Sly Stone will release his first autobiography, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), on 10/17 via AUWA Books and MCD/FSG. It will be available on hardcover, e-book and audio. The release marks the inaugural title from AUWA Books, Questlove’s new publishing imprint.
"One of the few indisputable geniuses of pop music, Sly Stone is a trailblazer and a legend," the description reads. "He created a new kind of music, mixing Black and white, male and female, funk and rock. As a songwriter, he penned some of the most iconic anthems of the 1960s and ’70s, from 'Everyday People' to 'Family Affair.' As a performer, he electrified audiences with a persona and stage presence that set a lasting standard for pop-culture performance.
"Yet his life has also been a cautionary tale, known as much for how he dropped out of the spotlight as for what put him there in the first place. People know the music, but the man remains a mystery. In Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), his much-anticipated memoir, he’s finally ready to share his story—a story that many thought he’d never have the chance to tell."
The Sly and the Family Stone namesake co-wrote Thank You alongside Ben Greenman and was created in collaboration with Arlene Hirschkowitz, while Questlove penned the foreword. The book follows the “wild ride of a once-in-a-century talent” through the ‘60s and ‘70s—from Sly’s humble beginnings to the heights of stardom, his struggle with addiction and ultimate triumph. It also promises to include all the “gritty details” leading up to his bittersweet return. We, on the other hand, will spare you ours. Pre-orders for Thank You are available here.
Decades Rock Live is back with another installment of the popular concert series, this time with Chicago & Friends. The two-day event takes place 11/17-18 in Ovation Hall at Atlantic City’s Ocean Casino Resort. Each show is being filmed on a custom-built LED stage set with more than 30 4k cameras for global distribution airing in late December. Full distribution info will be announced in the coming weeks.
Produced by Decades Rock Live creator and FanTracks co-founder Barry Summers, the show will feature Chicago performing their greatest hits alongside several special guests, including Steve Vai, Robin Thicke and Chris Daughtry. The band will also celebrate the 55th anniversary of their debut album, Chicago Transit Authority, by playing several cuts from the project on both nights.
“We're looking forward to working with Barry Summers, our producer on this concert film, and celebrating Chicago's 55th anniversary of our debut album, Chicago Transit Authority, with our fans in Atlantic City that will be filmed over two nights,” Chicago keyboardist/songwriter Robert Lamm said. “We’ll be performing a set list of songs exclusively for these two shows, and we’re very excited to be performing with some special guests, all captured on film.”
Summers added, “I grew up on Chicago's incredible music and their songs were the soundtrack to my childhood. Getting this opportunity to build the show from the ground up, and capture on film Chicago's incredible musicianship and legendary horn arrangements, along with some new surprise nuggets never before performed live in many years, will give fans a once in a lifetime memorable experience and concert captured in 4K film to enjoy for many years to come."
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday (7/21) at 10am ET via Ticketmaster and the Ocean Casino Resort box office. Speaking of decades, we can’t believe we're old enough to remember when "Saturday In The Park" came out.
By Bud Scoppa
The most popular indie acts, including boygenius, The National, Spoon, Phoenix, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, hit eight figures on the DSPs, fill amphitheaters and have achieved a modicum of mainstream visibility. But a surprising amount of exceptional music is being made by musicians who create their art in relative obscurity, purely for the love of it. They’re part of a widespread DIY rock, soul and blues underground whose members persevere out of a belief in themselves, the desire to keep currently unfashionable styles alive and an underlying sense of community.
Cut Worms’ Max Clarke, one of these musicians, recently told me, “I don’t know if there is a community or an element that unifies it, but if there was and I had to guess, I think I’d say it has something to do with trying to make something meaningful within a mode of expression that’s been highly commodified, oversaturated, and voided of meaning by advertising and consumerist trends, along with probably a lack of interest in what currently—sometimes inexplicably—passes for being ‘good’ in a broader sense.”
There’s a lot of connective thread between the bands and artists I’ve been listening to, who appear to be perpetuating and at the same time recontextualizing the music of the mid-20th century. This 50-track Spotify playlist juxtaposes popular and little-known indie talents, from The Lemon Twigs’ Brian (26) and Michael D’Addario (24) to 77-year-old soul singer Bettye LaVette and 70-year-old Big Star drummer Jody Stephens, now half of Those Pretty Wrongs, both of whom continue to inspire younger generations of musicians.
As for what keeps these artists making music when positive reinforcement is intermittent, Clarke offers, “You never really know how other people feel; you only know how you feel. All I try to do is record that [feeling] as close as I can, for my own sake. If other people resonate with that, then that’s beautiful, but it’s a mystery… I don’t think I could put a name to that feeling, nor would I want to—it would likely be different for everyone, often changing—but if many people really were to feel the same thing, I think that would be enough in and of itself.”
Inspirational lyric:
I got a picture of us playing in a bar
And your shirt cost more than your guitar
But you played so heavy, and you always let me sing a couple
Even though you were the star...
—From “When We Were Close” by Jason Isbell
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