Sly Stone is Gone

[ProfD]

https://www.npr.org/2025/06/09/1209525990/sly-stone-obituary

 

He was an architect of Funk music.

 

He inspired Motown to move in a different direction.

 

He is the reason Miles Davis brought electric instruments into Jazz.

 

His music was a cornerstone of Hip-Hop music.

 

He inspired countless artists and musicians.

 

He was truly a musical pioneer.

 

I'm thankful for everything he brought to music.

 

RIP Mr. Sylvester Stewart better known as Sly Stone.

 

 

[umbrarchist]

RIJ: Reincarnate In Joy

[Pioneer1]

May our brother rest in peace and power.

I still remember him on the Mike Douglas Show with Muhammad Ali and how they were both going at it.


 

Those were the days, lol.

[Delano]

The Music lives 

[Troy]

Both men were entertainers, in their early 30's, and uncredentialled, so I don't expect brilliant revelations from them.  

 

Ali went on to enjoy a life beloved by white people.  Sly's band and his music reflected both racial and gender harmony.

 

 

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, Troy said:

Both men were entertainers, in their early 30's, and uncredentialled, so I don't expect brilliant revelations from them. 

I'm not suggesting that either Sly or Muhammad Ali did such a thing.  However, some of the most brilliant men and women to ever grace the planet (thinkers, pioneers, inventors, industrialists, etc.) were uncredentialled.  That didn't stop them dropping nuggets of knowledge and pearls of wisdom. 

[Pioneer1]

 

I am impressed by the amount of fearless Black pride Sly was emanating on that panel.

Imagine ANY Black entertainer doing that today?

 

[Troy]

7 hours ago, ProfD said:

However, some of the most brilliant men and women to ever grace the planet (thinkers, pioneers, inventors, industrialists, etc.) were uncredentialled.

Sure. My point is that outside of boxing for Ali and music for Sly what they have to say about anything else less is less interesting to me than what you have to say. That’s just based on age and experience alone.

 

Whenever black celebrities have something to say on subjects they have little expertise in they get more attention than a more attention than a black person with expertise in the discipline.. Terrence Howard wrote some nutty stuff about how he reinvented math and it’s all over the Internet. He’s being interviewed on these ideas Neal Degrasse Tyson even talked about it for 30 minutes on his podcast. He tore apart, but he still gave it his attention?!
 

Same thing with Kanye West whatever nonsense he has to spout is covered on national television just because he makes music that people enjoy. 
 

So they have a musician and a boxer up there with a senator they could have Barbara Jordan on the show but again white people don’t wanna see Barbara Jordan they wanna see a prize fighter and a musician.

 

It really is no different today.

[ProfD]

8 minutes ago, Troy said:

Whenever black celebrities have something to say on subjects they have little expertise in they get more attention than a more attention than a black person with expertise in the discipline.

Gotcha. I agree.

 

Entertainers and athletes who are the same thing should not be spokepeople unless they are intelligent.

 

I'm glad Michael Jordan was straight up about it. He was basically like 'don't ask me sh8t because I don't know nothing beyond basketball.'

[Troy]

Don’t you know right after I responded and this post I read something about someone siding Terrence Howard to explain how the Covid vaccine works?!

 

It is freaking unbelievable!

 

no, I take that back. It is perfectly believable. I swear people are underestimating the impact of the social media feed, and how information is shoved to us custom tailored to keep us engaged the manipulation is not deliberate, but the by product.

 

AI will only make this much worse!

 

Who could’ve imagined Terrance Howard ravings would be held up higher than any scientist’s.

[ProfD]

15 minutes ago, Troy said:

Don’t you know right after I responded and this post I read something about someone siding Terrence Howard to explain how the Covid vaccine works?!

 

It is freaking unbelievable!

 

Who could’ve imagined Terrance Howard ravings would be held up higher than any scientist’s.

Yep. It's the conviction that Terrence Howard babbled his pseudo-science.

 

When I heard Howard talking that foolishness  I thought he was either in character or preparing for a role in an upcoming movie.

