June 25, 2021 • 15 mins
"P-Funk mastermind George Clinton offers a witty but entirely unrehearsed speech to honor his fellow funk legends, dubbing the Family Stone the “greatest funk band that ever was” and calling his longtime comrade Sly “the greatest writer” he can think of."
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yah, Welcome to Induction Vault, a production of I Heart
Radio and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame m
(00:27):
so much of our greatest music in the moments surrounding
it are filled with spontaneity. In Induction of Sly and
the Family Stone is no exception. He funk mastermind George
Clinton offers a witty but entirely unrehearsed speech to honor
his fellow funk legends, dubbing the Family Stone the greatest
funk band that ever was, and calling his longtime comrade
(00:48):
Sly the greatest writer he can think of. Because they
take the stage, the Family Stone immediately launches into an
impromptu rendition of one of their classic songs, and they're
subsequent and duct and speeches are humorous and filled with gratitude,
with bassist Larry Graham remarking in his inimitable deep voice
on the evening's event has made him recognize how fortunate
(01:10):
they all were to still be experiencing life together at
that time. Listen closely. At the end of Sly himself
makes an entrance, much to everyone's surprise and delight. Wow,
(01:35):
what's happening, y'all? I had a lot planned to see.
When I first got here and I thought it was
gonna be real cool. I was gonna be clever, gonna
be deep, and I was gonna be real effective. I
walked in the first thing I saw was Larry Graham, Freddie,
Jerry Rose, Cynthy Year Greg. I forgot every damn thing
(01:56):
I was gonna say. The one thing I've always wanted
to see, Like most people want to see the Beatles
back together, it's to see Sliding the Family Stone just
standing somewhere in the same room. Now I've seen that.
I ain't to say they're the greatest funk band that
(02:17):
ever was. Slide is probably the single greatest writer that
I can even try to think of. Let's use my
man um. When I first heard of Sliding the Family Stone,
I got a little piste off. We were up at
CBS and it was Dave Caperlet. He was just getting
me to sign to deal with Epic. He said, I
(02:38):
have this new guy, Slide, and you have a label
called Stone Flower. You know, you just kind of like
your group. Then he took me back there and played
the records. I'm gonna tell you what I said, but
it was definitely that this is the baddest sucker I've
ever heard in my life, you know. So we signed
with the label Records never came out, but we went
(02:58):
on to be in the Shadow Slides for some years
and finally we met him, and um, there's a love
affair from then on. And when they called me the
other day that asked me to do this, I thought,
off the top, Oh yeah, that's the easy slide. I
can think a lot of ship to say, you know,
but I forgot how good it was in the sixth
(03:18):
They say, if you remember the sixties, you weren't there.
I don't really remember the sixty. I see a lot
of your faces out there. I know your faces, but
I can't quite remember where I know you're from. But
so I'm not gonna go on trying to describe it
because ain't enough words enough. Um, enough signs are nothing
(03:42):
to describe. Slide the family stone. So UM, I'm glad
it's my honor to be the one that induct him
into the Hall of Fame. Um, Freddie Rose, slide all
of them back there, come on out. I guess that's
what I'm spoking to do. Yeah, after the break, we'll
(04:05):
hear from members of sly in the family stone on
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction vault. My
name is Freddie and right I'm not supposedly on the podium. Really,
(04:26):
I just want to say from my heart, UM, this
is really truly a great honor. We really appreciate it. Um.
When I heard about it, I couldn't believe it. Um,
I'm so grateful that you remembered us. And we didn't
(04:48):
know personally. I didn't know what kind of impact the
group had in the music industry, but we couldn't really tell.
We would just go from place to play, that is
when we would go from place to place, and uh,
we didn't know. We didn't know. It's such a great honor,
(05:10):
and I thank you. I appreciate it, and I will
cherish this award and and to me, it's something that
should encourage every entertainer and musician in person that receives
this award to really walk up right worthy of this award.
It is an honor. And I had the privilege of
(05:31):
playing with wonderful, exciting musicians Jerry Martini, Cynthia Robinson, my
own sister Rose, Larry Graham, Gregor Rico, and my brother's
Lie I couldn't find a better group of musicians. We
started off rehearsing and my parents home, working every day,
(05:53):
eight hours a day. We rehearse all day long, bring
our sacked lunch as we just work and we honed
our cry app and we worked and we polished it,
and we we reshined it and dirted it up and
polished it and re honed it and everything. We did
it for over a year until we thought we were
ready to go out and face the public and wit
(06:14):
whatever you know was in store for us. And I
didn't know how great these musicians were until life began
to move in their lives and they would go in
different directions, And then I realized what I had in
each musician. Larry brought his great bass playing to the group,
(06:36):
his innovative energy, and Jerry Martini who played like a
soul brother. Cynthia Robinson who had great endurance and stammin
and kept us alive and going on the time, My
sister Rose who came in and and and saying just
the right thing at the right time, Greg who kept
(06:56):
that drum kicking, never let never let me down. I mean,
it was great. It was great plan with these people,
and I've never had the chance really to tell them
all at one time. That's why I'm taking the time
now to do it. And I love each and every
one of them, and I really do. Thank you, thank you,
thank you, thank you. I hadn't imagined I was gonna
(07:28):
have to say anything. I didn't know if it was
going to be this kind of party, but I'm glad
it's also my birthday party. Nothing can feel any better.
