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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | MBaroneO@aol.com |
| Subject | Re: Sly & The Family Stone |
| Date | Fri, 29 Oct 2004 12:29:23 EDT |
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Hey Friends,
I have a great Sly story for y'all.
In 1983 (I think it was) I opened the newspaper to find an advertisement
saying that SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE would be appearing at Allusions Nightclub on
Wolcott Street in Waterbury, Ct. (and I still have the newspaper clipping to
prove it).
This place is a little hole in the wall dump and I don't mean dump in the
cool sense of the term. This place had absolutely no character. Not the kind of
place that I would usually be hanging.
I partially grew up in Waterbury so I knew the area that the club was in.
Anyway, having been a huge Sly fan since I was a kid I decided to go to the
show and hoped and prayed that he would actually show up.
The big night arrived and I find out that Sly supposedly has Bootsy Collins
on bass with him so I'm even more excited.
I get to the club (which was about 400 sq feet-long and narrow)and I am
standing practically on top of the equipment which was ground level. No stage.
There is a keyboard right next to me which has the name SLY spelled out with
rivets on the front of it
The place starts filling up and this God awful local cover band (with a very
bad chick singer)begins their set. It is about 8 p.m.
Every 30 minutes or so the singer would say "we are going to entertain you
for just a little while longer because Sly hasn't arrived yet so please bear
with us Ok?"
They played until 11 p.m.
Suddenly a tall figure dressed in what looked like a red leather jump suit
with matching "sky piece" (for those of you who remember the 70's Flagg Brother
catalogs!) emerged from the back of the club with his entourage.
I couldn't believe it. My heart was pounding. HE was actually HERE!
The first words that he spoke were "Hey y'all. You are gonna remember the
words to these songs better than I will but we'll give it a shot anyway". Ok.
The "Family Stone" who ended up being a pick up band (and no Bootsy Collins)
were pretty decent and played with a lot of spirit considering the obvious
circumstances. Drugs.
Every song ended up being basically a vamp where Sly would sing the lyrics
that he remembered - halfheartedly dance a little - play some guitar or
keyboards. All in all it was kind of a *shambles*.
After the show people waited outside to get his autograph. He was in his bus
(which was a Ford Econoline van). I walked up to him and asked him to sign
my beloved vinyl copy of "There's A Riot Goin' On" and he never looked at me
once - he was clearly super high on something.
Apparently the band slept in the apartment of an aquaintance of mine that
night - on floors - on couches etc. What a sad state of affairs. This is the
same guy who got married in Madison Square Garden. The same guy who changed the
face of music in the 60's and 70's.
I actually saw Sly Stone in the flesh though.
Anybody else have any Sly memories to share?
Michael
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