. He tells me, “If you think I did it, do what you are going to do.” I looked at Bub (Banks). Bub looked at me and it was on. I was all over him like a cheap suit. Sly just . . . he wanted to be in it. After it was over, if I remember correctly, Sly might have went over there and did something. I don’t know. To be in it, it wasn’t natural for him.

Joyce: Knock on the door, a bunch of men come into the room, whale on me and leave. Sly was in the room. Bubba was in the room. I couldn’t believe I was getting whacked by him. That changed my life. A guy named Joe Hicks was in the room. I really can’t remember what that was about. It was so traumatic. When they came in, Vern (Constan) was in the room, too. It was our room. That was a terrible thing to happen because I loved Sly. I would have done anything for him. I worked night and day. He was very uncomfortable about that. That really was what had to be. Because back then, things just had to be. Certain things had to be. That had to be. I challenged Sly in front of them. Right on stage in the Coliseum.Terrible night. I will tell you this, that night was based on PCP. Both guys were doing that. Acting all funny. It was new then. Moose quit and left. He never came back. That was his last night.

Banks: We get to Los Angeles. I call my man and tell him to meet me at the airport and bring a pistol. I had two dudes around me that, if they were here, you would feel uncomfortable. . . . Larry gets off and he has still got his little henchmen. Sly’s got all his little flunkies and they is all doing the Sly-flunky thing. Larry has got all his flunkies and they is doing the Larry-flunky thing. He is matching Sly now. We go to the arena, flew right in. Everybody gets to their dressing room. I can’t wait. My man is ready. They do the gig, but Larry smells a rat and they got out of there. But we all are staying down on Wilshire. The whole entourage is at the Cavalier––Jimmy Ford, Bobby Womack, everybody––because Sly is in L.A..

Elliott: We heard that Larry Graham had got a hit man to do Sly. Hit man? This is getting good. We were in the lobby. We looked up and here comes Larry and some dudes down the stairs. I got behind the stairs and when they came down, we worked them. We put the street on ‘em. Their mouths got them in trouble. . . . We worked them so good. There was no getting away from us. We left some of them laying out.

Banks: Somebody tells me that Larry and his henchmen are in the lobby. I don’t know why, but I had a walking cane in my hand. When I looked up, I’m in the lobby, and Larry’s man is there. I took the walking cane and broke it over his head. We started whipping this cat so bad, I don’t know if he was ever heard from again. But we whipped him so bad, Larry was able to escape. He got out of there quick. That’s why I say I fired him. That was the end of Larry Graham.

Pat Rizzo (saxophonist): I was the one that got him and his girlfriend out of the hotel. That was f– scary. I saved Larry’s life. We did a show at the Coliseum and all the equipment was f– up. The Hammond organ, everything. We went on to play, but everyone was pretty f– up, especially Sly. We didn’t even get through one song, I don’t think. What flared up the hostility at the Cavalier? I don’t know. We got out of there just in the f– nick of time. They were going to kill Larry. I don’t know why.

Larry Graham: There comes a time when somebody leaves a family situation because it is time to go. . . . It became time for me to go. That is basically it. I didn’t see a scene at the hotel. I heard about some negative things that went down, but I didn’t see it. Actually, it was time to go overall. By that time, the changes that had taken place were already firmly established. Things were now the way they would be. It didn’t look like it would be changing back to the way it was before. I was very comfortable, very satisfied with the way things were before, naturally hoping things would stay like that. But they didn’t. It was time to go.

Roberts: Something happened between him and Larry Graham. Had to do with a girl, something. I don’t know what happened, really. Later that night, Hamp Banks and them went over to the hotel. They had a big fight or something and that was it. Larry never showed up again. I went up to San Francisco within the next couple of months and I met with Larry at his house. . . . Larry said, “That is it.” (When we went out to his car) he lifted up the hood. He thought there was a bomb. That is how frightened this guy was of this whole thing. He said, “I am never going back again.” And he never did.