[aka Contrarian]

Hummmm. I never checked out the content of this thread before.  Its headline said it all for me.  My late night curiosity kicked in, however, and here I am.

I must say, I agree with Troy's critique of Sly and Ali when it comes to - profound wisdom.

As for  Sly's music, I never realized its impact, I just enjoyed it and thought he had a tight little band  made more innovative by its  instrumentation.

As for that goof ball, Terrance Howard, he also boasts being able to write backwards. Puleeze. I'm  right-handed and I can write backwards with my left hand. Something I do on a regular basis becausd it's  good exercise for the brain. 

 

Anyway, how significant is it that one of the first things that popped into my head at the news of Sly's  death was his reputation for always being late or a no-show at his  gigs, and the toll drugs took on his career.

I didn't know he was responsible for Miles Davis introducing  electronic music into jazz, (something that earned Miles the accusation of being a "sell-out" by jazz purists).

I know Miles and Prince became tight and I assumed Prince was who got him into that mode.

 

Coincidentally, Brian Wilson, the last living survivor of the Beach Boys died the same week Sly did.  They were both innovators in their field of music. They may be somewhere jamming.

 

On 6/9/2025 at 10:01 PM, umbrarchist said:

RIJ: Reincarnate In Joy

I love that - it resonnates with me as an alternate to RIP, atho l'm so tired of living i need some rest.

                  zzzzzzzzzzz.    

[Delano]

There's a Yiddish saying. If you are wealthy, you're smart,  good looking and you sing well.

[Delano]

20 hours ago, Troy said:

Both men were entertainers, in their early 30's, and uncredentialled, so I don't expect brilliant revelations from them.  

Maybe we watched a different clip. What was said was thought out and true. You may be focusing on the way it was said instead of what was said. 

 

Sly told Ali to get his hands out of his face. I enjoyed the back and forth and then the agreement between Ali and Sly.

[Pioneer1]

10 hours ago, Delano said:

 

Sly told Ali to get his hands out of his face. I enjoyed the back and forth and then the agreement between Ali and Sly.

Me too.
I remember the first time I saw it years ago I liked the exchange between the two because it reminded me so much of what I saw in barbershops growing up.

I was reading the comments in Youtube under the video and on here waiting on someone to BRING UP how Sly told Ali to get his hands out of his face.
And he looked serious and unblinking when he did it....lol.
Straight up "g" move.....lol.
I have to give Sly props just for that alone.
....although by his eyes he looked like he was high and "stoned" for real, during the show.

[Troy]

10 hours ago, Delano said:

What was said was thought out and true.

 

True or untrue, that was not really my point.  Again, they did not have Paul McCartney and Jerry Quarry talking political science and sociology alongside Adam Clayton Powell.  

 

I did not "enjoy" the part where Sly was saying get you hand out of my face to Ali.  I though his tone was unwarranted.  Ali explained that Sy ideas were why Black people can get along.  When Ali is in the Nation which one could easily argue is, in and of itself, divisive.

 

12 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

I have to give Sly props just for that alone.

 

I don't from the reasons I mentioned.  Sly was not intimidating anyone, Ali could probably kill Sly with one punch.  But Ali was not a punk, like will Smith Beating up on a much small person...

[Pioneer1]

5 minutes ago, Troy said:

 

I don't from the reasons I mentioned.  Sly was not intimidating anyone, Ali could probably kill Sly with one punch.  

That's WHY I give Sly props for looking him in the eye at close range and unblinkingly saying what he said.
He knew he was a talented trained fighter and could have mopped that stage up with all of them men combined, but Sly stood his ground and said what he wanted....to everybody.

High or not, that took heart.

[Troy]

4 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

High or not, that took heart.

 

LOL! No it didn't.  He Knew Ali wouldn't do anything. 

 

Now if he did that to Shug Knight I'd agree with you

 

 

[Delano]

@Troy it was a smart move by Mike Douglas. People like celebrities more than thinkers. It most likely raised Barbara Jordan's profile.

