I recently heard Sly and The Family Stone’s “A Family Affair” on the radio and was struck by how good that song still sounds. It’s one of the greatest of all time. The DJ announced it was first released 40 years ago. Wow….the Fall of 1971 and so cool and so funky…it’s no wonder it became a #1 hit. I imagined that if it came out for the first time today, it would still break through and totally funk things up. Then yesterday I read a troubling post on Spinner reporting that Sly Stone is now homeless and living out of his van in L.A. ravaged by drugs and financial mishandlings. That’s such a drag. He just released a new record I’m Back! Family and Friends which is a collaboration with people like Jeff Beck, Ann Wilson and Ray Manzarek that was supposed to herald a big comeback. Yeah, his more downs than ups are legendary but come on…he’s Sly Stone, the mack daddy that also gave us “Everyday People,” “Hot Fun in the Summertime” and “Thank You.” He gave us some serious soul and he deserves better. So let’s send Sly some love today….buy his new record or download some tracks @ Amazon or iTunes and give him a collective thank you because nobody wants to be left out.