Out-of-print Sly & the Family Stone biography to be published again next week

An updated edition of the long-out-of-print 1998 Sly & the Family Stone biography is scheduled to be published on Tuesday, October 11.

Sly & the Family Stone: An Oral History was written by veteran music critic and author Joel Selvin, who conducted dozens of interviews with all of the influential Bay Area rock-and-soul band’s members, except the group’s eccentric and reclusive frontman, Sylvester Stewart, a.k.a. Sly Stone.

Selvin also interviewed a variety of other musicians and figures associated with Sly & the Family Stone, including Jefferson Airplane‘s Grace Slick, soul great Bobby Womack, Beau Brummels frontman Sal Valentino, Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and legendary music mogul Clive Davis.

The book documents the band’s rise to stardom and Sly’s descent into drug abuse and paranoia after the band relocated to Southern California in 1970.

A key figure in helping Selvin put the book together was Hamp “Bubba” Banks, Sly’s good friend and a part of Stone’s inner circle, who shared many of his firsthand experiences with the volatile musician. Banks also put the author in touch with many other figures close to Sly who were interviewed for the book.

To order Sly & the Family Stone: An Oral History, visit PermutedPress.com.

Sly & the Family Stone was the first major U.S. rock band to boast a racially integrated lineup featuring men and women. During their heyday in the late 1960s and early ’70s, the band released three chart-topping singles — “Everyday People,” “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” and “Family Affair” — and scored such other major hits as “Hot Fun in the Summertime” and “Dance to the Music.” They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.