Transcript
Capella University Representative (0:00)
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Terry Gross (0:30)
I'm Terry Gross. Today, as we kick off the unofficial start of the summer, we'll listen back to my interview with Amir Kweslove Thompson, recorded earlier this year about the life and legacy of Sly Stone.
Questlove (0:54)
Thank you for letting me be my Stone.
Terry Gross (1:03)
Questlove's documentary called Sly Lives, AKA the Burden of Black Genius is about Sly Stone and his band, Sly and the Family Stone, and their impact on music and culture. Sly got his start as a DJ and record producer in the early 1960s, formed a multiracial band with his brother, sister and other musicians and went on to record hits like Everyday People, Dance to the Music, Family Affair and Stand. Their music influenced Prince, George Clinton and Funkadelic, the Ohio Players, Earth, Wind and Fire and many hip hop artists. The film also covers the problems that came along with fame and drugs that took Slide Down. Questlove is the co founder of the hip hop band the Roots, which is the house band for the Tonight show starring Jimmy Fallon. He had another documentary that came out this year focused on Saturday Night Live's Music Guests and Music Sketches over the past 50 years. That one's called, Ladies and Gentlemen, 50 Years of SNL Music. Questlow's 2021 film Summer of Soul, featuring performances from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, won an Oscar for best documentary. So let's talk about your slide documentary. I really love this film. I want to start with a song and it's their first big hit. It's Dance to the Music. It's so catchy. And I'd like you to point out what what makes this song special in its moment, which was 1967 or 8, this is 1968. Okay, so what makes this song so special in its moment?
Amir Kweslove Thompson (2:39)
Sly will invent the Alphabet for which most of pop and R and B or black music will write from for the next 60 years. We're still writing from his dictionary to this day. And so, okay, we have a four minute song to make. How many micro songs can we have in this particular song? In other words, a typical Sly in the family Stone song has a bunch of elements that will grab everybody. Like most songs will just have one specific hook. Like this is the chorus, this is my hook. Okay, here are my lyrics. Instead, Sly will do a four bar part that's like ear warm, you know, like that'll grab you. Then he'll do another four bars that will grab someone else. So lyrically and melodic wise, his formula is also the world's funkiest nursery rhyme music. Look at Everyday People, his number one hit, Everyone Knows Everyday People. Everyday People is basically the schoolyard version. The lyrics of that song, the melody of that song is basically schoolyard taunting. Nyah nya nyah nya nya nyah nya nyah nya nya nya There is a black one who doesn't like and his whole thing is like, if it can appeal to a kid, to a first grader, then melodically you have them. And rhythmically his rhythm section. Gregarico on drums and Larry Graham on bass, specifically Larry Graham's right thumb, are probably the two most revolutionary aspects of Sly's music. And that's because Larry Graham is a bass player who used to play in bands without a drummer. So as a result, he would have to hit his bass in a very specific way so that you could feel the rhythm because there's no drummer there. And of course, once he's in the Sly system, he invents kind of a thumping, plucking thing, which I guess most of your listeners would probably be familiar with. The way that the Seinfeld theme sounds or the way that Flea plays in the Red Eyed Chili Peppers, like with his thumb. Larry Graham from Sly and the Family Stone, AKA Drake's uncle. Oh, really?
