Jerry Martini | |
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 Martini in 1968 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gerald L. Martini |
| Born | October 1, 1942 |
| Genres | Funk, soul, R&B, rock |
| Occupation(s) | Saxophonist |
| Years active | 1961–present |
Gerald L. Martini (born October 1, 1942) is an American musician, best known for being the saxophonist for Sly and the Family Stone. [1] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of Sly and the Family Stone.
Martini was born in Denver, Colorado. He was introduced to music at an early age. By 12 years old, he had learned to play the ukulele, accordion, and clarinet. It was at 13 he learned the saxophone, his instrument of choice. Only two years later, he began gigging at local bars. [2]
While gigging, Martini attended San Francisco City College for three years attending music classes. [2] Meanwhile, he played in a local band called Joe Piazza and the Continentals. It was here he befriended and first played alongside Sly Stone. [3] The group frequently provided music for the popular television show KPIX Dance Party hosted by Dick Stewart. [4] Martini's reputation grew even more when the Continentals backed the popular group The Viscaynes on the recording of their hit single "Yellow Moon". [5] [6] The Continentals were also believed to be the backing group for an early Janet Ericco recording, "It Was A Lie" bw "Come Along With Me" under the pseudonym The Twilights. [7]
After leaving the Continentals, Martini joined a popular interracial cover group called George and Teddy and the Condors, where he built his reputation even more. Sly Stone even used Martini to play on Bobby Freeman's 1964 single, "C'mon and Swim". [3] After scoring a deal with Warner Brothers, George and Teddy and the Condors were sent to Italy in 1965 to build their fanbase. The tour bombed, and Martini realized that the band was going nowhere. While Stone held a disc jockey gig at KSOL, Martini stopped by once a week to visit. [3] He approached him with an idea of forming a band, which Stone eventually took him up on. [2]
It was at Martini's suggestion that Sly and the Family Stone came about, and he became one of its key figures. [2] The group would become to be known as Sly and the Family Stone. The group, which also included some of Stone’s relatives would make a name for themselves by the late 1960s, and would be known for tracks like Everyday People, and for including both black and white members. He performed with the band from its inception in 1967 to its demise in 1975.
In 1975, he appeared on Sly Stone's first solo album, High on You .
In 1977, he also performed on Larry Graham's Graham Central Station fifth album, Now Do U Wanta Dance . He was also in the band Rubicon during the late 1970s. [8]
In 2004–2005, he helped form the tribute band Family Stone Experience bringing together several Family Stone alumni, including Greg Errico, Cynthia Robinson, Dawn Silva and Gail Muldrow amongst others. [9]
In February 2017, Martini was performing with the band Family Stone at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. [10] In August 2019, Martini toured with Family Stone. [11]
Larry Graham Jr. is an American bassist and baritone singer, both with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. In 1980, he released the single "One in a Million You", which reached the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100. He is credited with the invention of the slapping technique on the electric bass guitar, which radically expanded the tonal palette of the bass, although he himself refers to the technique as "thumpin' and pluckin'".
Sly and the Family Stone was an American band originating from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, they were pivotal in the development of funk, soul, R&B, rock, and psychedelic music. Their core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, and included Stone's brother and singer/guitarist Freddie Stone, sister and singer/keyboardist Rose Stone, trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, drummer Greg Errico, saxophonist Jerry Martini, and bassist Larry Graham. The band was the first major American rock group to have a racially integrated, mixed-gender lineup.
Sylvester Stewart, better known by his stage name Sly Stone, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who is most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the development of funk with his pioneering fusion of soul, rock, psychedelia and gospel in the 1960s and 1970s. AllMusic stated that "James Brown may have invented funk, but Sly Stone perfected it," and credited him with "creating a series of euphoric yet politically charged records that proved a massive influence on artists of all musical and cultural backgrounds." Crawdaddy! has called him "the founder of progressive soul".
Graham Central Station was an American funk band named after founder Larry Graham. The name is a pun on New York City's Grand Central Terminal, often colloquially called Grand Central Station.
"Everyday People" is a 1968 song composed by Sly Stone and first recorded by his band, Sly and the Family Stone. It was the first single by the band to go to number one on the Soul singles chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. It held that position on the Hot 100 for four weeks, from February 9 to March 8, 1969, and is remembered as one of the most popular songs of the 1960s. Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song of 1969.
Stand! is the fourth album by soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, released in April 1969. Written and produced by lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, Stand! is considered an artistic high-point of the band's career. Released by Epic Records, just before the group's celebrated performance at the Woodstock festival, it became the band's most commercially successful album to date. It includes several well-known songs, among them hit singles, such as "Sing a Simple Song", "I Want to Take You Higher", "Stand!", and "Everyday People". The album was reissued in 1990 on compact disc and vinyl, and again in 2007 as a remastered numbered edition digipack CD with bonus tracks and, in the UK, as only a CD with bonus tracks.
