and DAMN at the Christmas story

*********************************************************************

In his heyday, he lived at 783 Bel Air Road, a four-bedroom, 5,432-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion that once belonged to John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas.

The Tudor-style house was tricked out in his signature funky black, white and red color scheme. Shag carpet. Tiffany lamps in every room. A round water bed in the master bedroom. There were parties where Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Miles Davis would drop by, where Etta James would break into “At Last” by the bar.

Just four years ago, he resided in a Napa Valley house so large it could only be described as a “compound,” with a vineyard out back and multiple cars in the driveway.

But those days are gone.

Today, Sly Stone -- one of the greatest figures in soul-music history -- is homeless, his fortune stolen by a lethal combination of excess, substance abuse and financial mismanagement. He lays his head inside a white camper van ironically stamped with the words “Pleasure Way” on the side. The van is parked on a residential street in Crenshaw, the rough Los Angeles neighborhood where “Boyz n the Hood” was set. A retired couple makes sure he eats once a day, and Stone showers at their house. The couple’s son serves as his assistant and driver.

Inside the van, the former mastermind of Sly & the Family Stone, now 68, continues to record music with the help of a laptop computer.

“I like my small camper,” he says, his voice raspy with age and years of hard living. “I just do not want to return to a fixed home. I cannot stand being in one place. I must keep moving.”

Stone has been difficult to pin down for years. In the last two decades, he’s become one of music’s most enigmatic figures, bordering on reclusive. You’d be forgiven for assuming he’s dead. He rarely appears in public, and just getting him in a room requires hours or years of detective work, middlemen and, of course, making peace with the likelihood that he just won’t show up.

There was a time when Sly was difficult to escape. Stone, whose real name is Sylvester Stewart, was one of the most visible, flamboyant figures of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The multiracial, multi-gender band that Stone assembled fused funk, soul and psychedelic rock and became one of the most influential acts ever. The San Fran-based group released a string of hits beginning with the 1968 album “Dance to the Music,” followed by “Everyday People,” “Family Affair,” “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” and “Stand!”

The group’s costumes and showmanship were just as memorable. The members favored giant afros, flashy capes, Beatle boots, neon vests and leopard-print jumpsuits.

Stone learned to sing in church as a child. He grew up in a middle-class, Christian household in Vallejo, Calif., and he and three of his siblings sang in a gospel group. As a young man, he studied music at a local junior college and worked as a soul disc jockey at a local radio station. He played in several bands with his brother, Fred, a guitarist.

The lineup of Sly & the Family Stone, which included Fred and sister Vet, solidified in 1966. The band’s energetic live shows, positive lyrics and diverse membership earned it buzz in the Bay Area, and the Family was signed by CBS Records.

Appearances on shows like “Music Scene” and “The Ed Sullivan Show” soon followed, and in the summer of ’69, at the peak of their power, they managed to turn what should have been a snoozy middle-of-the-night slot at Woodstock into one of the highlights of the festival. As the band began to play, tens of thousands of people creeped out of their sleeping bags to watch. They left the stage with the audience still roaring, “Higher!”

And then the inevitable cracks began to appear. Sly moved to Los Angeles while the rest of the band remained in the Bay Area. He started hanging around with unsavory characters. There were whispers of cocaine and PCP abuse, Mafia connections and guns being pulled on people.

Things got dark. Stone started missing rehearsals and even performances. In 1970, he failed to show up at 26 of the band’s 80 gigs and quickly developed a reputation as mercurial.

“There were these people that say I had to pay a $50,000 bond, so if I’m late, they keep the money, right?” Stone says. “It seemed that people saw to it that I was gonna be late, and I get there, and this promoter ran out and started shouting, ‘You gonna be late again? F--k you! We don’t need that s--t, man!’ I’m thinking about music, and the only time when I can play is when I am happy. So I just leave.”

Sly & the Family Stone began to fall apart. Drummer Greg Errico and bassist Larry Graham (who’s credited with creating the much-imitated slap-bass sound) bolted in the early 1970s, and by 1975 the group called it quits.

Drugs took a tighter hold. One night close to Christmas, Stone headed out to buy presents for his young son, Sylvester, whom he had with Kathy Silva, a model he married on stage at Madison Square Garden in 1974.

“I had about $2,500 to spend,” Stone recalls. “By the time I get , I had spent it all on drugs. Yes, I did. And when I getting close to little Syl’s house, I thought, ‘Oooh, man. I never should have done that.’ When I saw him, I said, ‘I spent your money up on drugs. I spend it up on dope.’ ”

Over the years, Stone has dropped tens of thousands of dollars on his other hobby: automobiles. In his early days, he drove a Jaguar XKE he painted purple. There were Hummers, a London taxi and a beloved Studebaker, which Stone asked to have painted in exchange for this interview. (The Post declined.) A few years ago, he would cruise around LA on a bright-yellow, custom three-wheel chopper. He was known to give cars to friends.