(“The Bleak Days Of Sly And the Family Stone / For the first time, band associates talk about the drugs and violence that led up to the
ouster of bassist Larry Graham” (excerpt from “For the Record: Sly and the Family Stone – An Oral History” by Joel Selvin) https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/the-bleak-days-of-sly-and-the-family-stone-for-2997684.php)

?721131?1201 John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH

7212XX Virginia? Audition for bass player on the gig, in front of 15,000 people. Rustee Allen (Johnny Talbot & De Thangs, Little Sister) vs a guy in a Santa Claus suit vs Wornell Jones (Eddie Kendricks)(“For the Record: Sly and the Family Stone – An Oral History” by Joel Selvin))

721216 San Francisco Civic Auditorium, CA [Rustee Allen replaced Larry Graham. Supported by King Kong.]

73XXXX Palace Theatre, Providence, RI [photo: Richard Mccaffrey]

730105 ?, Roanoke, VA

730106 Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, VA [supported by Johnny Nash]

730107 ?, Greensboro, NC

730113 Civic Center, Charleston, WV [supported by Johnny Nash]

730114 Coliseum, Charlotte, NC

730121 Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, FL [late]

730203 Sly was arrested at Bel Air mansion with six other persons (Toni Persip, 22; Cynthia Hampton, 23; Kathy Silva, 19; Rene Angelot, 23; Allen Glenn, 24 and Chester Green, 20 all from Los Angeles area) on charges involving cocaine, heroin, marijuana and guns.

730203 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ [2 shows 7:30 & 11:00]

730216 Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, PA [supported by Rare Earth]

Early 1973 Recordings of the new album “Fresh” at Record Plant, Sausalito, CA

Rustee Allen: The tracks on “Fresh”, like “Frisky”, “Let Me Have It All”… [except “In Time”, “If You Want Me to Stay” and “If It Were Left Up to Me”], were originally big one long song, and Sly produced those tracks from it by overdubbing different basslines. (“Small Talk about Sly part 34” on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE-9fJHthijPoKEk4XnLNm0vq9YTBvfk-)

Tom Flye (the mixing engineer for Sly’s performance on the “Woodstock” album, “Fresh” and “Small Talk”): “Sly was working on the “Fresh” album. It was pretty much done, but he wasn’t satisfied with it and Tom Donahue suggested that he come see me. He booked a day at the Record Plant in Sausalito, came up from LA, big entourage, and had an engineer with him. I went in the control room and I was sitting on the floor, on a step, listening to what he was doing. Sounded really good to me, really funky. This went on for twenty minutes or so. Sly said, “Somebody get up here and help me.” I didn’t know exactly what to do because he brought an engineer with him and this guy wasn’t moving, but I got up and put up a multitrack and started going through it. That week we re-rerecorded about ninety percent of that record and mixed it. He played all the parts, except for the horns and stuff. If somebody else could play it better, he would let them do it. If not, he just played it himself.” (“For the Record: Sly and the Family Stone – An Oral History” by Joel Selvin)

Tom Flye: “Sly was so innovative in the process of recording. He was the first guy to record piecemeal, one track at a time, using this click track. ‘Cause quite often, he’d play all the parts. If someone could play it better, fine. But usually he played it better than anybody-everybody except for his brother Freddie. (…) He did it track-by track, he pulled this together in his head, and it was amazing. He’s hearing in his imagination the ultimate product, so he can understand what each individual thing is.” (About the recording of “Babies Makin’ Babies”) “We were working… and every time we’d get to this one section of the song, he’d say, ‘This is really funky! Those four bars are really funky!’ And they were. So he says, ‘I sure wish I could have the whole track like those four bars: He’d done a rough vocal, a ‘guide’ vocal [a dummy track, to be erased later, from which to reference other takes]. So he says, ‘Is there any way we could make it all like that?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, but I can try.’ We were working on two-inch tape, so I stayed ‘after school’ that night and made a couple hundred copies of those four bars…. And then I took a razor blade and cut them all together. He came in the next day, and really loved it. As far as I know, that was one of the first times anybody had made what in reality was a multitrack loop, which nowadays is the basis of how many people make a record…. But in the digital domain, you can go in and move ‘em around, do whatever you want. With a razor blade, it’s a little harder. So it’s another thing that [Sly] kind of started…. He had a sense of, ‘Let’s go for it, let’s try it.’ Engineers are always trying to keep things technically together, so they’re often on the careful side. But you also have to let creativity breathe. I’m after the emotional content when I’m recording or mixing … and to have someone come in who exuded emotional content-,” Tom chuckles, “it was great.” (“I Want to Take You Higher – The Life and Times of Sly & the Family Stone” by Jeff Kaliss)

Early 1973 Richard Tilles mixed the first version of “Fresh”.

