Sly Stone (Live - Music Awards 1975)

[mssquirrely]

I'm confused !!

[wandadwhit]

I didn't knw what to think all that came to my mind was this nigga fun fukd up forgot his words as well as us SLY dnť have a fukn clue what he's singing until he reach Roy n Helen it's funny as shit but hell they ask him to come soooo they got what they ask for A HIGH ASS MESS

[60jellybean]

YEEEEE  HAAAAAAAAAAW!!!!

[Wildhorses39]

WTF?LOL

[popcultureidiot1]

If I had to sing with Roy Clark, I'd get high too.

[carlagirl7]

What??????????????????........­....

[ashR66]

I cannot stop laughing after reading Ibnezbassist182's interpretation of Sly singing the lyrics

[blaqice88]

The American Music Awards was the shizznit between 1982 and 2004. After that point, it started to suck.

[devotion1100]

Who The Hell Wrote This Song- It Sucked Ballz

[Sirscorps]

That is awful! LMFAO!

[MrKirkenstein]

WTF ???? it's no wonder Sly doped out - having to perform on shit like this.

[ChimpSoprano]

ibenzbassist182...... you have got me in stiches...OMG read it while he is singing..it's SPOT ON"!!! hahahalove it!...

[roscoegino]

What language is Sly singing in? Cocainese?

[onestep759]

@roscoegino Yeah may have been Cocainese but SLy being the professional that he is pulled it off. I juz love em !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MrRstcyr77]

am i the only one that thought this was a hot mess.....sorry i just had to rotflmao!!!!!!

[hteaford]

Poor Sly...how did he get rooked into performing with them?

[Eyemallfunkedup]

WTF! I'm speechless. The more I watch, the funnier it gets. Sly, you are the MAN!

PEACE

[mrgitarman]

Uh Oh! this really sucks. I actually found something bad here by Sly but everything else I heard was great. Oh well.................

[limeginger]

LOL!!! that's one of the strangest things I've ever seen in my life!

[sfcub69]

@limeginger Seen this a couple times, and I always wonder -what on earth were the producers thinking?

[eazye07]

sly wasnt high on that shit. SLY IS A VERY CO MEDICAL individual. hes a jokester. believe me lol you would know if the brotha was high.

[bckicksbutt]

@eazye07 he was also a coke addict, and also a musical genius

[universalradio]

Sly and Elvis both had their suits made by the same maker -- I'd just like to know whose suit came first? Sly's black one, or Elvis' white one.

I'm betting on Sly - trendsetter that he was.

[morrisroe]

Dreadful.

[drummerinSD]

shit his clothes are nice!

[blackwhimsy]

Do you have any footage of John Denver winning his award from this show? I'd love to see that.

[bencheshire]

About the most horrid and corny made-for-awards-show rubbish I've ever heard. When its this bad I don't know if it should be Sly Stone "Live," or "Sly Stone" live, but I know if its netther, its a misleading title.

[slyfonk]

no no sly wasn't high that night , don't confuse good humor with highness. like children sly feels good it doesn't mean every children do drug to feel that way? lol

[SuperFromatoz]

Maaaan. I love Sly, but this was some sellout stuff.

[sierria64]

he was high on that shit

[jeremyzan1]

they made him white, that sucks and im white!

[shaaronie]

Aw! Man! I miss the 60's and 70's style of dress. Sly was so fly and I admired all of his outfits. When I was a kid my parents would never buy me the hip stuff. So I wear it now! Tie Dye forever!

[sierria64]

must have had some good shit to smoke

[roscoegino]

Sly was hittin the powder hard at this time. If they told him to sing "My Dog Took A Dump On Me" he'd do it for the right price.

[TennesseeOwnsMyBones]

If I know Sly right, he's in this pulling everybody's leg... Seen his interviews with Cavett? Sly was a master at sarcasm, cynicism and self-deprecating humor... This hasn't got anything to do with dope IMO, this is pure Sly waving a big bird at the entertainment industry.

