"I am everyday people," boldly proclaimed Sly Stone on Sly and The Family Stone's 1968 chart-topping single.  "I am no better and neither are you/We are the same, whatever we do/You love me, you hate me, you know me and then/You can't figure out the bag I'm in..."  Using straightforward, direct language, a penchant for nonsense words that nonetheless carried weight (ooh-sha-sha, scooby-dooby-dooby, boom-laka-laka-laka), and the funkiest grooves ever to find their way to a vinyl platter, the artist born Sylvester Stewart pointedly commented on the era in which he lived.  Leading a mixed-race, mixed-gender band and determined to bring harmony to an incendiary time, Stone fused R&B, pop, soul, gospel, and psychedelia into an instantly recognizable whole.  The producer, arranger, singer, songwriter, and musician died on Monday at the age of 82, but lived long enough to see his legend cemented over and over again - most recently in Questlove's affectionate yet clear-eyed tribute Sly Lives! The Burden of Black Genius.  Stone's genius wasn't a quiet one; he wore it loud and proud through some of the most powerful records to come out of the 1960s - or any era.

He learned his craft in the San Francisco Bay Area, studying music theory and composition in junior college and making his name as a local disk jockey.  At the small Autumn Records label, Stone learned how to use the studio as another musical instrument.  After leading Bobby "Do You Wanna Dance" Freeman to a hit record with 1965's "C'mon and Swim," he knew he had hit on a good thing.  He followed it up with his own "I Just Learned to Swim."  Then, "Scat Swim."  But even as he was willing to hop on the latest craze, he was showing off his stylistic diversity.  He produced The Beau Brummels' British Invasion-esque "Laugh, Laugh" in 1965.  There was no sound the young Sylvester Stewart couldn't master.  It was time to strike out on his own.

With brother and guitarist Freddie Stone, trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, drummer Greg Errico, saxophonist Jerry Martini, and bassist Larry Graham, Sly formed The Family Stone.  Sister and keyboardist Rose Stone would soon join the ranks.  The septet matchlessly melded raucous group vocals over a background of throbbing horns, thumping bass, and churchy organ, providing a timely soundtrack to a decade of upheaval.  The sounds created by the Family Stone between 1967 and 1975 - give or take a few years on either side - have never been too far from the mainstream of popular culture, with the band's greatest hits remaining in frequent rotation on radio, on television and film soundtracks, and in the hands of hip-hop artists seeking that inevitably perfect sample.

The group gleefully shattered both boundaries and expectations as they brought funk into the mainstream.  When their first album - confidently titled A Whole New Thing - failed to make noise, Columbia Records' Clive Davis and exec Dave Kapralik encouraged them to move in a pop direction.  The commercial formula didn't impede Stone; far from it.  Instead, he realized how to use certain conventions of the form to promote notions of peace, brotherhood, and unity.  If Stone didn't invent funk, he just might have invented psychedelic soul with 1968's Dance to the Music.

Though Stone was the sonic auteur, he wrote and arranged to the strengths of the entire Family Stone, giving each member plenty of room to show off his or her versatility and impeccable musicianship.   And truth to tell, much of Dance to the Music was no less unorthodox than A Whole New Thing.  The title track eschewed standard song form, with Sly addressing his bandmates to literally assemble the song as it went along.  The musicianship was so strong, the beat so infectious, and the call to the dancefloor so stirring that the "simple" song proved impossible to ignore to radio programmers and record buyers.

The band's follow-up LP Life built upon the sound and style of "Dance," but lacked a single with the immediacy of "Dance to the Music."  Stone then upped the ante and earned his group their first top 20 LP.  Stand! introduced "Everyday People" as well as "Sing a Simple Song," "I Want to Take You Higher," and the fiery, anthemic title track - an inspirational call to action.  This was a period not only of hit records but of extreme creativity and inspiration.  "Sing a Simple Song" was, of course, anything but, demonstrating just how funky the band could be.  But Stone could be counted on to surprise, as he did with the 1969 hit "Hot Fun in the Summertime."  It's perhaps the most "pure pop" song he ever recorded, an intoxicating and thoroughly groovy production with dreamy vocals, a catchy piano riff and his first use of strings on a record.

Waves were also being made onstage.  When Sly and the Family Stone appeared at Woodstock in August 1969, they were at the vanguard of rock and soul.  The following year's performance at the Isle of Wight was equally electrifying.  By the time 1970 rolled around, however, the band had begun to fracture, with Stone living in LA and the rest of the band remaining in the Bay Area.  The aforementioned "Hot Fun" and the double A-sided single of the sweet, positive "Everybody is a Star" with the sublime, bass-driven "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" marked the end of an era for the band.  When they returned in 1971 with "Family Affair," the sound was different, and considerably darker.

It's impossible not to be jolted out of whatever torpor you might be experiencing when you hear "Family Affair."  Deep and dark, it employed electric piano and the then-rare device of a rhythm box, or drum machine, for its singular sound; guests Billy Preston and Bobby Womack contributed organ and guitar, respectively.  This frighteningly resigned rumination anchored There's a Riot Goin' On, a moody, unflinching, dark and at-times disillusioned look at America circa 1971 written, produced, sung and played by the increasingly tortured Stone.  The album's slurred vocals and stoned (no pun intended) grooves confirmed that the sixties were, indeed, over.  The original band was over, too, with the departure of Greg Errico in 1971 and Larry Graham in 1972.  Work began on follow-up LP Fresh late in 1972.  The album was somewhat brighter than its predecessor, allowing for the ironic inclusion of Doris Day's signature "Que Sera Sera" in an unusual reinvention.

Sly and the Family Stone's Epic tenure came to an end with 1974's considerably mellower Small Talk, with its cover photograph of Stone, his then-wife, and child.  Its music was diverse, but topping the high-octane music that preceded it was no small task.  Though few had ever soared as high as Stone, his spiraling drug abuse would lead him into the depths.  Cancelled shows made him a liability; a Radio City Music Hall stand in 1975 reportedly ended up with a mere one-eighth of the house sold.  The Family Stone soon dissolved.

Sly Stone largely retreated, releasing four more albums through 1982 on the Epic and Warner Bros. labels.  Sporadic comebacks would take place over the next 40+ years, as well as well-publicized brushes with the law, reports of homelessness, and lawsuits filed.  Stone appeared in a Grammy tribute in 2006 and occasionally made erratic onstage appearances.  In 2011, he released his first album since 1982.  I'm Back! Family and Friends mainly revisited his old songs, which had only become more vital with the passage of time.  In 2023, Stone published an autobiography.  Written with Ben Greenman, it successfully captured Stone's voice as he emotionally recounted the many highs and lows of his life and career.

Sly Lives! The Burden of Black Genius puts this innovative artist's music in its proper social, cultural, and political context, yet at the end of the day, the simple (not simplistic) yet powerful messages and red-hot grooves are all anyone needs to grasp the primal power of Sly Stone.  In less than a decade, he laid the groundwork for generations of musicians to follow, from Prince and Rick James to The Roots and Lauryn Hill - while also influencing contemporaries such as Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock.  Alternately joyful and mournful, much like the world itself, the music of the Family Stone is both of its time and utterly timeless.  Sly Stone wanted to take us higher.  He succeeded.  Boom-laka-laka-laka... boom-laka-laka-laka....​