In February-March, Richard Avedon took the photos for the album cover. (Billboard 730312)

730403 Record Plant, Sausalito, CA
Photoshooting of rehearsal/recording, to be used for the new album, by Stephen Paley.

Tom Flye: At that point [when Sly started to have a studio in his NYC apartment], his house in Bel Air had a full, competent studio hidden in the attic. Although the board never worked very well, I got some mike mixers and had a 16-track machine and we would record up there. It had a a sliding bookcase that you would slide across into the hall and then there was a hidden staircase up to the attic where the studio was. We worked in Sausalito quite a bit. And then, from time to time, we would take one of my portable rigs over to his mother [Alpha Stewart]’s house over by Stonestown [, SF]. We would work in the basement there. He had a 16-track machine there, so the machine just sat there and I would bring the portable board and we would just use the stereo as our monitor. He had a Toyota station wagon that was his tape vault (…).

Tom Flye: Sly had gotten ripped off a number of times in his life, and he would not leave the tapes at the studio. He had like a Toyota station wagon, which one of his bodyguards drove, and every night the thing would pull up [to the Record Plant] and they would unload all the tapes. At the end of the [late-night] session, the next day or whatever, they’d pack it back up and take off. Sometimes the paperwork would get lost with the reels of tape, you wouldn’t know where the songs were, and sometimes you’d have tracks which were started but didn’t have a name for them yet. (“I Want to Take You Higher – The Life and Times of Sly & the Family Stone” by Jeff Kaliss)

In April the album was remixed and partly re-recorded at Record Plant by Tom Flye.

730421 “Fresh” was mastered.

7305XX Sly moved back to NY with Kathy Silva.

7305XX–74XXXX at 25 Central Park West apartment [Later in 2010’s Bill Lordan released the track recorded at the apartment with Sly, called “25CPW”.]#

Tom Flye: Two-bedroom house with a living room and a little 16-track studio (the stereo as the monitor system, a mixer, an MM-1000 16-track machine and a couple of mikes). After Tom Donahue, Rose and Bubba. KC Stewart, Sly’s father, had another apartment in the same building (Ken Roberts lived in there before them), and fed and cared for them. (“I Want to Take You Higher – The Life and Times of Sly & the Family Stone” by Jeff Kaliss)

Sly was hanging out there with Geraldo Rivera, Melvin Van Peebles, Miles Davis… full of coke…

Rustee Allen: One night, Miles came to Sly’s New York apartment at Central Park West, went into the home studio, got on Sly’s organ and started to play these nine-note ethereal crazy chords. Sly was way back in the bedroom and he came out yelling “Who the fuck is doing that to my organ?” He came in and saw who it was. “Miles, get your motherfucking ass out of here,” he said. “Don’t ever play that voodoo shit here. Get the fuck out of here.” Miles left and I said, “Sly, that was Miles Davis you were talking to.” “I don’t give a fuck,” he said. “He shouldn’t have been playing that shit on my organ.” But Miles didn’t care. He was back the next day. (“For the Record: Sly and the Family Stone – An Oral History” by Joel Selvin)

730531 One-to-One Festival for the Mentally Retarded benefit concert at MSG, NYC, NY [Sly dropped in and performed “I Want to Take You Higher”, with a pick-up group of folk artists including Richie Havens and Kris Kristofferson. Acts: Peter, Paul & Mary, Richie Havens, Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge, John Denver, Judy Collins, Bill Withers, Eric Weisberg and Deliverance. Host: Gerald Rivera. The footage was re(?)-broadcasted on Good Night America #18 on 750605.]#

730630 “Fresh” was released (Epic).

73XXXX “If You Want Me to Stay” b/w “Thankful N’ Thoughtful” or “Babies Makin’ Babies” 7″ was released (Epic).

73XXXX “Frisky” b/w “If It Were Left Up to Me” 7″ was released (Epic).

730703 Masonic Temple Theatre, Detroit, MI [2 shows 8:00 & 11:00, supported by Bloodstone]

730704 Cape Cod Coliseum, White’s Path, South Yarmouth, MA [plus Little Feat]

730707 Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA [supported by Tower of Power and Kool & the Gang]

730708 Louis Armstrong Stadium (ex-Singer Bowl), Flushing Meadows, NY [with Leslie West’s Wild West Show]

730713 Garden State Summer Music Fair, Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ [2 shows 7:30 & 11:00, supported by Carl Anderson]

730715 Great Western Express Festival 1973, White City Stadium, London, England [With Edgar Winter Band, Barclay James Harvest, Canned Heat, LSD Band and Lindisfarne. Songlist: “You’re the One > Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) > M’Lady”, “Stand!”, “You Can Make It If You Try”, “If You Want Me to Stay”, “Thankful N’ Thoughtful”, “Dance to the Music > Music Lover”, “I Want to Take You Higher”]