[Findlater]

Had to what seemed to be a good reason at the time. We all should be able to relate.

[universalradio]

Racism.

[universalradio]

It's also more than the recording execs. R Stone put the kaibosh on his career, for which they should be forever ashamed. They did an article on him that ruined his reputation, and refused to acknowledge the brilliance of Riot, Fresh, and Small Talk - real assholes. I have no use for Rolling Stone and Annie Liebowitz is another rock parasite. People who cannot do it themselves, but they make their living trashing those who can. See also Little Richard, for comments on the pressure he was under.

[SLSheehan]

..if I was in Sly and put in this stupid little number, I would definitely be trashed..fuck em. Good for you Sly...he still got through the act...i think it's funny as hell!! LOL

[Eyemallfunkedup]

Think about this. If you were Sly and you had to go out on stage and do that, would you or would you not get as ripped as you possible could? Huh???? Think about it.

PEACE

[Ibnezbassist182]

AAAAAAHHHH, shnow, shing n showw, wher the man an nittay grittaYY, put the nyte on trial right rlyegin!

OH th shoogogookin n Milwaukee, still tu the onesinz in the shay. Dew pick n du grass in KentuckAY, wit an ol' fashen country..harmonEEE. So giv me sum beer drinkin musik, an let me hit that ONNE an TWWOO n THREEE. swEEENG good ol cathrimeeyougrek. Let me hear that WON n TWo n Three n FORE n FIVE n SIXEN!

[Alexltavares]

too funny man, I can't stop laughing...

[retrovertigoes]

@Ibnezbassist182 What the fuck the fuck does that mean in English?

[blaqice88]

@Ibnezbassist182 Sly Stone sounds like one of the stoned Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters. Key word: STONED!

[carlagirl7]

@Ibnezbassist182 ...Hi, and Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for interpreting Sly's (ummm) singing for us! (too funny!)

[Nvncible1]

i love this dudes phrasing. its sick! no matter how "out" of it he was

[sisterdiggins]

Painful.

[MFJVIDEO]

SICK

[getupanddosomething]

wow what the fuck, the amas should be so ashamed of that

[shellshockkd12]

Sly Stone is better than Elvis hands down. any ways why did they make Sly sing that corny song? thats not his style!!!

[Msstrange1]

He's was probably hating every minute of it. He was probably saying get me the F--K out of here when it was over - lol!

[mousepd]

This has got to be the worst song I have ever heard. Sly is so talented. And so is Tom Jones. What the heck is this? Someone related to the producer must have tried their hand at songwriting.

[bensaw]

From Sly's minder in the Joel Selvin book:

"Dick Clark was panicking. 'What I am going to do about Sly?' I said, 'The hell if I know.' He said, 'He seems to be out of it'. I said, 'Yep, he's out of it.' Dick Clark said, 'You think Sly is going to come out?' I said, 'Yeah, he'll come out'. So he came out and he couldn't read his lines. Dick Clark's whole life was running past him. Sly was supposed to be the host, but by the time they got through editing it, you'd have thought he was a guest."

[nsanctaris]

awful just bloody racistly awful

[mrm4xim4m]

whys that man?

[universalradio]

There's so much talk about Sly doing drugs - way, way more than ever has been said about the Stones, just for instance. So - it's the racist stereotype that he's black, therefore he does drugs, and therefore he can't make music unless he's stoned. The attitude has been around as long as drugs have. Thing is -- white rock establishment couldn't handle that Sly was such a genius, and they railroaded his career through the press. Rolling Stone for one.

[SLSheehan]

Good post. Yes, I agree when the execs decided to "end" Sly's career...his fate was sealed. I read up on it. Slys classic song "If you want me to stay" was a rant against the industry, essentially giving the ultimatum of my way or the highway...a few hissy fits later, kicked Bob Marley off the tour for stealing HIS spotlight...made some shitty appearances...done...he disappeared...it's a tragedy.

