I Want to Take You Higher: The Life and Times of Sly and the Family Stone by Jeff Kaliss

Author:Jeff Kaliss [Kaliss, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-03-01T01:18:31.579244+00:00

Sly couldn't deny, though, that the breakup of the band, however encouraged by outside forces, was also seriously exacerbated by misuse of drugs. He may have been controlling the distribution of cocaine to those around him, but that kind of activity inevitably spins out of control. The strain of induced ups and downs on Bel Air Road simultaneously prompted both Sly's self-centered approach to music making and his band members' alienation from him. And drugs deteriorated Sly's sense of professional and financial responsibility.

Al DeMarino has his own take on Sly becoming more dependent on substances during this phase: "Between the pressure of stardom, family pressure, social pressures, cultural pressures, and a habit that was becoming consuming, it made for a difficult moment in time." Al and some others at Columbia and Epic attempted interventions with Sly. "There were discussions with him, and eventually he tried rehab programs. Perhaps it would have been better for all of us, starting with him, if he had started sooner. [Drugs] altered his personality upon occasion. Those who loved him dearly were hurt, because it changed him in a certain way. He wasn't as positive and as open and warm as he had once been.... It would hurt me.... I would talk to him, others would talk to him-as opposed to the hangers-on, who were always looking to get some free blow-and I would say, `Sylvester, what are we doing here?' And he'd respond, `I know you love me, and I'm in control.' Famous last words."

In conversation with Joel Selvin, Bubba Banks testified how he had functioned as the "pit bull that lived good" at Sly's residences, while Sly, as "the controller," determined who got how much of which drugs when. "Nobody had their own blow, he was the man, and that is where he gets his audience." The audience at times included band members, numbed into a very different relationship with the band's leader. They included brother Freddie, who managed to make occasional trips to his own home in the Oakland Hills to dry out.

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