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Freddie -- God Bless you and yours. Myself and several of my friends are diehard, old school Sly and The Family Stone fanatics. We recently saw the Family Stone Experience at a local club in Maryland. I got Jerry Martini's e-mail address and the next day poured out my love to him and your band, Sly and The Family Stone, in the e-mail set forth below. One of my friends recently ttoday told me that your brother, Sly, had appeared at a Phunk Phamily Affair concert and also gave me the connection to that website. With all my heart, thank you very everything you and your brother did! We still love you and I really believe that if you all reunited for a concert series, that God would smile on that event! If you can send this to Sly to read, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks and God Bless!
Hey Jerry --- This is from Robert, who met you and your "Family" in Annapolis at the Ram's Head Tavern in Annapolis last Friday night. I just wanted to make sure that I touched base with you while all that powerful positive energy continues to flow from one of the greatest nights of my life!
I cannot adequately express in words what it meant to me to not only hear you (and Gregg) play, live one more time. All I can say is that it gave me a spiritual rush of the first order; honestly, I can die a happy man now! I don't want to get weird on you, but the way I connected with you, in the context of Sly's music, was the kind of experience I have dreamt about for years and years. Honestly, it was a dream come true in every positive sense. I will try and explain why.
I grew up in New York City, born a music lover. My father was a jazz fanatic and he took me to see all the greats who were still around at the concert halls in NYC where a little kid could actually get in back in the mid to late 60's and 70's. At the same time, I also fell in love with rock, soul and r&b too and began to direct my passion to my instrument, the guitar. The first time I heard "Satisfaction" by the Stones, and then saw the Beatles on TV, like so many of the kids in our generation, I had to have a guitar. After that, my happiest times were when I was playing and my soul became "one" with the music. Virtually all of my out of school time was focused on music (and baseball!) and my band, "The New Message". Like many other cities, at that time, NYC had not yet been taken over by dj's and turntables; people still had to create music, live and in person, with their hearts, minds and souls, and, just as importantly, that was what the public WANTED as opposed to some corporate cooked up nonsense like what is served up now. We played all over the City and it was the time of my life. The music that swirled around us was so imaginative, creative, soulful, expressive, thoughtful, poetic, larger than life, and tiny enough to fit in our hearts at the same time that I really and truly believe it was THE golden age. What a perfect storm! Think of what we had, Jerry! The old school and new school jazz artists, the coming of age of hard rock, Hendrix, The Beatles, the Motown Sound, classical geniuses like Leonard Bernstein and others, a vibrant musical stage on Broadway and a public that wanted all they had to offer. We lived in the golden age of not just American music but world music, my man. I have felt as if music is one with my very being; my fiber, my soul! And you and the Family were right in front of the revolution!
Among all the super-heavy groups of that era, none stands out more than Sly and The Family Stone! I cannot sufficiently express the feelings that I, and my close friends, had about STFS's sound, feeling, energy, style, grace, imagination, poetry, power, and vibe. You lifted us up to heights of spirit that were unique and timeless. I will never, ever forget the first time I saw you guys at the Garden. I won tickets over WBLS by, what else, calling the same number over and over and over. They didn't mail me the tickets (as promised) so, on the night of the concert, my main man and bandmate Moses and I had to go to the radio studio to pick them up. (He did not believe I had really won until they put the tickets in my hand!). Just looking at the tickets when they gave them to me, with SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE printed on them, was an epiphany in and of itself! And then, we were off the Madison Square Garden to see our all time, by far, hands down, favorite band.
You guys rocked us to the high heavens that night, Jerry. I can still see the vision, feel the vibe and hear the thump of Larry's bass in my head. All I have to do is close my eyes as I have done many, many times over the past thirty odd years. There was no experience quite like the Sly and the Family Stone Experience. The look, the sound, the magic, the Black and White, male and female together on stage funking-out a brand of music that was without compare and that stood alone in time. And all of that pales next to THE MESSAGE that you guys brought -- That we can have peace and harmony, right now and here, in America, that it was truly possible and all you needed to do was look on the stage, see the band and hear the sound to know that was true. You and the band really achieved what we all prayed and hoped for in the middle of America's most unique time -- Sly and the Family Stone was leading the mission! Your music and message is still timeless, Jerry and it still moves me the way it did back then.
When we left the concert, we walked cross town singing your songs and imitating our heroes, Graham on bass, your and Cynthia and, of course, the Maestro himself, Sly. The band provided the power, but Sly was iconic. The Jimi Hendrix of Funk, or, was it the other way around!? I'll never forget Moses and I walking to the subway on the east side of the City; I felt like I was floating on air. We were dancing on parked cars and singing your songs at the top of our lungs through the concrete canyons of Manhattan. There are only a few things in life that exceeded this experience and none so unique. Thanks for the memories, my man.
After "Thank You Faletinmebemiceelf" came out, we waited and waited for the next album. Its difficult to describe the experience we had in waiting and wondering when you' all were going to talk to us through your music, and your hearts, again. We had tasted the power, loved it and wanted more. After "There's a Riot Going On", it was very disappointing and depressing to learn of the slow break up. We wanted you to stay together forever, but.....a hard life lesson to be learned for sure at still a young age. But I still have my Woodstock video and now I have the Ram's Head! Which reminds me, I gotta get copies of Case's tapes of you' all. He has a real collection from Mike Douglass, Ohio State fair and a lot of other venues.
One reason this means so much to me, Jerry is that I am a recovering addict. I got clean about 14 1/2 years ago and life has since been something I can wrap my heart around and live to the fullest! That is why my heart continues to ache so much for Sly; I know where he's been and what he's lived through in battling with his demons. I wish I could reach out to him just to let him know he is loved. I am telling you, if he stepped out on the stage just once with you and Graham and the rest, I would be there and the people would go berserk!
I have had a lot of wonderful musical/spiritual experiences over the entire course of my life. I still play religiously (I just started piano lessons) and just attended a jazz workshop with my son in Louisville. He is a drummer and a "serious" musician! We had a ball and listened to a lot of Sly, The Who, Hendrix, Coltrane, Miles etc. while also working on the jazz language in the workshop. As I was telling Vernon (Ice) at the concert, I have been, and remain, a Jimi Hendrix fanatic above all things although I never got to see him in person. But I have a soft heart, and none of my live concert experiences seem to stand out as much as that one concert at the Garden a long time ago.
For an old recovering addict like me, Jerry, the time I spent with you guys on Friday is beyond measure. I swear, for me, it was like meeting Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, or John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner. What a joy to see you guys kickin' it big time and what a joy to be there with you while it was unfolding. God has been very, very good to me, Jerry. And he was especially good to me on Friday. For that, I am very thankful.
I am copying this to Ice just to bring him in the Peace Circle and to let him know it was a pleasure to meet and rap with him too. It looks like I will be in San Francisco on August 11-13 for a seminar and then my mother and I will be coming out to the coast in Sept for a vacation. I will keep you guys posted on the dates and let you know when we will be there. Would love to see you again on my August trip.
PLEASE, let me know when the live album that Gregg talked about is coming out and....if you really want a lawyer to discuss royalties let me know. I can put you together with a good lawyer in SFran although it would take a little time.
Jerry, if there is anyway possible to share this with Sly, please do so. The love just grows stronger and stronger. Peace and love to both of you, my brothers. The music will never, ever die! With a Thousand Smiles.......
Robert Gordon <rgordon@tydingslaw.com>
Baltimore, MD USA - Monday, August 22, 2005 at 10:08:10 (PDT)