By 1980, the group’s popularity had declined enormously from its heyday. Stone appeared on an episode of “The Mike Douglas Show” and promised, “I’m going to do one more album real quick, and if it’s not instantly platinum, bye-bye.” Sly & the Family Stone’s 10th and final album, 1982’s “Ain’t But the One Way,” flopped.

Stone kept his word and mostly vanished. He was arrested a few times in the 1980s for cocaine possession and performed sporadically, but his days of sold-out shows and magazine covers were gone. A 1987 performance would prove to be his last for 19 years.

He finally reappeared during a 2006 Grammy tribute, shuffling on stage, his posture hunched and his neck bent as a result of a fall he suffered at his home. He arrived midway through a medley of his classic hits, played the keyboard and sang for a few bars, waved, then inexplicably left the stage before the song concluded.

Today, Sly is disheveled, paranoid -- the FBI is after him; his enemies have hired hit men. He refuses to let The Post into his camper, but, ever the showman, poses flamboyantly with a silver military helmet and a Taser in front of his Studebaker.

The singer claims his money troubles escalated in 2009, when his royalty payments stopped flowing after Stone accused his manager, Jerry Goldstein, of fraud. Stone says he was tricked into signing a rotten contract with Goldstein in 1989, giving the manager control of his finances in exchange for a weekly paycheck.

Last year, Stone sued Goldstein for $50 million, alleging fraud and 20 years of stolen royalty payments. (Contributing to the singer’s dire financial situation, he foolishly sold his valuable music-publishing rights to Michael Jackson for a reported $1 million in 1984.)

Goldstein did not return calls seeking comment.

The performer’s cash-flow problems forced him out of his Napa Valley house that he rented with money from a 2007 European tour and into cheap hotels and the van in 2009. Stone hopes to soon put the lawsuit and his other woes behind him.

“My music is a format that will encourage you to have a song you won’t forget. That’s why I got so much money, that there are so many people around, and that’s why I am in court. Millions of dollars!” Stone says. “But now please tell everybody, please, to give me a job, play my music. I’m tired of all this s--t, man.”

Earlier this year, Stone released an album of his hits re-recorded with other artists. Stone has new songs, but he no longer trusts record companies or managers and is wary about making a deal to release another album. He works constantly on new music, often staying up for two days straight, then sleeping for the next two. (In a nice piece of symmetry, some of his 1971 album, “There’s a Riot Goin’ On,” was recorded in a Winnebago.) He has hundreds of new tracks recorded in his van that he keeps for himself. For now, at least.

“But, with new energy, it will feel good to step on stage,” he says. “I see all the guys playing those old songs. Let these guys know, like Lady Gaga, let me come in, just let me come in and pay me if you like it.”

William Alkema is the director of the Sly & the Family Stone documentary, “Dance to the Music,” to be re-released this year.

for one it refers to the duets album coming out "earlier this year"


and it leaves his 2006 grammy performace as his last performances when he went on a World Tour after that...

>


---------------------------------
'I love to watch him dance. It's almost like watching a cat clean itself or something.'(c) Drugs regarding Prince

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/the_rise_and_fall_of_sly_stone_qijyKoYzmAqer1PA0YogSJ

Who is driving the two vehicles ?

Has he got a PA who drives the van, while he styles it in the Studebaker ?


What the blood claaat ???

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/the_rise_and_fall_of_sly_stone_qijyKoYzmAqer1PA0YogSJ

but yeah, swipes without attribution are one of the worst things about this site because it encourages people not to consider the source

They could've kept those pics

---------------------------------
'I love to watch him dance. It's almost like watching a cat clean itself or something.'(c) Drugs regarding Prince

this OKP! you know how dis shit go!!

sorry but that shit would be bananas. it's a good idea.

>sorry but that shit would be bananas. it's a good idea.

no it isnt..a good idea is for Sly to get professional help from an m.d./psychiatrist


the fuck 2uest gonna do?

>>sorry but that shit would be bananas. it's a good idea.
>
>no it isnt..a good idea is for Sly to get professional help
>from an m.d./psychiatrist
>
>
>the fuck 2uest gonna do?

*wipes away a tear*

does fit the bill for someone with a serious mental disorder, sad times indeed.

who has a longstanding reputation for being temperamental, unreliable, missing shows and unabashedly abusing drugs?

