| On the Sly: In Search of the Family Stone | |
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| Directed by | Michael Rubenstone |
| Written by | Michael Rubenstone |
| Produced by | Michael Rubenstone Patrick Sheehan |
| Cinematography | Jason Blalock Jeremie Brillant Theo Hand Marc McCrudden |
Release date |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
On the Sly: In Search of the Family Stone is a documentary about Sly Stone, his absence from the music scene, and one man's quest to find out what happened to the artist. It is directed by Michael Rubenstone.
The film is about a quest to find the reclusive Sly. [1] According to a 2005 Rolling Stone article by Andrew Paine Bradbury, Michael Rubenstone, Greg Zola, and indie One-Four Productions were in their second year of their project. [2] In a Washington Post article, in reference to Stone's absence, one of the filmmakers compared him to J. D. Salinger. [3] Through a period of about 12 years, band members, people in the music industry and other musicians were interviewed. [4] One of the people to appear in the film is Cornel West. He talks about Stone's biggest hit songs and the effect they had on him. [5]
After 13 years and going through 500 hours of footage the film was completed. [6] It appears that the final product as well as the majority of the work, and final completion is due to the efforts by Michael Rubenstone with a new production company, Unreal films. [7] [8] [9]
The film premiered at the 2017 Slamdance Film Festival. [10] [11]
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Sly and the Family Stone was an American funk rock band originated from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, they were pivotal in the development of funk, soul, 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, male and female 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".
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Ahmir K. Thompson, known professionally as Questlove, is an American musician, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman for the hip hop band the Roots. The Roots have been serving as the in-house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon since 2014, after having fulfilled the same role on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Questlove is also one of the producers of the cast album of the Broadway musical Hamilton. He is the co-founder of the websites Okayplayer and OkayAfrica. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University.
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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.
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