 

Yeah I have to give it to Sly. He was actually more of a moderator than Mike Douglas. Which again I give props to Mike Douglas for not trying to sensor or steer the conversation. He said I'm here to entertain and he did take a risk having Sly and more so Muhammed Ali on his show to talk about Black issues.

 

 

I think it's an insult to compare this to Kanye.

[Troy]

4 hours ago, Delano said:

I think it's an insult to compare this to Kanye.

 

Why?

 

Today Kayne and Terrence Howard's every looney utterance garners national media attention.  Cory Booker has to give a 25-hour speech to get media to cover him.

 

4 hours ago, Delano said:

...smart move by Mike Douglas. People like celebrities more than thinkers. It most likely raised Barbara Jordan's profile.

 

Of course, people prefer to see Sly and Ali to a politician like Barbara Jordan.

 

But again, White folks get to see their politicians and other knowledgeable people with credentials discuss issues while Black people get celebrities. When white folks want someone Black to weigh in on Covid they call Terreance Howard.  

 

Why does this matter?  People dismiss the importance of credentials and are far more likely to believe a celebrity crack pot over the scientific community.

[Delano]

6 hours ago, Troy said:

Today Kayne and Terrence Howard's every looney utterance garners national media attention.

Sly and Ali made more sense than either of the two other guests. 

 

The issue is more about policies or agenda. The two experts deflected  the real issues. 

 

Also being an expert in one area doesn't make you an expert in other areas. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is an expert in his field. My only complaint is that he disses Astrology. So in this regard you are more of an expert than him. He has an opinion about something he doesn't know. He diagnoses what he doesn't understand. Which isn't a scientific attitude. 

 

Ironically I have a similar issue with other Astrologers. Since my practice is not only outside of their experiences, it is beyond the boundary of their understanding.

[ProfD]

11 hours ago, Troy said:

But again, White folks get to see their politicians and other knowledgeable people with credentials discuss issues while Black people get celebrities.

That's right up there with having Dr. Ben Carson aka Gifted Hands being secretary of Housing & Urban Development instead of Health & Human Services or Surgeon General.

 

11 hours ago, Troy said:

When white folks want someone Black to weigh in on Covid they call Terreance Howard.

Hilarious.

 

Troy's point is well taken. There's no shortage of intelligent Black folks who could weigh-in on important issues instead of our celebrities, athletes and entertainers.

[Delano]

28 minutes ago, ProfD said:

. There's no shortage of intelligent Black folks who could weigh-in on important issues instead of our celebrities, athletes and entertainers.

Maybe switches to Public Broadcasting instead.

[Troy]

18 hours ago, Delano said:

Sly and Ali made more sense than either of the two other guests. 

 

Sure, but as the trend continued and things got much worse for us.

 

18 hours ago, Delano said:

My only complaint is that he disses Astrology.

 

Science is Tyson's "religion" and he is a zealot. So, there are ideas he will never accept.  As with any religious zealot anyone that does not but into the religion is a heretic burned at the stake or at the very least lambasted on a podcast. That said, Tyson's conclusions of Howard's ideas are sound.

 

13 hours ago, ProfD said:

Dr. Ben Carson aka Gifted Hands being secretary of Housing & Urban Development instead of Health & Human Services or Surgeon General.

 

Yeah, that did not seem to be a good match.  But a generally smart person can pick other skills quickly.  Perhaps Carson brilliance is not limited to surgery?  Is Carson on the spectrum?

 

13 hours ago, Delano said:

Public Broadcasting instead.

 

No one watches PBS anymore.  Sadly.  As we speak the current administration is looking to defund it.

[ProfD]

12 hours ago, Troy said:

Yeah, that did not seem to be a good match.  But a generally smart person can pick other skills quickly.  Perhaps Carson brilliance is not limited to surgery?  Is Carson on the spectrum?

True. A highly intelligent person like Dr. Carson could thrive in other areas. I just thought HUD was an odd choice for a cabinet-level position considering his expertise. Then again, that's the point. 

 

I don't believe he is on the spectrum but listening to Dr. Carson talk, sometimes it sounds like he could be out there. Maybe he's just soft-spoken. 

[Delano]

Thinking has been fashionable with the public for a while.