Malik B was kicked out for less than that.

I don't think Quest who knows for running a tight ship would take more than 2 days with sly.

No message

No message

i mean...not on purpose, but what kinda sense does it make to show his actual vehicle(/house)? people are crazy. John Lennon's killer was a "fan".

i mean, sure he IS parked in Compton, but c'mon.

>i mean...not on purpose, but what kinda sense does it make to
>show his actual vehicle(/house)? people are crazy. John
>Lennon's killer was a "fan".
>
>i mean, sure he IS parked in Compton, but c'mon.


with all his works/songs inside....

this is just a (continued) tragedy waiting to happen

and he is seemingly begging to have folks get at him for work? Uh...haven't his previous friends given him ample chances at getting himself together and such?

dude needs rehab and medical attention before any music biz happenings

>with all his works/songs inside....
>
>this is just a (continued) tragedy waiting to happen

not only is his entire living area exposed, folks know exactly what he has in it. wtf, man?

>and he is seemingly begging to have folks get at him for work?
>Uh...haven't his previous friends given him ample chances at
>getting himself together and such?

certainly.

>dude needs rehab and medical attention before any music biz
>happenings

no doubt. i have the feeling this won't end well. but then again, George Clinton is still alive and working. Keith Richards too. *shrugs*

He can't be rolling in both, at the same time.

Anyway, this is a sad sad, fucked up mess.


What the blood claaat ???

>Today, Sly is disheveled, paranoid -- the FBI
>is after him; his enemies have hired hit men.

Damn chief what in the hell did he do, I can understand if the IRS was after him but the FBI, he must have some mafia connections he's keeping tight lipped about and they want that info.



>Last year, Stone sued Goldstein for $50 million,
>alleging fraud and 20 years of stolen royalty payments.
>(Contributing to the singer’s dire financial situation,
>he foolishly sold his valuable music-publishing rights
>to Michael Jackson for a reported $1 million in 1984.)

This seems to be just another situation among many on his part for mad years, I don't feel to sad for him cause he obviously hasn't learned from his mistakes yet; but he seems willingly to want to still perform and play, I think he needs to get in touch with some of his old school musicians instead of the new kats if he wants some studio session and touring gigs.

>>Today, Sly is disheveled, paranoid -- the FBI
>>is after him; his enemies have hired hit men.
>
>Damn chief what in the hell did he do, I can understand if the
>IRS was after him but the FBI, he must have some mafia
>connections he's keeping tight lipped about and they want that
>info.


Im thinking thats jus a 'spin' on what the writer is saying that Sly alleges. I.e. he is so paranoid he thinks that all these folks is after him.Its not true. Sly is suffering from (substance induced?) paranoia...probably a comorbid symptom of a larger mental illness.

>>Last year, Stone sued Goldstein for $50 million,
>>alleging fraud and 20 years of stolen royalty payments.
>>(Contributing to the singer’s dire financial situation,
>>he foolishly sold his valuable music-publishing rights
>>to Michael Jackson for a reported $1 million in 1984.)
>
>This seems to be just another situation among many on his part
>for mad years, I don't feel to sad for him cause he obviously
>hasn't learned from his mistakes yet; but he seems willingly
>to want to still perform and play, I think he needs to get in
>touch with some of his old school musicians instead of the new
>kats if he wants some studio session and touring gigs.

He is disconnected from reality and needs attention. Not business opportunities as he will continue to make the same ill decisions. Im quite sure his old school friends have attempted to help Sly time and time again over decades. But until he gets professional help and medication...he is destined to die this way. He is basically a homeless man due to schizophrenia most likely...just like you see every now and then in the big cities..dishevelled, paranoid etc..only thing is , he was a legend in the 60's and 70's. Mental illness can happen to anybody.


Same situation would have happened to Brian Wilson (and kind of did), but finally he got some decent handlers ho were more concerned with his mental health and stability. And I'm not talking about that unethical "Dr" Landy either.

Where the fuck is NARAS in all of this?

>>>Today, Sly is disheveled, paranoid -- the FBI
>>>is after him; his enemies have hired hit men.

From what the article mentioned about him working for two days and then crashing, it sounds like he has bipolar disorder or at the very least is hypomanic which is a form of mania (moving from agitation and activity back to normal behavior). Like you said tho, unless he gets help he's just at the mercy of his illness.

