The Original Family Stone
@Heritage Park in Frankenmuth
Oldies Palooza 8

What a day to hear the original Family Stone – 90 degrees – heated up and perfect – weather just made for that fiery funk of Sylvester Stewart aka Sly Stone, only Sly wasn’t there. Rumors abound…burnout, drug casualty, mentally unbalanced. His total outrageousness at last February’s Grammy Awards show served only to fuel the speculation. Hi bizarre wild-eyed appearance and foot-high platinum-blond Mohawk gave him an other-worldly appearance that hinted of something out-of-control and frightening. Even the Grammy’s cameras seemed to flinch in embarrassment and flashed past him. What happened to him? After a 30 year self-enforced absence, Sly appeared to be giving out signs that he was ready to get back out into the spotlight. Then right before our eyes, he pawed the keyboard like an eighties Brian Wilson, tranced-out and dissociated and he evaporate in to the ether. Sly, where are you? We need you more than ever.

The Original Family Stone features three founding members - the vibrant Cynthia Robinson, an agile trumpeter whose claim to fame is to scream out the titles of the songs during the intro, outro, or wherever she wants e.g. SING… A SIMPLE… SONG, ALL THE SQUARES GO HOME, or DANCE…TO…THE-MUSIC. Original member Rose Stone looks fantastic, much younger than her years (from 100 yards away), bangs the keyboard a bit, dances stiffly and sings quiet leads and off-key harmonies while the third original sax man Jerry Martini, plays his sax, bangs a tambourine and puts out a good vibe. The hired hands play and sing well. These cats are truly funkified… in the image of the master. They played all the hits and then some. – Everyday People, Stand, (the Woodstock classic) I Want to Take You Higher, Sing a Simple Song, Hot Fun in the Summertime, Thank You (Falttinme Be Mice Elf Agin – perhaps the best funk song ever recorded). As expected Don’t Call Me Nigger was omitted - way too heavy for an oldies festival. It is said that Sly Stone along with James Brown inspired many a funkster in the seventies and beyond. I can’t help but to agree that Sly like Brown is a philosopher-prophet that helped define the civil rights struggles of the era and gave a voice to the forgotten people. He wrote and sang about accepting differences (Everyday People), fighting for civil rights (Stand) and rejecting Racism (Don’t Call Me Nigger Whitey). He also wrote about hope (You Can Make it If You Try), human worth and dignity (Everybody’s A Star), and social commentary (Family Affair). Sly called his music psychedelic soul and it seemed to perfectly encapsulate the time - it was… Revolutionary - but not today, not at this show. The Original Family Stone is a well-oiled Vegas-like machine composed of crack musicians and singers that can reproduce the funk but not the soul of Sly Stone.

Peace,
Bo White