February 3, 1999 This Saturday night, check out Greg with the Quicksliver Messenger Service at McCades in Santa Monica, California... December 19, 1999 The San Francisco Chronicle just published its list of the 100 top Bay Area bands. You'll never guess who is #1.... December 12, 1999 Why not send a note of congratulations to Greg and his wife Nancy after having just given birth to a baby boy!!! Greg just told me an amazing story ... a while back he, on a whim, decided to take advantage of a radio station's giveaway of round trip airline tickets by calling in and giving his name and number. A few weeks later he was in Miami and got a call from his wife ... apparently Freddy's wife had heard Greg's name announced on the radio, she in turn called Freddy, who in turn called Greg's wife. To make a long story short, when Greg accepted his tickets on the radio, the DJ recognized his name and asked about The Family ... Greg shared the story of how Freddy helped him out and said "it's still a Family Affair!" November 11, 1999 Thanks to Alison Dakss for reporting that the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine has some interesting photos of Sly and some "Behind the Scenes" tales of hanging out backstage with the group when they were at the peak of their popularity. October 24, 1999 Thanks to Teresa Banks for this info .... Rose and her choir in LA have been recording with young pop group Hanson for their latest album. Wonder who her favorite Hanson brother is ... :) October 20, 1999 Greg's "Many Faces" group has been signed to ArtistOne, an Internet-based distributor. You can already download their single Who's Drinking the Wine on MP3 for free! Give it a listen! October 18, 1999 Thanks to Rudi Thoroburgh ... he says that this month's "Keyboard" magazine has a little article on Rose and Sly's piano and organ work on Fresh. Apparently they describe "In Time" as the perfect example of the "funk feel"... October 13, 1999 As many of you know, Epic released an "alternate" version of the Fresh album by mistake ca. 1990...this CD had slightly different versions of the songs which appeared on the actual release. Now it seems that this "alternate" version has been released in the UK! Check www.yalplay.com where fan Chuck Tomlinson purchased a copy. September 27, 1999 Greg's new project "Many Faces" is indeed worth hearing. They have a sound rarely heard from new bands ... a blend of Santana and WAR and bits of Jamaican and Latin influences, with Greg's powerhouse funk drumming behind it. Greg sent me a 4-song demo which features a song called "Who's Drinking the Wine" ... great, great reggae-esque song. The music should be available to y'all shortly... September 24, 1999 The hit counter is rapidly approaching 100K ... as soon as it hits there will be a new Love City issue to celebrate!! September 19, 1999 Did anyone catch the first show of Roseanne Barr's new season? There was a special feature where she sang (not well) several Sly & the Family Stone songs such as "Thank You" and "Everyday People." Greg was on the drums, Ivan Neville on keyboards, Charlie Drayton (Keith Richards) on bass, and Jason Sinay and Pierre DuPont on guitars. The show created quite a buzz, and so they brought this band back in for another taping. Greg loved it ... no word yet one whether it will be a regular feature... September 13, 1999 Rumors are circulating that a Family Stone reunion is forthcoming ... let's just say that they are not untrue ... there is a certain vibe among the members of the group right now that can't be denied ... September 7, 1999 Unfortunately Greg has informed me that the Tampa Florida gig (Originally to also feature Cynthia and Jerry) has been canceled! Let's hope that lineup will reassemble soon at another venue. :) August 27, 1999: It has been a week of exciting new music from the group members .... Freddie mailed me an early pressing of his new CD and it is really pretty amazing. The songs are innovative and the singing and guitar work (and bass work?) really stand out. It was all recorded on a home studio, so sometimes you have to imagine what songs would sound like with more production. Also a tape of Greg's new "Many Faces" project just arrived -- you'll get a report ASAP. August 17, 1999: Just got the news from Jerry ... he, Cynthia and Greg are on the bill to play at an Audex All-Star gig in Tampa Florida in September! More news at a later date ... July 29, 1999: You ain't gonna believe this ... go immediately to The Dave Billeci Collection ... they have 10 minutes of audio from Sly's KSOL radio show from March 29, 1967! You won't believe your ears ... thanks to Michael Ackerman for