>>>>Today, Sly is disheveled, paranoid -- the FBI
>>>>is after him; his enemies have hired hit men.
>
>From what the article mentioned about him working for two days
>and then crashing, it sounds like he has bipolar disorder or
>at the very least is hypomanic which is a form of mania
>(moving from agitation and activity back to normal behavior).
>Like you said tho, unless he gets help he's just at the mercy
>of his illness.

bipolar II or schizoaffective

damn...I mean I feel for him and sure he prolly needs some mental help but damn, a mufucka can't stay up for 2 days working on music no more and not be crazy?
you sleep for two days after cuz you're tired...I think you might be reaching just trying to diagnose a mufucka...
You think Sly was EVER a normal dude?
This is a sad article and the brother needs some help obviously but the armchair psychiatry shit is a little out of hand around here sometimes...

>damn...I mean I feel for him and sure he prolly needs some
>mental help but damn, a mufucka can't stay up for 2 days
>working on music no more and not be crazy?
> you sleep for two days after cuz you're tired...I think you
>might be reaching just trying to diagnose a mufucka...
>You think Sly was EVER a normal dude?
>This is a sad article and the brother needs some help
>obviously but the armchair psychiatry shit is a little out of
>hand around here sometimes...


Im not an armchair one.

And thats part of the problem..everyone around him for decades probably never considered that he needed mental health aid...not saying that his drug issue didnt need to be taken care of but the signs are quite obvious.

I never or rarely see anythng concerning mental health regarding artists discussed in The Lesson.

A favorite of my pops, among many others, this dude had a fantastic vision and sound for himself, but from the outside lookin' in..all the artists who did financially well in the 70's/80's..were as well priivy to the grooviest and most addictive forms of the drugs of their choice..

When dude jumped out at The Grammys looking like the crypt keeper in a golden tailored somethin', I was like "white lady"..

But maybe it's more, the effect of industry, the pressure of being a trendsetter?

Peace to Sly Stone, and what happens when he double parks the winnie, do the master tapes get confiscated?, how does he mix?

.................i kinda got the feeling he was living in Motels and vans.


silk.later Reunion radio with Old P. & Silk http://reunionradio.blogspot.com/

"i'm talking about *Balls Deep*....In Love (c)Cleveland Jr.

He was cultivating a fine nigga farm (c)Goldmind.

The website is here: http://www.slystonedocumentary.com/

>The website is here: http://www.slystonedocumentary.com/
>

I saw it at an small art house movie theater. They were showing it for one day(i don't know why they weren't showing for a week, at least). It was kinda depressing and it made me angry, to see the situation he was in. But, it was good to hear him talk.


silk.later Reunion radio with Old P. & Silk http://reunionradio.blogspot.com/

"i'm talking about *Balls Deep*....In Love (c)Cleveland Jr.

He was cultivating a fine nigga farm (c)Goldmind.

If he is truly paranoid that article made it easier for his "enemies" to track him down.

Even with the arc his life has taken, can't help but find this incredibly depressing. No shortage of examples, but still jarring and tragic that person can swing so completely from one extreme to the other. I hope he finds peace.

from what i understand,
mike jackson was looking out for sly...
not that he GAVE sly the rights to his music (b/c sly would've sold them for crack)
but he did make sure sly was taken care of.

the least he could do is keep the old man out of a cardboard box

>the least he could do is keep the old man out of a cardboard
>box

he was saying that Mike was making sure that he was cared for while he was alive. now that he's gone, nobody is looking out for him like that.

that amount that he got his publishing for is WHOA though. Mike was shrewd, gotdamb.

like they did the Beatles. believe me being around back then nobody thought twice when MJ got the publishing courtesy of John Branica one half of the MJ estate now.

Sly's catelog was there for the take and nobody tripped on it. the beatles catelog made MJ come off like Nat Turner at Massa's house, but when MJ got Sly Stone's catelog that was like somebody taking your uno cards when you were in the kitchen making kool aid nobody cared.

MJ made sure sly was taken care of and if not for MJ i doubt Sly would have gotten as much loot as he did because lets remember thanks to MJ allowing the songs to be used for commericals, etc.. it gave those songs a whole new audience and more revenue.

funny and on point at once.

Sly burned alot of bridges, but also as a Outspoken Black Man he ain't been given another chance in the light again and I say this because and with all due respect nobody can tell me that Steven Tyler can't relate to Sly Stone's demons and he still gets 12-20 chances and coming back.

SLy is a cat that is right about the record companys,etc..

they didn't care about his legacy like they should and ought to.

this man changed the course of music and gets hardly ever talked about.

he has his demons, etc.. but something ouught to be done to keep him straight.

his music means too much.

Michael Jackson had his catelog set up nicely and the commericals helped Sly out a whole lot.

the manager flipped on Sly but MJ made sure Sly got some loot always.

