Sly as a Loon

For some reason, I sat through the entire broadcast of the Grammies last week. Of course it was great to see the Boss perform “Devils & Dust” and sit in on the Wilson Pickett tribute (singing “In the Midnight Hour” with Sam Moore).

Watching poor Paul McCartney sing “Yesterday” along with Linkin Park while Jay Z “uh-huh”ed and “yeah”ed in the background was one of the sadder moments for me. I don’t get it. Watching the immodest and overrated Kanye West lose awards did put a smile on my face though.

But the jaw dropping moment had to be when Sly Stone shuffled out during a reunion / tribute to the Family Stone (along with the ubiquitous Joss Stone, John Legend, Fantasia, etc.). Hunched over, with a gold jacket and a giant peroxide Mohawk, he sang a few bars of “I Want to Take You Higher” and then was on his way. The man looked to be about 10 shades of crazy – priceless!!

So naturally I dug through my LP’s and dug out a great song Sly did with Jesse Johnson (former guitarist for The Time), ironically named “Crazay”.

Jesse Johnson Featuring Sly Stone: Crazay (mp3) – Found on ‘Shockadelica’, Jesse’s 1986 album.

• Check out a video of Sly on the Dick Cavett show, circa 1970, here on Screenhead.
• Buy Sly & the Family Stone music on Amazon.