Nearly 60 years after it happened, the earliest known live recording of Sly & the Family Stone will finally be released next month.

Born on March 15, 1943, in Texas, Sylvester Stewart grew up in North Carolina where he fell in love with music as a young boy as his parents played a variety of instruments.

The Winchester Cathedral recordings showcase a one-of-kind outfit that was already at the peak of its powers, long before it became internationally famous,” says producer Alex Palao.

Sly Stone, a onetime SF deejay turned funk innovator and leader of Sly and the Family Stone, sang on and produced an album for a Stockton band.

On the surface, Sly and the Family Stone's revolution in the '60s may not seem all that significant. But pull back the outer level of radio-friendly, era-equipped soul-pop music they pretty much ...

Sometimes there are strange symmetries in death, as in life. The twin passings of Sly Stone and Brian Wilson this week brought that into sharp relief. Both were musical geniuses who paid a high price for their gifts.

Sly Stone, a Grammy winner whose pioneering funk-rock group Sly and the Family Stone produced groundbreaking albums and singles died June 9. He was 82.

In 1974, decades before Ye, then known as Kanye West, packed Madison Square Garden for a twin album-fashion spectacular, Sly Stone, the cosmically groovy singer-songwriter who died on June 9, offered his own extravaganza of dance, funk and flash on New York’s biggest stage.