This reminds me about that time Ali and Sly showed up on the Merv Griffin show and Ali started going off on the white man and Sly tried to calm him down and be a peacemaker. I had always heard and loved his music as a kid, but had never really heard him speak much. I saw a video of him a few months ago where he wasn't really sounding too good, but he seemed happy. R.I.P. genius. This scene from Fresh Prince still cracks me up : https://www.instagram.com/onyxcollective/reel/DJHluluMyL8/
Legendary is right. Just a maker of ridiculously good music. Here's 20 minutes of awesomeness (Thank You, Higher, Dance, Stand):
A little late. Sly was the coolest ever. Early iterations of The Family he made sure the band was as mixed race and gender as possible at the height of civil rights unrest (apparently someone at NOI talked him out of it later on). He was also a huge drug addict (apparently loved mixing freebase and PCP in the 60's & 70's) and a total flake and often wouldn't even show up to gigs. The good with the bad. There some late 70's tv clips from talk shows where he is SO totally coked out that it makes me uncomfortable to watch. First ever "slap bass" recorded on an album by Mr Larry Graham who was "in The Family" before moving out on his own. Basically every funky bassline you've ever heard where the bass makes a "popping" sound was born right here on this one track - (Im not a huge Larry Graham solo guy but technically he is insane and the 70's stuff is very funky.) A couple of my "b tier" favorites that are kind of under the radar - (The video for this is basically an ad, but it also has some amazing early footage). Lyrically he references all the things "Mr Stewart" is hung up on in the song, which was self-referemtial, as Stewart was his birth certificate last name. Very slow but has a super-weird structure, and a oddly positive message. Also, more known to me by who sampled it -
Sly was one of those influential originals. Where there wasn't much too much blueprint before him. And one those true free birds. Last I heard about Sly couple years ago, he was reportedly homeless & broke, living in a van parked in a neighborhood. But his daughter said he had a house, that he just didn't like being "confined in 1 place" and was doing van life by choice. Essentially he was still happily partaking in his choice substances, doing whatever whenever, was well past having any normal structure and just didnt give any f**ks lol. RIP Graham gets associated with his biggest hit, one of the most mellow wholesome "wedding" songs One in a Million. At times overshadowing being one of the most thumping bass funksters ever. Its like thinking Eric Clapton is only the slow singing "Tears in Heaven" guy.
