UNSUNG REVIEW: Sly and the Family Stone Airs June 25

Digital and Radio Facts: It’s rare that radio Radio DJs get to move into the music industry but former San Francisco radio DJ Sylvester Stewart did it. Putting Sly and the Family Stone together on a whim their first project barely dented the charts but it was all uphill after that especially after performing the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969. There are some interesting surprises here that may surprise viewers such as Sly’s marriage at Madison Square Garden fresh in the honeymoon stages when a female member of the Family Stone confronted his new wife to reveal that she was pregnant with Sly’s baby but not before his newborn with his new wife is viciously attacked and almost mauled to death by Sly’s dog. Sly has been through a lot and he was in it for the music. There is not much detail on the finances except to say that his mangers and Epic Records didn’t pay him his royalties.. Sly’s drug use has been going on for decades and apparently started when he moved to LA in the early 70s. Ironically he was also living in a Winnebago back then too to escape the world a habit he continues to this day. Drugs have all but destroyed Sly and his stature tells the story. He has physical and mental damage from at least four decades of drug abuse. I was not really blown away by this episode mostly because I already knew most of the information included in the show. Enjoy airs June 25