Sly & The Family Stone
The making of “Dance To The Music”
Formed at the tail end of 1966 by Sylvester Stewart, a musical prodigy and, at 23, already a veteran dJ, songwriter and producer in the Bay Area, Sly & The Family Stone were a unique proposition: a multicultural band of men and women playing a rainbow blend of musical styles. “It was a time of high racial tension,” says drummer Greg errico. “There were riots and all that stuff going on, and here we were, mixed genre, black and white, breaking all the
rules. It was a challenge, but we didn’t feel it. We had the music and we had each other.” If their 1967 debut album, A Whole New Thing, was too far ahead of the game to gain traction, the wildly exuberant and deceptively clever follow-up honed their approach to perfection. “dance To The music” is a three-minute party jam that doubles as manifesto and theme song. It namechecks band members, shines a light on each instrument and vocalist, and flits through the band’s range of stylistic influences, from rock, soul, doo-wop and jazz to gospel and psychedelia. “Sly hand-picked members of the group to have a combination of musicians that was totally different to what was out there at the time,” says bassist Larry Graham. “He allowed each individual to express what they were bringing to the table. You can really hear that philosophy on ‘dance To The music’.” The single not only gave the band their first hit, going Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic, but it established their aesthetic: vibrant songs of uplift preaching a message of unity, peace, positivity and the power of music. It was also hugely influential, bringing r&B to a rock audience and all but inventing psychedelic soul. Prior to its release, Sly & The Family Stone were playing six casino shows a week on the graveyard shift; a year later they were one of the standout acts at Woodstock.
“It was our first commercial hit, and it opened the door,” says saxophonist Jerry martini, who now leads The Family Stone. In the vacuum created by the turbulent life of Sly Stone, and since the death of trumpeter Cynthia robinson in 2015, he and errico are the only two members of the original band still touring. No show is complete without an extended rendition of their signature tune. “It always goes over fantastically,” says martini. “When we hit it, everybody stands up and jumps around. They still obey!” GRAEME THOMSON
GREG ERRICO: When we started the group in december 1966, I was 17 and a half. I still had six months to go at high school.
LARRY GRAHAM: I felt it was special from the very beginning, from when we first started rehearsing. everything we were doing was super exciting. “dance To The music” was another new chapter, another turn of the page.
ERRICO: Sly wasn’t businesslike at all, but he was very talented. He had already produced a hit for Bobby Freeman, “C’mon And Swim”. He had experience of that commercial mindset, but we didn’t treat out first record like that.
JERRY MARTINI: our first album was recorded when we were working in Las Vegas six days a week. on mondays we would fly to CBS on Gower Street in LA and record on two-track; we’d all play at the same time with overhead microphones. We were doing it the rough
way! We toured in a big 10-passenger station wagon. I drove. Sly had his pen and his book, and he’d write as we travelled all over the United States.
ERRICO: The first album and single bombed. musicians liked them, but the average person didn’t know about us. Sly was already ahead of his time. [CBS
president] Clive davis believed in the group. He said, “You guys could do this, but you’ve got to connect with the masses with something everybody can relate to. You need to draw them in.”
MARTINI: I remember flying from New York back to San Francisco with Sly, when epic had said the first album was too diverse. He was just shattered, but he said, “oK, I’ve gotta give them what they want.” He followed their requirements to a T. When it came time to step up and reach the people, he brought it home. Sly was the leader, the songwriter, the visionary.
ERRICO: Sly thought, ‘What can I do to get everyone’s attention and put a smile on your face?’ our music was uplifting, and dancing was a good medium, because it brought communities together all around the world. The song had to hit the mark in just a couple of minutes, so it took work and some clever thinking.
MARTINI: Sly was such a brilliant man as a young man. He knew what he was doing with “dance To The music”. He planned everything out so wonderfully.
ERRICO: It put the spotlight on everyone in the group for a moment, and included all the elements that were needed. It was very clever in that way.
GRAHAM: one thing that I always give Sly a lot of credit for is allowing band members to be creative. Sly was capable of playing all the instruments himself, but he didn’t try to make everyone play the way he would play. That was why you were in the band!
MARTINI: The second album was recorded in New York, mostly on the sixth floor of CBS at Studio e in Sixth Avenue, and Studio B on the second floor. By then we had eight-track, so we started doing things more piecemeal. A lot of times the rhythm track would play together, but once it got going it was individuals coming in and recording their parts.
ERRICO: The basic track for “dance To The music” was guitar, bass, drums and B3.
GRAHAM: Playing the basic track live captured the energy and spirit of us playing together. Later on, with things like
There’s A Riot Goin’ On, there was much more overdubbing than the earlier stuff.