730716 Unidentified Hotel, London [interviews and photo-shootings]

A lot has been written in the general press concerning the “Fresh” album, which was released to the press –– as a pre-release to create advance material in the project –– and then, when the actual record was released, it was considerably different. The actual release even had an extra track on it. But the basic differences lay with the existing tracks, some of which sounded very far removed from the original presentation. Whose idea was it and which of the two is the better?
“It was my idea.” Sly quite proudly stated. “I wanted it to be re-mixed and it’s certainly far better now. Sure. I was happy with the first one –– I wanted it to be different. If I were to re-mix it again today, it would completely be different again. We cut the added track at a later date and I wanted to include it on the album.”
The subject of how much material is in the can on Sly brought some confusion to the occasion. Early on, we determined that there was a considerable amount of material unreleased so far. But to determine exactly how much became quite impossible. We got quotes like “Quite a bit,” or, when asked how many albums could be released today on existing recordings, we got “Quite a few!” But I got the impression that ‘quite a lot’ of material to bring dominant and thought. Sly fervently denies it, that’s the way it will stay. But there is sufficient material to make up (at least) one solo album on Sly and, as it project, that is one thing that may well come off. 
For a simple answer, all you have to do is ask which of his albums he is most happy with and you’ll get the reply, “The latest.” And, if you should ask what music he plays for his own enjoyment, the equally simple retort is “My own!” (“Impressions of Sly Stewart” by John Abbey. Blues & Soul 730803–16)

730718 ?, Stuttgart, Switzerland

730720 Circus Krone-Bau, Munich, West Germany [Broadcasted on German TV Szene on 731000 (“Music Lover > Higher”)]#

730721 Summer Rock Festival Frankfurt 1973 #2, Radstadion, Frankfurt, West Germany [other acts: Chuck Berry, The Faces, Rory Gallagher, Canned Heat, Black Sabbath, Jon Hiseman’s Tempest, The Spencer Davis Group ft. Hardin York, Gentle Giant, Curved Air, Marsha Hunt, Back Door, Heavy Metal Kids and Blue]

730723 ?, Paris, France

730000 summer photoshoot for Seventeen in Central Park, NYC, NY

730801 Schaefer Music Festival, Wollman Skating Rink, Central Park, NYC, NY [With The Eagles, John Sebastian, The Temptations and Melissa Manchester. The concert was recorded and broadcasted on August 23rd as Good Vibrations from Central Park (ABC TV). From the footage, “Music Lover > Higher” was re-broadcasted on Good Night America #5 on 740606.]#

730803 International Amphitheater, Chicago, IL

730804 ?, MN

730817?18? Paramount Northwest, Seattle, WA

730819 Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA [supported by Little Feat]

?730820–26 Universal Amphitheatre, L.A., CA

730827 NBC Studios, Burbank, CA [NBC’s Midnight Special. TV broadcast 731026. Setlist: “You’re the One”, “Stand!”, “I Want to Take You Higher”, “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”, “If You Want Me to Stay” & “Dance to the Music”. SATFS host Mark Almond, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Melissa Manchester, Freddy Weller and Atlee Yeager.]#

730907 Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, MA

730909 Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, VA [plus special guest Blue Oyster Cult]

“I remember that Sly gig very well, since I was a big fan. I think BOC did okay opening the show. Polite applause. Then we waited and waited. Long set change. Sly’s band starts playing. No Sly. Is he going to show? He finally comes on stage and they go into some jam number. I guess he played a few hits, but I got a weird vibe that there could be a riot and Sly would walk off stage. But he stayed to the end and the show ended without incident.” (Joe Bouchard)(source?)

730910 TV Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert on ABC [Broadcast 731027. Setlist: “I’m the One”, “Stand!”, “If You Want Me to Stay”, “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”, “Dance to the Music > Music Lover” & “I Want to Take You Higher”. With Mott the Hoople and Black Oak Arkansas.]#

730914 Quadrangle, Washington University, St. Louis, MO [Supported by Little Feat]

“Yes – in summer 1973 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. The opening act was Little Feat – who I had no real appreciation for at the time. Anyway, Little Feat comes on at 8 and plays for about 90 minutes. Equipment change and then we wait and wait some more. It gets to be about 10:30 and the crowd is getting restless since most know about his habit of no show. The promoter comes on stage – bad sign – and says Sly is there and will be on in a few minutes.
Finally a little before 11 Sly and the Family Stone come on. They put on a great show – played all the hits and several off his new album at the time “Fresh”. I just wish I could remember more of the show – both Little Feat and Sly.” (rockclassics)(https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/did-you-ever-see-sly-and-the-family-stone.360991/)

