Sly Stone’s Whole New Thing

Sly Stone’s Whole New Thing

These days Sly Stone blows people’s minds just by showing up. He stopped traffic at the Grammys last year when he materialized, like some intergalactic apparition, during a tribute performance. Last month, he defied steep odds and appeared at a gig at the Flamingo in Las Vegas.

Sadly, Sly is better known today as one of the ’60s’ more famous flameouts, recalled for his drug busts, reclusiveness, and strings of broken dates. To most, his innovations probably seem remote. But Epic/Legacy has rectified the situation with Sly & the Family Stone: The Collection, a limited-edition seven-CD box collecting the albums that permanently changed the face of music in the ’60s and ’70s. (The label will issue the individual albums, also in limited editions, on Tuesday.)

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Sly Stone’s Whole New Thing