Sly Lives

[Drunk Monk]

Coming to a Hulu / Disney+ near you in Mid-Feb:

Sly Lives!




--tg

I recently learned that one of my friends grew up in Sly’s neighborhood and saw him pass by many times.

This is Questlove’s 2nd music documentary. Sly is a solid topic, especially his early years, and despite being local (Vallejo) there was a lot I didn’t know. But Sly’s fall is tragic and Q focuses upon the nature of black celebrity as a major factor to Sly’s downfall. It’s a fair yet belabored point he makes. Either way, the latter half of the doc is a bummer.

Nevertheless a decent doc on an extraordinary musician. D00M recommended as I know many of us enjoy music docs here.

[King Bob]

From what I know, I'd say it was drugs way more than black celebrity.

[Drunk Monk]

Well, that was in part some of Questlove's point. He felt the drugs were symptomatic. There was a bit where an interviewer (maybe it was Dick Cavett? I kinda lost track because there was a lot of interview material) was asking about what drugs were involved and the doc brings up the point that no one asks why when it comes to black drug use. They postulated (and I'm paraphrasing now) that it was the additional pressure placed upon black celebrities. I think there is a valid point in there, but it just got a tad too belabored for me. On a personal note, there's seldom any account of the positive applications of drug use on art. It can be a fast track to the muse as I'm sure you'll remember. Some more honest deadheads will speak of Jerry's heroin years, which produced some of his most soulful work. I imagine drugs have a greater impact on music than most of the other arts. 

But yeah, Sly was a crackhead. That is made very clear in the doc too.

[thatguy]

I think it was Lily Tomlin who said "I worry that drugs make us more creative than we really are."

--tg