Editing Sly Stone (section)

===Early life===
Stone was born in [[Denton, Texas]], on March 15, 1943,<ref name="Santiago">Santiago, Eddie. ''Sly: The Lives of Sylvester Stewart and Sly Stone''. Eddie Santiago, 2008. Print.</ref> before the family’s move to [[Vallejo, California]], in the [[North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)|North Bay]] of the [[San Francisco Bay Area]]. He was the second of five children born to K.C. and Alpha Stewart, a deeply religious couple. As part of the doctrines of the [[Church of God in Christ]] (COGIC), to which the Stewart family belonged, the parents encouraged musical expression in their middle-class household.<ref>[[Joel Selvin|Selvin, Joel]] (1998). ''For the Record: Sly and the Family Stone: An Oral History''. New York: Quill Publishing. {{ISBN|0-380-79377-6}}.</ref> Sylvester and his brother [[Freddie Stone|Freddie]], along with their sisters [[Rosie Stone|Rose]] and Loretta, formed "the Stewart Four" as children, performing [[gospel music]] in church. They recorded and locally released a 78 rpm single, "On the Battlefield" b/w "Walking in Jesus' Name", in August 1956.<ref>{{cite web| title= The Stewart Four| url= https://www.discogs.com/release/7536367-The-Stewart-Four-On-The-Battlefield-Walking-In-Jesus-Name| website= discogs.com| date=August 1956| accessdate=}}</ref> Only their eldest sister Loretta did not pursue a musical career; the others, including youngest sister [[Vet Stone|Vaetta]] or "Vet", would later adopt the surname "Stone" and pursue musical interests.

Sylvester was identified as a [[musical prodigy]].  By the time he was seven, he had already become proficient on the keyboards, and by the age of eleven, he had mastered the guitar, bass, and drums as well.<ref name="Santiago" /> While still in high school, Sylvester had settled primarily on the guitar and joined a number of high school bands. One of these was [[the Viscaynes]], a [[doo-wop]] group in which Sylvester and his friend [[Frank Arellano]]—who was [[Philippines|Filipino]]—were the only non-white members. The fact that the group was integrated made the Viscaynes "hip" in the eyes of their audiences, and would later inspire Sylvester's idea of the multicultural Family Stone. The Viscaynes released a few local singles, including "Yellow Moon" and "Stop What You Are"; during the same period, Sylvester also recorded a few solo singles under the name Danny Stewart. With his brother, Fred, he formed several short-lived groups, like the Stewart Bros.<ref name="RSbio">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070918091805/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/slythefamilystone/biography "Sly & The Family Stone."] ''Rolling Stone''. Web.</ref> After high school Stone studied music at the Vallejo campus of [[Solano Community College]].

The nickname Sly was a common one for Sylvester throughout his years in grade school. Early on, a classmate misspelled his name "Slyvester," and ever since, the nickname followed him.<ref name="Santiago" />

In the mid-1960s, Stone worked as a disc jockey for San Francisco, California, soul radio station [[KSOL]], where he included white performers such as [[The Beatles]] and [[The Rolling Stones]] in his playlists. During the same period, he worked as a staff record producer for [[Autumn Records]], producing for predominantly white San Francisco-area bands such as [[The Beau Brummels]], [[The Mojo Men]], [[Bobby Freeman]], and [[Grace Slick]]'s first band, [[The Great Society (band)|The Great Society]].

Stone was influential in guiding [[KSOL-AM]] into soul music and started calling the station K-SOUL. The second was a popular [[soul music]] station (sans the K-SOUL moniker), at 107.7 FM (now known as [[KSAN-FM|KSAN]]). The current KSOL has a different format and is unrelated to the previous two stations.  While still providing "music for your mind, body, and your soul" on KSOL, Sly Stone played keyboard for dozens of major performers including [[Dionne Warwick]], [[Righteous Brothers]], [[Ronettes]], [[Bobby Freeman]], George & Teddy, [[Freddy Cannon]], [[Marvin Gaye]], [[Dick & Dee Dee]], [[Jan & Dean]], [[Gene Chandler]], and many more, including at least one of the three Twist Party concerts by then chart topper [[Chubby Checker]] held at the [[Cow Palace]] in San Francisco in 1962 and 1963.  The concerts were put together by "Big Daddy" Tom Donohue and Bobby Mitchell from the then infamous [[KYA 1260 AM]] radio station and largely choreographed by Jerry Marcellino and Mel Larson who went on to produce many Motown artists including [[Michael Jackson]], [[Diana Ross]], and some of the top artists of the day.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

In 1966, Sly was performing with his band Sly and The Stoners which included  [[Cynthia Robinson]] on trumpet. His brother Freddie was working with his band called Freddie and the Stone Souls with Greg Errico and Jerry Martini. One night, the two stood in a kitchen making the decision to fuse the bands together adding Larry Graham, who had studied music and worked in numerous groups. Working around the Bay Area in 1967, this multiracial band made a strong impression. Later, in 1968, Rose Stone joined the band.