Sly still gets royalitys. he said something about it in a interview a few years back.

MJ took care of the artists he got catelog from. made sure Little Richard was taken care of and Sly.

>Sly burned alot of bridges, but also as a Outspoken Black Man
>he ain't been given another chance in the light again and I
>say this because and with all due respect nobody can tell me
>that Steven Tyler can't relate to Sly Stone's demons and he
>still gets 12-20 chances and coming back.
>
>SLy is a cat that is right about the record companys,etc..
>
>they didn't care about his legacy like they should and ought
>to.
>
>this man changed the course of music and gets hardly ever
>talked about.
>
>he has his demons, etc.. but something ouught to be done to
>keep him straight.
>
>his music means too much.
>
>Michael Jackson had his catelog set up nicely and the
>commericals helped Sly out a whole lot.
>
>the manager flipped on Sly but MJ made sure Sly got some loot
>always.
>
>Sly still gets royalitys. he said something about it in a
>interview a few years back.
>
>MJ took care of the artists he got catelog from. made sure
>Little Richard was taken care of and Sly.

but unfortunately Sly has been completely unreliable in terms of showing up and coming threw for 30 some years.

Sly has a serious problem and has had one for decades.

He has numerous ways he could make money today....numerous ways he could get the respect he deserves. But it requires him to come through, and nobody should have confidence he would do that based on his past, and his ongoing issues.

Look at what Frank Zappa checking for Johnny Guitar Watson did for JGW. You can't do that with Sly because you can't count on him to show up, or come through when he needs to.

unfortunately.

remember sly did Crazy with Jesse Johnson in 86 as Tyler and perry did Walk this way with RUn DMC, but Tyler also did his shows and also wanted that light back, Sly on the other hand was tired and is tired of the jive and politics and I can't blame him there.

the other stuff is clearly his choice. i just wish the Brother a Healthy life regardless if he makes another song or not.

Save a Brother, because seeing Brothers dying before there time is too much ya know?

good call on Zappa and JGW.

Crazay was such a success...

got to the point where they had studio time booked and all..

Sly never showed up..

not sure jesse ever heard from or talked to him again after that.

I'm sure there are tons of stories like that..


it's sad because if you look at clips from the 2006 euro tour....Sly can still sing and play well enough to put on an entertaining show.

and he abadoned that idea with quickness instead working with the Bar Kays and earth wind and fire. poping out in rare places when he personally wanted to be heard.

always elusive and on his own time.

I actually thought about it the other day: "Is MJ's estate still taking care of Sly now that MJ's gone?"

Because I don't think it was a contractual thing... Mike took care of Sly because he *wanted* to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nhgfjrKi0o

I see.

You know it is possible to see the sadness in a situation and feel genuinely bad for the guy while still laughing at someone's cleary BS trying to be funny answer.

I guess some artists fall into a "too legendary" category or something so we can't run that kind of stuff?

No big deal, just caught me off guard, usually this is a fairly uncensored environment.

If it's not adding to the discussion and is clearly meant to get people going and it's removed....well then...can't say you aren't doing your job.

.

or however that name goes, made one of his usual funny troll remarks on this post.

Said something like you guys lied and said he's homeless...he lives in a van.

I thought it was funny as hell.

Disappeared, don't know if he did it or whether it was deemed too disprectful or irrelevant and pulled.

No message

that Michael Joseph Jackson was the most diabolical business man of all time. . . ALL TIME!!!

.

think they gonna interview Sly...

The commercial I saw had additional footage of the van, looks like they interviewed him.

They played a brief part with Sly saying something to the effect of "I should have kept doing music," but it seems obvious they had a more substantial conversation.

I hope the full interview is broadcast some day.

They also had anonymous quotes from people in the neighborhood saying they wish he would leave. On Facebook someone apparently revealed the name of the family whose house he's parked in front of.

That he got a spot rented for him, four-bedroom joint, and just prefers to let the sound of his own wheels drive him crazy.

I dunno but either way the dude is too talented to waste away on some bullshit. Saw two shows he and the fam did on that lil tour (Anaheim and LA), shit was hot azz fiyah, they would easily be one of the ten best live acts today if they did it full-time. Even the big ass acts--Waters, the Stones, EWF--I've seen them all and I enjoyed the Sly show much more.

For people in here talking about rehab and shit, I am sorry, FOH, some people are what they are. He is not going to change but he still has enough to offer that he should be chipping into music, even if it's on his own weird ass terms.

http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2011/09/28/sly-stone-is-not-homeless/


COMING SOON via Windimoto Music:
DVS Jackson, Esq. - DVS for Alderman