(07:48):
I want to say thank you to my two daughters,
Laura Andrews and Sylviette, who's here with me tonight, my
four grandchildren, mh my mother who's not here any longer,
but make sure I made all the parades in town
when I was in school on time. Thank you. All
(08:15):
of you had something to do with me being here
in the first place, being honored. It's one of the
highlights of my life. We were just having fun with
each other. That's what we were started out doing, just
playing together and having fun together and actually just living together.
(08:40):
We became a family living up to the name. Thank
you from the bottomless part of my heart. And for
all the squares. This is one night you don't have
to go home. I'm just thank you for being here tonight.
(09:06):
I I would have been in Hawaii the last thirteen years.
I just still playing my saxophone, and I can't believe
I'm seeing everybody after all these years and everything, and like,
thank people who manage this, Like thank Ken Roberts, you've
capital like all the people they helped this, and like
thank my wife with the name for being here. Thank
you very much. This is exciting. This is really exciting.
(09:36):
Um beside thanking my family, mom and dad, wife, my kids,
who would give me a lot of strength and support
in my adopted family, because without them and what we
did together musically, I also wouldn't have the opportunity to
play with lots of other very talented people all over
(10:00):
the world. And it's been wonderful. And I wanted to
say the voting, the people that voted for the group
and acknowledged us and gave us a chance to be
here and get together again. It feels great. Thank you.
(10:26):
My name is and I just want to say that tonight,
as I was sitting over there watching the whole program,
something very special happened to me, which may have happened
to you. I got a deeper appreciation the gift of
(10:53):
life because there were so many great people who were
mentioned and this evening, who have contributed so much to
the world of music, and as they're loved ones came
out and accepted for them. It really touched my heart deeply,
(11:15):
so emotional, sometimes almost to the point of tears, because
I know how it feels to lose a loved one,
because I've done it in my life with my mother
and grandmother and others. So to see these ones come
out and I sit there and I'm saying, you know,
just sitting here being alive is so special. So from
(11:36):
from this moment on, I've already been trying to contribute
something positive and live a positive life, but from this
moment on, I'm gonna try even harder, and I hope
that the outcome will be something that will be able
to touch your hearts. And maybe you made the same
(11:57):
decision tonight that from here on out you're going to
appreciate life more. And the thing that really got me
is the fact that it was really sad that some
of the group members are band members, could not be
here tonight to appreciate this once in a lifetime privilege,
(12:18):
because as someone said earlier, this only happens one time,
and this is a special moment, and the fact that
each and every member a Sly and the family stone
is alive. You know what I mean I'm saying. You
(12:47):
know what I'm saying. Do you know what I'm saying?
Do you know what I'm saying? Can you hear me
over there? Do you know what I'm saying? Over here?
It's good to be alive. So then that means that
is still possible for something else to happen. I don't
know what, but the fact that we're still around and
(13:10):
here tonight means that it's always possible, you know what
I mean. So tonight I just want to say that
in my heart, I'm just so happy for all of us,
just for the gift of life, life, life, good evening, everybody.
(13:48):
It's time to go home now, so it's a good
night almost. But anyway, I'm Rose, and I just want
to say thank you to everybody who voted for us.
Thank you for coming tonight. This is indeed and honor,
and we're excited. We're excited like we were how many
years ago. Don't say it. I want to thank my
mother and father who are over there, and my daughter
(14:08):
Lisa and Ken Roberts, and to all those people, they
will say, why didn't you say thank you to me?
I want to say thank you to YouTube. Thanks for
joining us on this week's episode of Rock and Roll
(14:29):
Hall of Fame Induction Vault. For more on your favorite inductees,
to shop inductee merch or to plan your trip to
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, visit rock hall
dot com, plus the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Induction Special on demand on HBO Max. Our executive producers
are Noel Brown, Shelby Morrison, and Esa Gurkey. Supervising producer
(14:51):
is Taylor shakogn Research and archival assistants from Isabelle Keeper
and Shannon Herb. Thanks again for joining us on this
week's episode of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Vault.
