Episode #124 | 4.4.23
Sly Stone: Guns, PCP, a Psycho Mutt, and a Fugitive from Justice
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In this episode
At the end of the 1960s, Sly Stone was at the center of a groundbreaking musical movement that intended to break down barriers of race and genre, all in the service of making people happy. But at the dawn of the 1970s, Sly Stone suddenly was not happy. His L.A. mansion was overrun with cocaine, PCP, guns, and bodyguards. He was strongarmed by the Black Panthers. He thought his own bass player hired someone to kill him. He drew the attention of local law enforcement. Before long, he was crossing paths with cops from coast to coast, busted time and again for drug offenses – including when he went on the lam under a false name and was declared a fugitive from justice.
Sources
Sly & the Family Stone: An Oral History, by Joel Selvin
Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock ‘n’ Roll Music, by Greil Marcus
Sly Stone's Higher Power (Vanity Fair)
Funk legend Sly Stone homeless and living in a van in LA (NY Post)
Sly Stone Arrested on 1987 Drug Charge (LA Times)
Sly Stone Talks About New Family (Jet Magazine)
Sly Stone Jailed over Child Support Payments (Jet Magazine)
Rocker Sly Stone Jailed for Parole Violation (Jet Magazine)
Sly Not Sly Enough in Hotel Dispute: Jailed (Jet Magazine)
Sly Stone Is Arrested on Grand Theft Charge in Fla. (Jet Magazine)
Now Sly Tells His Side of the Story, Sort Of (Rolling Stone)
Looking at the devil (The Guardian)
Sly Stone’s Financial Downfall Detailed in Court Ruling (Hollywood Reporter)
Sly Stone Pleads Not Guilty to Cocaine Charge (Billboard)
Why Sly Stone still can’t collect royalties from his classic songs (LA Times)
Sly Stone’s Heart of Darkness (Spin)
Sly Stone Is Together (NY Times)
The Bleak Days of Sly & the Family Stone (SF Gate)
Call of the Wild: The Rise and Fall of the Record Plant Studio (Jim Welte)
The Record Plant in Sausalito (Folkrocks)
The Sly Stone mystery: why 'the JD Salinger of Soul' disappeared (The Telegraph)
3 Shot in Chicago During Rock Riot (NY Times)
Notes on People, July 1972 (NY Times)
There’s Still a Riot Goin’ On (The New Yorker)
Sly Stone Gives Sad Performance at Coachella (MXDWN)
Sly Stone appearance at 2006 Grammys (YouTube)
Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Credits
Hosted by Jake Brennan.
Written by Zeth Lundy.
Copy editing by James Sullivan.
This episode was mixed by Sean Cahalin.
Score by Jake Brennan.
Mixed and Engineered by Sean Cahalin.
Additional music and score elements by Ryan Spraker.
Additional music services by Bryce Kanzer.
Ad music composed by the late, great Ian Kennedy.
Disgraceland theme song, "Crenshaw Space Boogie" written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.Score by Jake Brennan.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak