Cynthia Robinson 1946 – 2015
Sylvester and Cynthia, side by side
Listen/Download – Sly and the Family Stone – Dance to the Medley MP3
Listen/Download – Sly and the Family Stone – Sing a Simple Song MP3
Greetings all.
This morning saw the sad news that the mighty Cynthia Robinson, trumpeter and hype lady for Sly and the Family Stone had passed away at the age of 69.
Cynthia was there at the very beginning and played with Sly almost to the end of the Family Stone (long after many of the founders had jumped ship).
Sly and the Family Stone were by any measure one of the truly great soul bands of the 1960s.
They were racially, sexually and sonically integrated, mixing black and white, male and female and soul and rock (and funk) and were the very definition of the word ‘badass’.
The Family Stone were super-tight on stage (there are plenty of clips on YouTube for those that need proof), and I included them in my list of great soul performances last year.
Cynthia and Rose Stone were no mere window dressing either, holding their own as serious, solid musicians, helping Sly shape and deliver the group’s amazing music.
The two tracks i’m posting are personal favorites, both of which show Cynthia at her very best.
‘Dance to the Medley (Music Is Alive/Dance In/Music Lover)’ fills most of the first side of 1968’s ‘Dance to the Music’ LP. It’s a performance tour de force, and gives you an idea of the raw power of the band. It also includes one of my all time fave Sly tunes ‘Music Lover’, which appeared over the years as a component of a few different Sly and the Family Stone medleys (but never recorded on its own).
‘Sing a Simple Song’ needs no introduction, other than to mention that it is one of the UR documents of funk. Just brilliant.
So take some time out of your day to pull some Family Stone out of your crates (real or digital) and raise a glass to a pioneer, Miss Cynthia Robinson.
See you all on Friday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).
Themocracy
she was the epitome of the modern cool liberated woman a great player and loyal to Sky she will be greatly missed
RIP Cynthia – I also love “Music Lover” – one of my favorite horn chants. I like to think that Cynthia wrote it.