Sly Stone living in a van down by the river ... the family is nowhere in sight

Saw this over the weekend.
Sly Stone is reportedly broke. ... It seems he has (suprise!) some mental problems.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/funk-legend-sly-stone-homeless-239989?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

I recall an interview a few years ago when the elusive and reclusive Sly (who still had a home) gave Vanity Fair an interview.

Found it ... It was Vanity Fair ... http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/08/sly200708

 

Drugs is bad.

 

I've always disliked this guy. Not because of anything he did but because I always think I am reading about Sly Stallone until I see a photo or his music career is mentioned. Completely his fault. I take no blame.

 

Everyday People is one of the greatest songs of all time.

You can't help but sing along.

Admit it, it's in in your head right now just because I typed it, isn't it?

 

Sly Stone's life would make a great biopic. The only problem is that he doesn't have uplifting final reel that you need...just a slow descent into madness. One of the great talents in rock/soul/funk/whatever music, and incredibly influential on any number of later musicians who decided it was OK to mix genres. (Which is great because it gave us artists like Faith No More and early Red Hot Chili Peppers, and not so good because it also led to "rap-rock" and later Red Hot Chili Peppers.)

 

There's A Riot Goin' On is one of the best albums ever made, but its definitely not an album you can just jump into.

Sly's jaded, world-weary early 70s period is every bit as good as his optimistic late 60s period was and it almost kind of prefaces his life in a certain way.

Sad.

 

Sly degenerated into being a total fuck-up and had the misfortune to be surrounded by enablers who were making money from him. So he stayed a fuck-up, and being two hours late for concerts and turning in shitty, incoherent performances was just Sly being Sly.

Then the hits stopped, the money vanished, the enablers moved on to someone else and Sly lives in a van, wondering what happened.

You can see it coming from miles away, but it still happens.

 

Heard about this on the radio. He still makes music, on his laptop. Sad stuff, but he sounds batshit crazy. Thinks the feds are coming for him so he has to keep moving. Maybe they are.

 

Seminal soul and funk composer Sly Stone has been awarded $5 million in royalties and damages by a Los Angeles County court. In a unanimous jury decision, the court found that Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, was denied royalties by his former manager Jerry Goldstein, attorney Glenn Stone and Even St. Productions.lRel

The initial 2010 complaint, filed in Superior Court by Stewart's attorneys, accused Goldstein and partners with unjust enrichment, fraud, breach of contract, negligence and dozens of other charges stemming from money earned from Sly Stone's work with his longtime band the Family Stone while purportedly under contract with Goldstein.

While tens of millions of dollars rolled into Goldstein's accounts from his longtime label Sony/Columbia and through publishing royalties, attorneys alleged that Stone saw little of it save for the occasional cash advance. At one point, Goldstein even took a loan out on Stone's future earnings. According to the complaint, Goldstein et. al. "without the permission of Sly Stone, have received, borrowed, and continue to receive millions of dollars in royalties or derived from royalties."

Sly Stone awarded $5 million in back royalties, damages - LA Times

 

Dead within a year?

 

All your dreams are made
when you're chained to
the mirror and the razor blade,
today's the day that
all the world will see.