“Saw them play in St. Louis outdoors at Washington University Quadrangle early 70’s. Fantastic energetic concert!” (Dennis Nappier)(https://www.facebook.com/100044381051343/posts/10154494997977040/?rdid=yIccVU0m5GAOeIpN)

730915 Assembly Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

730916 Hara Arena, Dayton, OH [with special guest Copperhead]

730921 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, MI

730927 Sly was sentenced, placed on one year’s probation in a rehabilitative program for experimental drug users. 

730928 Northern Kentucky State College Regent Hall, Highland Heights, KY

730929 Cuyahoga Community College Gym, Cuyahoga, OH

730930 Charles Kates Gym, Ashland College, Ashland, OH [supported by Little Feat]

731006 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY

731007 UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), Arbitus, MD [supported by Nazareth]

“It was in the early 70’s [731007] when Nazareth opened for them at a gym in Baltimore… Sly was late and Nazareth had to do 2 sets (I was there with the A&M promo rep and he had to talk them into doing 2 sets otherwise the place would have rioted)… His band was very tight and they put on great show…” (rck60s)(https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/did-you-ever-see-sly-and-the-family-stone.360991/)

731013 Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, FL [supported by Bob Marley & the Wailers]

731014 U.S. Naval Academy’s Halsey Field House, Annapolis, MD [supported by Bob Marley & the Wailers]

731019 Exposition Hall, Santa Clara Fairgrounds, San Jose, CA [supported by Bob Marley & the Wailers]

731020 Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, CA [scheduled]

731021 Ice Palace, Las Vegas, NV [supported by Bob Marley & the Wailers]

In order to broaden their audience they [Bob Marley & the Wailers] signed on to open 17 dates for Sly and the Family Stone, who were hot off their new single “If You Want Me to Stay” from their June 1973 album, “Fresh”. However, they only opened four shows for Sly, who dropped them from the tour after a gig in Las Vegas, leaving the band stranded without many options. (“Burnin’ and Lootin’ in San Fran, 1973” http://www.bobmarley.com/burnin-andlootin-san-francisco-1973/ (no more existed)) 

Aston “Family Man” Barrett: Sly Stone’s people left early before we got up. We were left stranded at the hotel, not knowing what was happening and without any money. There’d been some vibration coming from his quarters earlier on in the tour, so I figured something was going on in his mind, y’know? What we were doing, it was a different concept of music from what they were used to and it obviously didn’t sound right to them. Maybe we were too rebellious for them and they weren’t ready for the Rastaman Vibration, coming from the throne of King David. Sly Stone took us for simpletons leaving us high and dry like that. (“Wailing Blues; The Story of Bob Marley’s Wailers” by John Masouri)

Marley and the Wailers were so in need of exposure that they had signed up as an opening act for Sly and the Family Stone. Though it might have seemed like a good pairing — the eccentric pop-funk pioneer Sly was still a major star — things didn’t go too well. By some accounts, Marley and the Wailers’ obvious brilliance was discomforting to the headliner, who didn’t relish being overshadowed. By other accounts, Sly’s audiences didn’t get Marley and the Wailers. When they opened for Sly at a hockey arena in Las Vegas [731021 Ice Palace, Las Vegas, NV], where according to Marley biographer Timothy White, some in the audience had expected them to be an old surf-rock band called the Fabulous Wailers, who’d had a hit with an instrumental song called “Tall Cool One”. Instead, jaws dropped when Marley — “this skinny black Medusa,” as White describes him — stepped to the mike to sing “Concrete Jungle”. “Holy s—,” the drummer for one of the other acts on the bill reportedly asked someone from Sly’s band. “What country are those guys from? They look like they’re something out of the Old Testament.” “We just played and everybody sat there.” Marley’s tour manager Lee Jaffe lamented about the tour with Sly, according to Sly’s biographer Eddie Santiago. The reception in Annapolis [731014 U.S. Naval Academy’s Halsey Field House, Annapolis, MD] wasn’t much better. According to accounts in the Annapolis Evening Capital and the Washington Post, the field house was filled with 2,000 to 3,000 midshipmen, clad in white shirts and ties, and their Homecoming dates, who sat on blue and gold blankets on the gym floor. As the Post’s Tom Zito observed, “the midshipmen seemed more interested in nuzzling upto their dates, most of whom were sedately attired in the sort of dresses and pantsuits that grace advertisements in the New Yorker.” What they apparently weren’t very interested in was reggae. The Wailers — Peter Tosh on vocals and lead guitar, Ashton Barrett on bass, Earl “Wya” Lindo on keyboards, and Joe Higgs on vocals and percussion — performed five of what Zito lauded as “infectuously rhythmic, heavily percussive tunes.” Unfortunately, the set list seems to have vanished, but it probably included songs such as “Get Up, Stand Up” from their next LP, “Burnin’”, which would be released a few days after the show. But the audience was unimpressed. According to Zito, the only real applause that Marley and the Wailers got was when they finished their last number. Capital reviewer Karen Donofrio, who called the concert a “disaster,” observed: “The sea of white shirts seemed relieved, anticipating arrival of the stars.” As often happened at Sly and the Family Stone performances, though, things got more chaotic. It took an hour for Sly and his musicians to take the stage, and when they did, Sly — clad in a white-sequined satin suit and wide-brimmed white hat — did his best to provoke the audience by making fun of their staid attire. “It looks like a classroom out there,” he sneered. “Like everybody had to get all dressed up the same… that necktie is kinda like a restraint cord around your neck. Loosen it up!” In Donofrio’s account, Sly seemed to be peeved by the standing crowd’s reluctance to dance, and played for just 45 minutes. (“Washington Wasn’t Quite Ready for Bob Marley in 1973” by Patrick Kiger https://boundarystones.weta.org/2014/10/14/washington-wasnt-quite-ready-bob-marley-1973)

