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Rating: 
Summary: Why? And The Family Stone
Review: ... The "collage of voices" approach endemic to oral history leads in this case to a frustrating, almost indigestible mess. Dave Marsh warns in his editor's note to the For The Record series of which this volume is a part, "if an artist isn't especially interested in what happens in the recording studio but has a fascination with what happens in hotel rooms after live gigs, that's what you'll get." So, instead of getting more than the barest glimpse inside the studio during the recording of There's A Riot Going On, surely one of the deepest albums in all of American popular music history, we are given page after page devoted to the band's sex lives, taste in drugs, and even their surprising if unilluminating avocation as collective dog fanciers (really!). What's missing, literally, is Sly's voice, which leaves a gaping hole in the center of the narrative. By connecting the dots one can glean a few insights about the music from the mass of bleary anecdotes herein, but aren't authors and editors supposed to do that for you? If you're in the market for a mess of depressing gossip, this will be your meat; if you're seeking insight into the man's (and the group's) brilliant music, look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating subject, not a lot of insight
Review: I have long believed that Sly and The Family Stone are quite possibly the most under-rated rock band ever. They may be enshrined the RnR Hall of Fame, but their records are now unfairly viewed as nothing more than oldies radio fare. In their time they were revolutionaries who broke down the barriers between "black music" and "white music"; in the process, they were instrumental in creating what later became known as "Funk". When I found out about this book, I was thrilled. AT LAST---some insight into WHY the band made the music that they did! No such luck here. Crammed with lurid, voyeuristic, tales of excess and decline that sadly became the band's legacy, For the Record offers little insight into just what went into creating the music and records. While readers might have loved to have found out something about Sly's inspiration for There's A Riot Goin' On, beyond "he was taking a lot of drugs"---that's about all that's offered here. No doubt, the fact that drug casualty Sly was not available to offer his insights made the author's task more difficult(impossible?), you gotta believe that there had to have been SOME people with a little more insight into THE MUSIC of Sly Stone, rather than just the ugliness that went on behind the scenes. It should have been better.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent book.
Review: I thought this was a decent book with some good anecdotes and stories. One thing to consider--even though it may not be a literary masterpiece, it IS a book about Sly, and it does cover a lot of his activities, both as a DJ and then as the perenially F*d up bandleader for probably the funkiest band in history. That fact, in and of itself, makes it worth reading. To me, an average book about Sly is always better than a great book on lesser topics. By the way, isn't Sly still alive? Doesn't that exempt him from technically being a "drug casualty?"
Rating: 
Summary: Frustrating
Review: I was very much attracted to the subject matter and I thought interviewing those involved was an excellent approach to it. I was frustrated by the lack of dates and context to the words of those interviewed. Without constantly flipping to the back to check on the dates in the discography, I had no idea whether I was in 1968 or 1972. I was hoping for a more definitive text.
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