ERRICO: most of our stuff in those days came together over time. It wasn’t a preconceived thing. Cutting the track, we got the strong beat that everyone could lock on to, then it came together in layers. The different parts came together over time. one thing inspired the next thing, which inspired the next thing.
GRAHAM: Greg played a very unique drum beat. Some of those open G chords that Freddie played were very different to songs that were popular at the time. The reason I was there was because of my brand-new style of playing the bass, with the thumping and plucking. I used pedals, I was not afraid of experimenting. I used fuzz tone on the bass, which was unique at the time. There was a chance for the individuals in the band to showcase our talent. All of that contributed to the song’s success, alongside Sly’s genius writing.
ERRICO: It had some unusual elements in it. You had the groove, but it was very intricate when it came to the voices. You had Freddie, Larry and Sly all taking
“Epic said the first LP was too diverse. Sly said, ‘I’ve gotta give them what they want’” JERRY MARTINI
“It came on the radio and we lost it! It sounded so cool. It jumped from the speakers” GREG ERRICO
verses, and addressing everybody in the band. Then you had this breakdown, where it was just the vocals doing this three-part counter-harmonic vocal interlude which caught your ear. Then it comes back in with the drum lead, and “Dance to the music…!” I mean, you just could not turn away from it. It had everything. MARTINI: We usually did the horns last. ERRICO: Sometimes the horns would be there, but usually that would be developed and opened up later on. On “Dance To The Music”, there’s a little part that Jerry does with the soprano sax. It came right at the final stages. We were playing the track back over the studio speakers in the control room, really loud, and Jerry grabs his soprano and starts playing that line. He was marching around like the Pied Piper. Sly stops the tape and says, “Get back in the booth, man, you’re recording that!”
MARTINI: A lot of people thought it was a soprano sax, but it was my 1958 Beauvais clarinet that I had played back in high school. Cynthia and I had already done our horn lines. It was snowing in New York, we were at CBS studios. The union were coming to visit, and this was in the days when you’d better have an instrument in your hand or you wouldn’t get paid! I didn’t want to bring my big heavy sax, so I brought my clarinet. I was sitting in one of the rehearsal rooms right behind the studio, and when they sang
“Dance to the music!” I would play this lick on the clarinet. Sly walks by, looks at me, and goes, “Get out in the studio!” He recorded it right then.
ERRICO: If it wasn’t there, you’d miss it. It’s part of the spirit of the song. That’s how we used to do a lot of stuff. On all the singles, the last thing that would be done – again – was the drums. As the song developed and morphed, we would go in just before mixing and put the drum track on again and really lock it in. So I cut the drums again, and then we mixed.
GRAHAM: It was very happy times, which I think you can hear in the music. We did a lot of things together. We rode motorcycles together, we bought dogs together. Me, Sly and Freddie all bought T-Birds together. We were like a family. It felt that way.
ERRICO: I remember the first time we heard “Dance To The Music”, we were on the road somewhere in the big station wagon. It came on the radio and we all lost it! Wow, it sounded so cool. It jumped out from the speakers. Even if you didn’t like the song, when that came on over AM radio you stopped and you listened.
MARTINI: It became our first hit and put us on the map. We went from doing the casinos to doing the large venues.
GRAHAM: After that, things changed. We got a bigger spotlight shined on us, better gigs. It was an exciting time, things began to elevate. We had more bands copying our style, trading off lead vocals like we did on “Dance To The Music”, and more bass players listening to my bass style. We began to have an influence.
MARTINI: It created an uproar in the industry because it was so different. Shortly after we did “Dance To The Music”, The Temptations and all the Motown groups would have the low voice, the high voice, the rhythmic vocal interplay.
ERRICO: Psychedelic soul? We tried to avoid labels. The music contained more elements than just psychedelic or soul music, though it definitely had those. Psychedelic was the new thing. It was the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, that psychedelic jam thing. We incorporated some of that mindset, consciously, but we also had a little jazz in there, there was heavy rock, R&B, soul, funk. We brought it all to the table. Those were just the natural ingredients of the band that we souped together, and part of what enabled us to change the musical landscape of that time.
GRAHAM: Usually when we played “Dance To The Music” live, the first time around we would play it like the record. Then we would repeat it. The second time around the solos would expand into something else, spontaneously happening in the moment. We would end up extending it. It would be a lot longer than three minutes, that’s for sure!
ERRICO: We created our body of work in five or six years, and the first half of that really was all about the music. There were no drugs then, it was really focused.
MARTINI: It was so harmonious at the beginning. As time goes along, everyone gets their own little fan club. Envy is a good killer of most bands – but guess what? Sly’s songs will outlive all of us. He’s not living in mansions any more, but he still writes songs, he still calls sometimes, and he’ll always be dear to my heart.