Greg Errico is an American musician and record producer, best known as the drummer for the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone.
A Whole New Thing is the debut album by funk/soul band Sly and the Family Stone, released in 1967 on Epic/CBS Records. The album was released to mixed criticism and failed to make an impact from a commercial standpoint and did not chart. CBS Records executive Clive Davis prevailed upon band leader Sly Stone to create a more commercial album; the result was the album Dance to the Music. Unlike later Sly and the Family Stone albums, A Whole New Thing was recorded live in the studio instead of being overdubbed and featured less of a pop feel than later releases such as Dance to the Music and Stand!. The lead vocals are shared between Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, and Larry Graham; Rose Stone would not join the band until they began work on Dance to the Music.
Life is the third studio album by funk/soul band Sly and the Family Stone, released in September 1968 on Epic/CBS Records. The album was titled M'Lady in the United Kingdom.
"Dance to the Music" is a 1967 hit single by soul/funk/rock band Sly and the Family Stone for the Epic/CBS Records label. It was the first single by the band to reach the Billboard Pop Singles Top 10, peaking at #8 and the first to popularize the band's sound, which would be emulated throughout the black music industry and dubbed "psychedelic soul". It was later ranked #223 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" is a 1969 song recorded by Sly and the Family Stone. The song, released as a double A-side single with "Everybody Is a Star", reached number one on the soul single charts for five weeks, and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 19 song of 1970.
"Stand!" is a 1969 song by the soul/rock/funk band Sly and the Family Stone Issued as a single that year by Epic Records, it reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 14 on the Hot Soul Songs charts.
"Sing a Simple Song" is a 1968 song by the soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, the B-side to their #1 hit "Everyday People". The song's lyrics, sung in turn by Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, Rose Stone, and Larry Graham, with spoken word sections by Cynthia Robinson, offer a simple solution for dealing with the problems and paradoxes of existence: "Sing a simple song!" As with nearly all of Sly and the Family Stone's songs, Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart was credited as the sole songwriter.
"I Want to Take You Higher" is a song by the soul/rock/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, the B-side to their Top 30 hit "Stand!". Unlike most of the other tracks on the Stand! album, "I Want to Take You Higher" is not a message song; instead, it is simply dedicated to music and the feeling one gets from music. Like nearly all of Sly & the Family Stone's songs, Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart was credited as the sole songwriter.
"Everybody Is a Star", released in December 1969, is song written by Sylvester Stewart and recorded by Sly and the Family Stone. The song, released as the B-side to the band's 1970 single "Thank You ", reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970 at a time when chart position for both sides of the single were measured equally and not independently. "Star" was intended to be included on an in-progress album with "Thank You" and "Hot Fun in the Summertime"; the LP was never completed, and the three tracks were instead included on the band's 1970 Greatest Hits compilation. The single was the final classic-era Family Stone recording; it would be 23 months until the next release, the single "Family Affair" in late 1971.
"Hot Fun in the Summertime" is a 1969 song recorded by Sly and the Family Stone. The single was released just prior to the band's high-profile performance at Woodstock, which greatly expanded their fanbase. The song peaked at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, kept out of the number 1 spot by "I Can't Get Next to You" by The Temptations. "Hot Fun in the Summertime" also peaked at number 3 on the U.S. Billboard soul singles chart in autumn 1969. It is ranked as the seventh biggest U.S. hit of 1969, and the 65th in Canada.
Jack Martin Blades is an American rock musician. He has worked in the bands Rubicon, Night Ranger, and Damn Yankees. He has also recorded with Tommy Shaw under the name Shaw Blades, and has done work alongside the Tak Matsumoto Group. Blades' most recent efforts include a second solo CD. He was also a member of the band Revolution Saints.
There's a Riot Goin' On is the fifth studio album by American funk and soul band Sly and the Family Stone. It was recorded from 1970 to 1971 at Record Plant Studios in Sausalito, California and released later that year on November 1 by Epic Records. The recording was dominated by band frontman/songwriter Sly Stone during a period of escalated drug use and intra-group tension.
KPIX Dance Party was an afternoon television show hosted by Dick Stewart which was broadcast on CBS KPIX-TV Channel 5 in San Francisco. It ran from 1959 to 1963. It featured teenagers dancing to popular music.
Jan Errico is a drummer and singer who was a member of two San Francisco rock groups in the 1960s, The Vejtables and The Mojo Men.
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