[universalradio]

Drugs pretty much ruined it for him. But - he was up against the Black Panthers who pressured him to get rid of the white members of his band and be more militant - he was pressured constantly by the industry, and he performed FAR too much, twice a day frequently; they were parasites. Black star in a white world.Had a bleeding ulcer - was supporting everyone in his band to the tune of millions, really a nice guy who got messed up on drugs, you can't think straight on cocaine and nobody knew this

[lilyslimit]

I don't agree w/ you on that--think Keith Richards--his name is the definition of hard drug using. Maybe Sly just got the talk because it really messed w/ him in a way it didn't w/ the Stones, etc. He apparently has gone thru hell in his personal life and come out the other side though, so good for him. I was 10 yrs old in 1970 when S&TFS was big and even at that age I knew he was pure music genius.

[MackTheKnife12]

Oh Lawdy no

[hurricanejohnson]

Roy Clarke is an amazing guitarist. Sly Stone is an amazing funk master. This has to be a low point both there lives. I would have to ask is why are Roy and Sly on stage with Helen Reddy?

[cllamont]

Roy Clark is thinking what am I doing onstage with this nigger?!

[Vociferor]

His suit was made by the same person who made Elvis' suit. What I'd like to know is -- who had the suit first, Sly or Elvis??

[g1underground]

That is fuckin' awful.

If I saw that live I would be on drugs

[freqazoidiac]

that was one of the weirdest melting pots in music ever.

[MauryDann73]

This is your brain...

(cue Sly)

this is your brain on drugs...

[soulmusic247]

wow that sure wasn't one of Sly Greatest Performances, but at least the suit was fly

[Exilemainstreet]

I think he was trying to make amends and show he would show up and sing.

[roscoegino]

"Always COKE ka cola!"

[khabarta]

Sly's phrasing is so screwy, I was thinking he was singing in gibberish. Then I heard him count numbers which brought me back to reality. This is over the top.

[cidedwards31a]

Diversity Folks,..Love it or Lump it..it's your future here in 'Ermerica,in a few years you wont be able to be reacist anymore..it started a few years before this show,this was the state in 1975. had he not self-destructed he would've had even more tv time for a Black man,you never knew what he or Ali was gonna say,but they class compared to the ones that didn't make it. I'd like to see Roland Kirk and Mingus on this show with a touch of Millie Jackson and Funkadelic.Roy Clark could play.

[stephanie220508]

That is one groovy suit- poor Sly, guess u can't choose the folks u get to sing with at these type of venues.

[yasrom]

The Things They put a black man though back then 4 a little TV time WOW!!!!

[spottedliver]

Oh. Fuck. Ooogey Oogey dancing shoes

[hioyk]

DAMN! SLY!

HE had HEAPS of bills to pay!

[hndrxuntilidie]

It said "SLY", on his belt buckle.

[pekoe67]

You couldn't make this up if you tried. If you could you're a sick, sick puppy.

I'm thinking of starting a Church of Sly, this would have to be destroyed.

[pekoe67]

p.s., can anyone make out what it reads on his belt buckle?

[Alexltavares]

I can't tell, it's too small...LOL!

[batUCLAda]

i would kill for that outfit

[tynertyner]

Helen, Roy and Sly... Dick Clark is a genius.

[Eyemallfunkedup]

Funk meets Disney! Sly, what were you thinking?????

[stargate121]

Holy shit. I now understand everything.

[karlosfunkster]

FUCK! Guess Sly had some serious bills to pay!

[Alexltavares]

This is just plain comical! I just have to laugh out loud when I see this. "Real American music on the American Music AWARDS!!"

[blackwhimsy]

Yep. Especially as Helen Reddy is Australian. She's a hypnotherapist back in Australia now.

[troddsy]

many euros and indeed yanks havent yet figured out the extreme hilarity concerning this bit. This was a brilliant protest no different than the inteviews but dont ask me what he was protesting. "and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and".

[dowling1981]

troddsy - Have you portained them?