Induction Vault is a production of I Heart Radio in
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For more podcasts
(15:12):
from I Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
Yah, Welcome to Induction Vault, a production of I Heart
Radio and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame m
(00:27):
so much of our greatest music in the moments surrounding
it are filled with spontaneity. In Induction of Sly and
the Family Stone is no exception. He funk mastermind George
Clinton offers a witty but entirely unrehearsed speech to honor
his fellow funk legends, dubbing the Family Stone the greatest
funk band that ever was, and calling his longtime comrade
(00:48):
Sly the greatest writer he can think of. Because they
take the stage, the Family Stone immediately launches into an
impromptu rendition of one of their classic songs, and they're
subsequent and duct and speeches are humorous and filled with gratitude,
with bassist Larry Graham remarking in his inimitable deep voice
on the evening's event has made him recognize how fortunate
(01:10):
they all were to still be experiencing life together at
that time. Listen closely. At the end of Sly himself
makes an entrance, much to everyone's surprise and delight. Wow,
(01:35):
what's happening, y'all? I had a lot planned to see.
When I first got here and I thought it was
gonna be real cool. I was gonna be clever, gonna
be deep, and I was gonna be real effective. I
walked in the first thing I saw was Larry Graham, Freddie,
Jerry Rose, Cynthy Year Greg. I forgot every damn thing
(01:56):
I was gonna say. The one thing I've always wanted
to see, Like most people want to see the Beatles
back together, it's to see Sliding the Family Stone just
standing somewhere in the same room. Now I've seen that.
I ain't to say they're the greatest funk band that
(02:17):
ever was. Slide is probably the single greatest writer that
I can even try to think of. Let's use my
man um. When I first heard of Sliding the Family Stone,
I got a little piste off. We were up at
CBS and it was Dave Caperlet. He was just getting
me to sign to deal with Epic. He said, I
(02:38):
have this new guy, Slide, and you have a label
called Stone Flower. You know, you just kind of like
your group. Then he took me back there and played
the records. I'm gonna tell you what I said, but
it was definitely that this is the baddest sucker I've
ever heard in my life, you know. So we signed
with the label Records never came out, but we went
(02:58):
on to be in the Shadow Slides for some years
and finally we met him, and um, there's a love
affair from then on. And when they called me the
other day that asked me to do this, I thought,
off the top, Oh yeah, that's the easy slide. I
can think a lot of ship to say, you know,
but I forgot how good it was in the sixth
(03:18):
They say, if you remember the sixties, you weren't there.
I don't really remember the sixty. I see a lot
of your faces out there. I know your faces, but
I can't quite remember where I know you're from. But
so I'm not gonna go on trying to describe it
because ain't enough words enough. Um, enough signs are nothing
(03:42):
to describe. Slide the family stone. So UM, I'm glad
it's my honor to be the one that induct him
into the Hall of Fame. Um, Freddie Rose, slide all
of them back there, come on out. I guess that's
what I'm spoking to do. Yeah, after the break, we'll
(04:05):
hear from members of sly in the family stone on
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction vault. My
name is Freddie and right I'm not supposedly on the podium. Really,
(04:26):
I just want to say from my heart, UM, this
is really truly a great honor. We really appreciate it. Um.
When I heard about it, I couldn't believe it. Um,
I'm so grateful that you remembered us. And we didn't
(04:48):
know personally. I didn't know what kind of impact the
group had in the music industry, but we couldn't really tell.
We would just go from place to play, that is
when we would go from place to place, and uh,
we didn't know. We didn't know. It's such a great honor,
(05:10):
and I thank you. I appreciate it, and I will
cherish this award and and to me, it's something that
should encourage every entertainer and musician in person that receives
this award to really walk up right worthy of this award.
It is an honor. And I had the privilege of
(05:31):
playing with wonderful, exciting musicians Jerry Martini, Cynthia Robinson, my
own sister Rose, Larry Graham, Gregor Rico, and my brother's
Lie I couldn't find a better group of musicians. We
started off rehearsing and my parents home, working every day,
(05:53):
eight hours a day. We rehearse all day long, bring
our sacked lunch as we just work and we honed
our cry app and we worked and we polished it,
and we we reshined it and dirted it up and
polished it and re honed it and everything. We did
it for over a year until we thought we were
ready to go out and face the public and wit
(06:14):
whatever you know was in store for us. And I
didn't know how great these musicians were until life began
to move in their lives and they would go in
different directions, And then I realized what I had in
each musician. Larry brought his great bass playing to the group,
(06:36):
his innovative energy, and Jerry Martini who played like a
soul brother. Cynthia Robinson who had great endurance and stammin
and kept us alive and going on the time, My
sister Rose who came in and and and saying just
the right thing at the right time, Greg who kept
(06:56):
that drum kicking, never let never let me down. I mean,
it was great. It was great plan with these people,
and I've never had the chance really to tell them
all at one time. That's why I'm taking the time
now to do it. And I love each and every
one of them, and I really do. Thank you, thank you,
thank you, thank you. I hadn't imagined I was gonna
(07:28):
have to say anything. I didn't know if it was
going to be this kind of party, but I'm glad
it's also my birthday party. Nothing can feel any better.
