Episodes

  • The Peak and the Precipice

    The Peak and the Precipice
    Jun 20 2025
    Episode 3 chronicles Sly and the Family Stone's legendary 3:30 AM Woodstock performance that transformed a tired crowd into a transcendent community, cementing their place in history. The episode explores their artistic peak with the "Stand!" album and hits like "Everyday People," before detailing the mounting pressures of fame, political expectations, and personal demons that began tearing the band apart. By 1971's "There's a Riot Goin' On," the optimism had turned to darkness, with "Family Affair" reflecting dysfunction rather than unity. The episode traces how the most positive force in popular music descended from the peak of possibility to the precipice of collapse, showing both the triumph and tragedy of the sixties dream.

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    27 mins
  • The Revolution Begins

    The Revolution Begins
    Jun 20 2025
    Episode 2 explores the revolutionary formation of Sly and the Family Stone in 1966 San Francisco. From Sylvester Stewart's vision of an integrated band that challenged both musical and social boundaries, we follow the assembly of this groundbreaking group. Each member brought unique talents: brother Freddie's guitar mastery, Cynthia Robinson's pioneering trumpet work, Larry Graham's bass innovation that created the slap-and-pop technique, Jerry Martini's sophisticated saxophone, Gregg Errico's rock-influenced drumming, and sister Rose Stone's gospel-trained vocals. The episode details their early singles like "I Ain't Got Nobody" and the breakthrough hit "Dance to the Music," showing how they created a new sound that fused rock, R&B, soul, psychedelia, and gospel while proving that musical integration could produce something more powerful than segregation ever could.

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    25 mins