[maccadese]

The ATTEMPT was to showcase pop-meets-country-meets-soul with Helen Reddy and Roy Clark ... they failed miserably.

[NickFRESHBoogie]

LOL very true... but it's still a cool piece of footage, though.

[ATOM09]

Looks like Sly needed to pay some bills fast. This is a perfect example of how souls are compromised.

[AngryAgain]

That's an example of an artist so out of control his manager is calling the shots..go here, sing that, do this.

[coolwafferman]

What the Hell is this? LOL It's funny

After that song went off I would of said put on "Thank You",And had those two white folks sing back up.

[ericfcrow]

Mm-kay, even as talented as they are, when Sly Stone and Roy Clark are one the same stage, singing a Disneyland type song, you know you're in a parallel universe! HELP ME, MOMMY! IT HURTS!

[c20m07]

I don't know what the hell is saying and why the hell did he agree to sing this song? This sounds so weird, like, a bad episode of "Solid Gold" or "The Osmonds" gone awry.

[callraheel]

It's like we've had a snapshot of a moment in Sly's consciousness when he's tripping!

[troelstraweg]

this is just wrong...

[scoutie101]

WOW. Holy shit. I can't believe this happened. Just 4 years removed from "Riot." Unbelievable!

[reh629]

that outfit alone tells you how high he was at the time.

[ohmarkus]

omfg. words cannot describe. there are so many things wrong with this picture...

[nosferatudasvampir]

I can imagine the amoung of drugs he must've shot up his veins to arrive at this point in his career without having to hate himself for it.

[modifiedcontent]

WTF!

[MrSafetyUK]

I heard Paul Gambaccini in a lift recently saying that he thought this was actually Sly's finest hour, and that he didn't like the other stuff as much.

Odd.

[xammusic]

lmfao.. Sly's still daa man!!

[Tyron530]

what just happened here... lol

[utubeissad]

This is totally OUT!!

[shineon12]

Holy F...This is hilarious. Sly said "um..PAY MEEE.""

[Brilliantbeing]

Ponder this: If any of us were as talented as Sly Stone how "normal" would we be? He's an eccentric genius and a beautiful human being trying to cope with the sheer majesty of his gift.

[grannie530]

uh, what???

[rayoll]

mercy this is crazy

[williamwandlebury]

Possibly the most surreal video on youtube. I love Sly and to see him do this, with that funky little dance at 0.35 is quite something!

[clocklife]

What a positive spirit. Remember him pal-ing around with Tom Jones? Beautiful. I fear we won't hear the music he's made since 83 until he's gone.

-PEACE

[menickerson]

He was working! It is unusual but he was trying to show some versatility. I am a relative and he was trying to do what was asked, please give him a break, Sly is an innovator,originator and in this case quite courageous!

[PhuckHue]

you have to remember this was 30 years ago in 1975. it was a different world then. it just looks corny in retrospect

[mothermoore]

Yea wait till tomorrows children look at those retarded mullets-HA HA

[Jimirular]

I don´t understand what you´re talkning about! i´m a huge Sly-fan and I just love this vid. Allthough it´s a corny tune and arrangement he manage to put so much soul in it. His voice is just great. Amazing!

[continentalpong]

what the fuck?

no wonder he doesn't go out in public anymore.

[pozavna]

sly, helen reddy & roy clark? that sly could do it all!!!

[SFMILLVALLEY]

Fking fascinating. How did Sly agree to do this? Gee, could it be d-r-u-g-s? Sly looked sober and into it however. The American Music Awards then actually had a slight edge over the then-more staid Grammys. What a relic. Sly would rock on the rest of the '70s.

[FlawseyBee]

Come on Sly say it isn't so !

How you going to do this corny bit with a Hella Fide pimp suit on.

[pfederowicz]

i think the answer rhymes with C.o.c.a.i.n.e.

he's amazing though, right?

[Squarepeg]

WHAT IN THEE HELL??? what was sly thinking??? LOL I still love him though