(07:48):
I want to say thank you to my two daughters,
Laura Andrews and Sylviette, who's here with me tonight, my
four grandchildren, mh my mother who's not here any longer,
but make sure I made all the parades in town
when I was in school on time. Thank you. All
(08:15):
of you had something to do with me being here
in the first place, being honored. It's one of the
highlights of my life. We were just having fun with
each other. That's what we were started out doing, just
playing together and having fun together and actually just living together.
(08:40):
We became a family living up to the name. Thank
you from the bottomless part of my heart. And for
all the squares. This is one night you don't have
to go home. I'm just thank you for being here tonight.
(09:06):
I I would have been in Hawaii the last thirteen years.
I just still playing my saxophone, and I can't believe
I'm seeing everybody after all these years and everything, and like,
thank people who manage this, Like thank Ken Roberts, you've
capital like all the people they helped this, and like
thank my wife with the name for being here. Thank
you very much. This is exciting. This is really exciting.
(09:36):
Um beside thanking my family, mom and dad, wife, my kids,
who would give me a lot of strength and support
in my adopted family, because without them and what we
did together musically, I also wouldn't have the opportunity to
play with lots of other very talented people all over
(10:00):
the world. And it's been wonderful. And I wanted to
say the voting, the people that voted for the group
and acknowledged us and gave us a chance to be
here and get together again. It feels great. Thank you.
(10:26):
My name is and I just want to say that tonight,
as I was sitting over there watching the whole program,
something very special happened to me, which may have happened
to you. I got a deeper appreciation the gift of
(10:53):
life because there were so many great people who were
mentioned and this evening, who have contributed so much to
the world of music, and as they're loved ones came
out and accepted for them. It really touched my heart deeply,
(11:15):
so emotional, sometimes almost to the point of tears, because
I know how it feels to lose a loved one,
because I've done it in my life with my mother
and grandmother and others. So to see these ones come
out and I sit there and I'm saying, you know,
just sitting here being alive is so special. So from
(11:36):
from this moment on, I've already been trying to contribute
something positive and live a positive life, but from this
moment on, I'm gonna try even harder, and I hope
that the outcome will be something that will be able
to touch your hearts. And maybe you made the same
(11:57):
decision tonight that from here on out you're going to
appreciate life more. And the thing that really got me
is the fact that it was really sad that some
of the group members are band members, could not be
here tonight to appreciate this once in a lifetime privilege,
(12:18):
because as someone said earlier, this only happens one time,
and this is a special moment, and the fact that
each and every member a Sly and the family stone
is alive. You know what I mean I'm saying. You
(12:47):
know what I'm saying. Do you know what I'm saying?
Do you know what I'm saying? Can you hear me
over there? Do you know what I'm saying? Over here?
It's good to be alive. So then that means that
is still possible for something else to happen. I don't
know what, but the fact that we're still around and
(13:10):
here tonight means that it's always possible, you know what
I mean. So tonight I just want to say that
in my heart, I'm just so happy for all of us,
just for the gift of life, life, life, good evening, everybody.
(13:48):
It's time to go home now, so it's a good
night almost. But anyway, I'm Rose, and I just want
to say thank you to everybody who voted for us.
Thank you for coming tonight. This is indeed and honor,
and we're excited. We're excited like we were how many
years ago. Don't say it. I want to thank my
mother and father who are over there, and my daughter
(14:08):
Lisa and Ken Roberts, and to all those people, they
will say, why didn't you say thank you to me?
I want to say thank you to YouTube. Thanks for
joining us on this week's episode of Rock and Roll
(14:29):
Hall of Fame Induction Vault. For more on your favorite inductees,
to shop inductee merch or to plan your trip to
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, visit rock hall
dot com, plus the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Induction Special on demand on HBO Max. Our executive producers
are Noel Brown, Shelby Morrison, and Esa Gurkey. Supervising producer
(14:51):
is Taylor shakogn Research and archival assistants from Isabelle Keeper
and Shannon Herb. Thanks again for joining us on this
week's episode of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Vault.
Induction Vault is a production of I Heart Radio in
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For more podcasts
(15:12):
from I Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
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