Platinum wigs, a mix of different genders and races, psychedelic soul jams: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Sly and the Family Stone embodied everything but normal when it emerged in the 1960s. Yet, 50 years later and the band continues to make people dance to the music.
Although singer Sly Stone, who penned the band’s enormous music catalog, no longer tours with the group, founding members drummer Greg Errico and saxophonist Jerry Martini continue to play together under the name the Family Stone. They will perform at the La Mirada Theatre For the Performing Arts on Friday in celebration of their 50th anniversary.
While their original leader is currently in retirement, both Errico and Martini are adamant on keeping his music alive among today’s listeners.
“Sly’s lyrics are so profound; what he was writing about was so brilliant. We were best friends growing up and I always thought then, and still believe now, that there aren’t many songs that could top his,” said Martini, “We’re bringing the songs to a whole new generation of people, because I really believe in them.”
In addition to Errico and Martini, the San Francisco-based band was a family affair, originally consisting of Stone, his brother and keyboardist Freddie, sister and keyboardist Rose, and trumpeter Cynthia Robinson. As the group began to rise in popularity in the late 1960s, with chart-topping hits such as “Dance to the Music,” “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” and “I Want to Take You Higher,” the band saw many changes in the member lineups over the years.
The group had explosive success during its most active years of 1966-1975, but members, particularly Errico, Martini and Robinson (before her death in 2015) continued to tour throughout the past couple of decades. Today, the band’s lineup includes multi-instrumentalist Phunne Stone, the daughter of Sly Stone and Robinson, along with singer and organist Alex Davis, guitarist Nate Wingfield and bassist and musical director Blaise Sison.
The band will play a variety of its greatest hits, but also add lesser-known songs to the set.
“Sly wrote about 500 songs; a lot of them are so relevant but never promoted, so I’m glad that we’re throwing them into the mix,” said Martini, “There’s songs we do, like ‘Color Me True,’ that have such great lyrics and music, but aren’t as popular as our Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Grammy Hall of Fame hits.”
Martini added that although he is 73 years old, he has as much – if not more – passion and energy on stage than he ever had.
“We are going to just get up there and play and get the people participating, jumping around and spreading that happiness for our golden anniversary. It’s not a bunch of old guys on stage with canes, although it may seem like it to the kids,” Martini laughed, “It’s a real visual show and we sound better than ever.”
Often referenced as one of the strongest major influences in R&B, soul, psychedelia and funk, the band was known to run the gamut on political and social issues in its lyrics, such as their song “Everyday People,” which stood against prejudices of all kinds and coined the famous phrase: “different strokes for different folks.”
The band also performed the famous Woodstock Music and Art Festival on August 17, 1969. In 2011, it played the Harvest Festival in Australia, which brought back Woodstock memories for Errico:
“They had all these different age groups there singing along and dancing and grooving, and I looked around was just like, ‘Wow, we are still as relevant and breaking through generations. Our music is still part of them,’” said Errico.
Errico said he occasionally keeps in touch with Stone, but there are no future plans for the original lead man returning:
“Sly’s been in and out of being available unfortunately. I wish he would be able to come out and do what we all did together years ago; it’d be real nice, but some things just don’t work out like that I guess.”
Still, the band has a packed tour schedule this year, which includes various venues in Washington D.C., Colorado, Indiana and Arizona. Martini said they have even recorded new music this past year, and will continue to introduce Sly’s unknown music to the world.
Errico said he is proud that the band continues to be significant today:
“I want the band to speak for itself, like it has already, which is not anything that I was conscious of when we first did it. It was just simple because we were having fun doing it, but as the elements come together later in life, you realize that you did something valuable that connects with people.”
Contact the writer: jmoe@ocregister.com
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