letting us all know! July 20, 1999: Thought you'd all appreciate the latest word from the RIAA of how well Sly & the Family Stone's catalog has been selling... "Stand!" = Gold and Platinum, "Greatest Hits" = Gold and Triple platinum, "Fresh" = Gold, "Small Talk" = Gold, "Everyday People" = Gold, "Thank You" = Gold, "Family Affair" = Gold, "If You Want Me Stay" = Gold. Not too shabby...thanks to Neal Austinson for doing the digging!! Walter Stokman's radio tribute to Sly & the Family Stone will be on LIVE early tomorrow morning in Holland. Walter was the man who made the documentary film "Let Me Have It All" a few years back. The show will feature rare music, live phone chats with members of the group (and yours truly) and much more. July 6, 1999: All you fans of Mase out there ... there's a track on his brand new album Double Up which was co-written by Greg! It is a remake of a song he wrote with Lee Oskar for the album Before the Rain. July 1, 1999: Today I was listening to NPR and before Christopher Lydon returned after a commercial break, there was a sample of Greg's drums from "You Can Make it If You Try" !!! Just uploaded a photo taken two weeks ago, when I visited David Kapralik in New York City. He's a charming guy and still very fond of the group and its members ... he has donated a great many things to this site! June 23, 1999: An article from the May 28 issue of Entertainment Weekly "35 YEARS OF ROCK & ROLL": #22 Sly and the Family Stone Sly Stone had an integrated band before Prince, had the funk before George Clinton, and got married in Madison Square Garden before the Reverend Moon thought of staging weddings there. Before his burnout (still the most spectacular and depressing in rock) he wrote a string of sing-along singles as simple and catchy as nursery rhymes, and in all of them his message was positive and clear. Essential album: Greatest Hits (Epic) Thanks to [email protected] for turning me on to that! June 15, 1999: Revamped an old article from Time Magazine about Sly's 1974 wedding ... and added a rare color photo taken at the wedding courtesy of my man Steve Paley... June 11, 1999: Set up a new "welcome" page for the site with a rare B&W photo from Stephen Paley ... if you haven't seen it already take a look! May 24, 1999: Check out the latest issue of People magazine for a retrospective on this week in 1974; included is a photo of Sly and then bride Kathy Silva. Thanks to Bob Wagner for directing my attention to it .... Word from the Paisley Park camp is that the and NPG concert in Las Vegas will also feature Sly & the Family Stone members Rose Stone, Jerry Martini and Cynthia Robinson (and of course, Larry Graham)! This is unrelated to Sly & the Family Stone, but y'all should check out jazz/hip-hop artists The Roots' latest album "Things Fall Apart." What a great record ... my favorite tracks are "The Spark" and "Dynamite" ... completely infectious! Also, drummer ?uestlove is a regular contributor to this site...! May 15, 1999: Rose joined Larry and this past Friday at a late-night jam at Paisley Park in Minneapolis. The set list included "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)," "Everyday People," "Sing a Simple Song," "Family Affair," "Babies Makin' Babies," and "I Want to Take You Higher." Exciting stuff! May 7, 1999: Updated the Love City section to include all editions, up until the most recent one. Enjoy! May 1, 1999: Just added another DK article regarding the group's performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1969. Check it out! April 28, 1999: You won't believe this ... read a journalist's account of the Hot Fun in the Summertime recording session in 1970. This rare gem comes to the site care of David Kapralik, the group's original manager who signed them to Epic Records in 1967. Thanks a million, David! April 27, 1999: You will not believe these three crystal clear photos donated to the site by superfan Edward Lanier! They were taken by him at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in 1975. I have uploaded them on to a new page, but he plans to finish documenting all that happened at this show, which will merit its own page. Thanks Edward! April 25, 1999: Check out new information about Greg's latest project World Beat! World Beat is a new international drumming collective which features Greg, Narada Michael Walden, Gary Duncan, and drummers from a variety of musical backgrounds, such as American Indian, Japanese "Noh," Traditional Korean, Latin-American and more. Stay tuned for more information about the new CD... April 14, 1999: Just set up a page for Sly drummer Bill Lordan, best known as the drummer on the album "Small Talk" and on the group's Soul Train appearance. There's a great photo of Bill mugging for the camera, as well as details about his latest endeavors, and his e-mail address. Mar. 22, 1999: Many of you have written to me and asked about the availability of Sly & the Family Stone memorabilia. Posters, photos, etc. are pretty hard to come by ... until now! Ron Raffaelli, the phototgrapher who shot the famous "pebble" likenesses of the group's members, is selling "Collectors' Special" laminated photographic prints of his unique and breathtaking photo over the Internet. Click on his page to view the print, and if you e-mail Ron, please tell him you heard about it on this web site. Enjoy! Mar. 15, 1999: Candy Dulfer mentions what it was like to play with Larry, Jerry and Cynthia when on tour with on her web site news.. Check it out -- she is an extremely nice and talented musician. Feb. 25, 1999: At long last ... Jerry Martini is ready to ship orders of his great new solo CD "Heart 2 Heart" which features lush versions of classic jazz standards and love songs and some amazingly beautiful soloing from Jerry. In my opinion, this one is perfect for "getting in the mood!" To order a copy, mail a check or money order to Jerry Martini at 758 Kapahulu Ave. #A304, Honolulu HI 96816. The cost of the CD is $11.00 US; include an extra $3.95 for shipping/handling within the US, and include an extra $5.95 for shipping/handling outside the US (money orders for outside US please). Jerry will personally autograph each copy; for more details e-mail him at [email protected]. Look for more graphics and sounds for this CD on the website in the near future! Feb. 24, 1999: Sly Stone's influence extends into places you never knew about; D.S. contributed this transcript from Stevie Nicks' "Storytellers" episode on VH1... "So, I'm gonna tell you very quickly what I can remember about the story of "Dreams." When we were first recording the "Rumors" record we spent two months in Sausalito at the Record Plant, and as far as I'm concerned that's when we actually recorded the record. It took another eight months after that, but the tracks were all done there. While they're doing all kinds of stuff and there's nothing for me to do, I went next door to Sly Stone's studio, this big black and red room with a kind of stairway that went down into this kind of tunnel thing where people would set up and play around this light house sort of setup. And I took my little Fender Rhodes piano in there and I wrote "Dreams." And I spent about an hour in there, and then I went back in to Fleetwood Mac and actually was brave enough to just play, play it for them, 'cause I really thought it was good, and they liked it and we recorded it that night." Feb. 18, 1999: Thanks to Bart Van Hemelen for informing me that EDTV features "Thank You." Check it out. Feb. 15, 1999: Spoke recently to Freddie after we saw the Rat Pack movie on TV. He remembered meeting Sammy Davis Jr. in the late 60's: "I remember we did a show at NBC called "Manix" it was around 1968 or 1969. We were all backstage and Sammy Davis Jr. came over and started talking to us. His words encouraged me a great deal. He said he really liked our music and said he knew we were gonna make it big. You would never hear him say anything bad about anyone, and this was true right up until the day he died. You could name anybody in his presence and he would always mention something good about them. He was the only entertainer I have ever known who did that all the time. He was truly just a nice guy." January 31, 1999: Just listening to that great song "Somebody's Watching You" from the group's milestone 1969 album Stand!. What strikes me is how similar the sound is to the classic songs of Prince from his early records and throughout the Revolution period, particularly how in the front of the mix are ladies singing the melody in a tuneless, flat manner (i.e. "Controversy" and "Pop Life"). Not to mention the alternation of lines from the verses between people with differing vocal ranges (i.e. "1999quot;). Of course it has been well-documented that Prince (and ) has been deeply influenced by the music of Sly and Larry Graham, but after revisiting this song it is now more than obvious! January 19, 1999: Thanks to Greg Errico for sending me his copy of the "French Fries" novelty 45 released in 1968. There's now a French Fries scan for the discography, and sound samples will be uploaded shortly. Also stay tuned for some incredible photos of teenage Greg Errico and Freddie Stone! Added a bunch of new Sly & the Family Stone song samples, thanks to Ahmir Thompson!!

Creator and Webmaster: Jon Dakss