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THE FAMILY STONE INTERVIEW
09.11.11Sly & The Family Stone, who formed in San Francisco in the mid ’60s, were one of the first interracial bands to enjoy mainstream chart success. Led by the flamboyant Sly Stone, the seven-piece rock, funk and soul band had hits with now classic songs such as Dance To The Music, Thank You, I Want To Take You Higher, Family Affair and Everyday People, which have been covered by numerous other artists and also sampled by countless hip hop and soul acts.
With leader Sly Stone continuing to lead a troubled life despite numerous attempts at a comeback and with recent reports suggesting he’s living in a van, founding members Jerry Martini, Cynthia Robinson and drummer Greg Erico have put together The Family Stone to pay respect to the band’s timeless music.
The septet are currently touring Australia for the very first time with Chicago’s Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and we speak to drummer Greg Erico about the newly revitalised band.
“We’re really looking forward to it because, back in the day, we never got down there to Australia nor have any of us recently been there with any other artists. I guess there were a couple of decades where the group’s presence kinda went away. Our profile disappeared, but in the late ’80s, radio started putting together their classic rock formats and playing our music again and in 1993 we were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. The group’s music has had a renewed presence since then.
“We’ve tried to come back at various times with this and that with different figurations of the group. At this point it’s three original members along with four additional members but the chemistry we have is just fantastic. It’s going very well and is being very well received.
“We play all the hits – and hey, it’s quite a catalogue – although there are plans to do some new recordings. We may even re-record some of old hits with the new band and mix it up with some new material from ourselves and other artists.”
The band would even consider inviting Sly back into the fold.
“He went into rehab just a couple of weeks ago which is wonderful. I talk to him every few months or so and if he continues with rehab and it works out, it’ll be a great thing. He’s still very creative and still capable of doing things; it’s just that he needs to get some stuff out of his way.
“Sure, if he handles his current situation and takes back control of what’s been taking away his control, we’d love to work with him.”
Erico says the ’60s were an exciting time.
“Absolutely! It was a time of exploring new areas and Sly & The Family Stone was a large experiment in itself. We were outside the box because a band made up of African American people and white people with female members hadn’t really been done on such a large scale up until that point. I think the music we did represented that experiment. And Sly being such a great writer, the music found its way to the people and really connected with them. And it’s great to now be acknowledged by newer artists and be sampled so much. And people were sampling our music during the lean period when the group’s legacy just wasn’t there. It’s great that creative people were still listening and sampling our music and incorporating it into their own musical creations.”
Erico, who toured with Weather Report although he never recorded with them, departed ways with the band in 1971 in what he says was an easy decision.
“It was easy because, being in the driver’s seat, I could see what was comin’,” he says of the band’s ongoing troubles with drugs and such. “It was easy because I knew I couldn’t do anything about all that and couldn’t bring anything new to the table. So I took a year off and then had lots of wonderful opportunities to go out on the road with people such as David Bowie for his Diamond Dogs tour and also play music in many other different genres. So I can’t complain.”
The drummer, who has his own studio where he produces other artists, also has many fond memories of working in Sly & The Family Stone with highly rated bass player Larry Graham – credited with inventing slap bass – who left the group to form Graham Central Station before going on to work with Prince.
“Larry and I flowed together like glass in water,” Erico says with a laugh. “We never talked about what we were doing, we just did it. And I occasionally sit in with Larry when he’s touring with Prince. They were actually playing the Bay Area just a few weeks ago and I went along and played. It’s good to get together.”
Sly & The Family Stone are famous for performing at Woodstock in 1969.
“Well they say if you can remember Woodstock you weren’t actually there,” Erico quips. “But I do remember seeing The Who and Janis Joplin but Santana had played the day before we got there and Hendrix was on after we left. And I also remember that we were staying at the same hotel as Janis Joplin. And I think Richie Havens was staying there too.
“One of the reasons that not many people remember Woodstock is that nobody at the time knew it would end up being what it was and how it would go down in history as it has. At the time it was really just another big rock festival but it turned into something else again. There have been dozens of great outdoor festivals but there’s only really ever been one Woodstock. So, on refection, the whole experience was very special.”
Words: Robert Dunstan
The Family Stone play Rocket Bar on Fri Nov 11 with the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble.