731022 Coliseum, Denver, CO

731024 Aquarius Theater, Hollywood, CA [ABC’s In Concert (1st anniversary show). TV broadcast 731123. Setlist: “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” & “Dance to the Music”.]#

731025 UCSB Robertson Gym, Santa Barbara, CA [advertised as supported by Bob Marley & the Wailers]

731026 TV broadcast NBC Midnight Special (rec. 730827)

731027 TV broadcast ABC Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert (rec. 730910)

731026&27 Hollywood Palladium, Hollywood, CA [Advertised as supported by Papa John Creach (Fri.) and Wailers (Sat.), but actually supported by Bloodstone and Papa John Creach.]

731028 Sports Arena, San Diego, CA [supported by ?]

731031 Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, VA [supported by ?]

731101 Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA [advertised as supported by Bob Marley & the Wailers]

731103 Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY [Setlist: “You’re the One”, “Sing a Simple Song”, “Somebody’s Watching You > Jam > Dance to the Music > Music Lover” & “I Want to Take You Higher”. Supported by an unknown British blues band, though Bob Marley & the Wailers was advertised as the supporting act.]*

731104 State College, Shippensburg, PA [with James Gang, Raspberries and Back Door]

731105 Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, NC [supported by Wet Willie]

731110 Temple University, Philadelphia, PA [scheduled]

731110 Convention Center, Louisville, KY [supported by Hydra]

731111 Civic Center, Savannah, GA [scheduled]

731115&16 Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico [scheduled]

731123 TV broadcast ABC’s In Concert (1st anniversary show)(rec. 731024)

731125 Fairgrounds Arena, Oklahoma City, OK [supported by Wet Willie]

731127 Municipal Auditorium, Austin, TX [supported by Zebec]

731128 ?, Charlottesville, VA
731130 University Hall of Virginia (U-Hall), Charlottesville, VA

731201 Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette, LA [supported by Wet Willie]

731202 Civic Center, Monroe, LA [supported by Wet Willie]

731204 El Paso Coliseum, El Paso, TX

731205 Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum, Fort Worth, TX

731207 MSG, NYC, NY [Originally scheduled for 731210. Supported by Earth, Wind & Fire.]#(silent)

“The last time I saw Sly at the garden it was combined EWF/SATFS show. EWF the intro group with the levitating drums and piano and bass player. Unfortunately, they put on the better show. In fact, the audience wasn’t responding to the band during the encore of “Hot Fun in the Summertime” and Freddie kinda threw his hands up in disgust and stopped playing and singing.” (B Crit Freeman)(source?)

731210 Reed Green Coliseum, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS

731214 Convention Center, Indianapolis, IN [supported by Chick Corea & Return to Forever]

731216 Met(ropolitan Sports) Center, Bloomington, MN

731218?19? Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, OH

73XXXX Sly and Kathy Silva’s son Sylvester Jr. was born.

740114 Omni, Atlanta, GA [Andy Newmark’s last gig?]

(Continued in Part VI…)