Cultural History Corner

Jesse Walker | July 13, 2007

Vanity Fair profiles the great Sly Stone as he tenderly, tentatively steps out of reclusion:

The obvious allusion [in one of Stone's new songs] to the current war jars me, and I soon realize why: Stone has been absent from the scene for such a duration that it's hard to imagine that he was with us all along, experiencing all the things we experienced over the years--the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nelson Mandela's release from prison, the rise of the World Wide Web, the attacks on 9/11, the invasion of Iraq. It's almost as if he went into a decades-long deep freeze, like Austin Powers or the astronauts in Planet of the Apes. Except he didn't. "Did you do normal-person things?" I ask about the missing years. "Did you watch Cheers in the 80s and Seinfeld in the 90s? Do you watch American Idol now? Do you have a normal life or more of a Sly Stone life?"

"I've done all that," he says. "I do regular things a lot. But it's probably more of a Sly Stone life. It's probably...it's probably not very normal."

The piece is overlong but interesting, especially for you rock and funk obsessives out there. There are, alas, no comments on the rumors that Sly spent a chunk of his exile as a pimp.

Bonus: See Stone stoned:

Comments

norbizness|7.13.07 @ 10:16AM|#

I read an old Rolling Stone article (from around 1973) that talks about the struggle between Sylvester Stewart, who was a kind person and amazing pop composer, with Sly, his evil, mainlining-everything-on-the-table alter ego.

|7.13.07 @ 10:19AM|#

Thank u falettinme be mice elf!

|7.13.07 @ 10:20AM|#

I'm Rick James, bitch!

|7.13.07 @ 10:48AM|#

Does it address the rumor that Sly once fucked Doris Day? Just curious.

VM|7.13.07 @ 10:53AM|#

FAR FROM OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh - Sly, not Frank.

hrumph. never mind.

/kicks pebble

Bhh|7.13.07 @ 10:59AM|#

I love that guy.

Jesse Walker|7.13.07 @ 11:05AM|#

Does it address the rumor that Sly once fucked Doris Day?

Que sera, sera.

|7.13.07 @ 11:19AM|#

Vanity Fair profiles the great Sly Stone as he tenderly, tentatively steps out of reclusion...

Did they want him to stay?

dhex|7.13.07 @ 11:21AM|#

that's a pretty good impression of an anti-drug commercial in that clip.

SPD|7.13.07 @ 11:34AM|#

Where can I get that outfit? Wooo!

|7.13.07 @ 12:43PM|#

I remember those stories that romantically linked Sly Stone and Doris Day. Supposedly, that's why he recorded a version of "Que Sera Sera" on Fresh in 1973.

But c'mon, in her 40s, she was still pretty hot.

|7.13.07 @ 12:49PM|#

Sly produced Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody To Love," and got so annoyed with Grace Slick and co. that he decided to form his own band. Good move -- they were by far one of the best bands of the 60s.

|7.13.07 @ 1:38PM|#

"Does it address the rumor that Sly once fucked Doris Day?"

I'm deeply embarrased to admit to googling it - even though i know next to nothing about either person. Damn you celebrity obsessed culture !

Oh - Google results suggest that its an urban myth.

|7.13.07 @ 3:23PM|#

Doris Day played Erica Stone in the 1958 movie Teacher's Pet. Coincidence? I think not.