section_path: Biography/Early life
section_name: Early life
paragraph_text: Early life
  
  Sylvester Stewart was born in Denton, Texas, on March 15, 1943, before the family's move to Vallejo, California, in the 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. Sylvester and his brother Freddie, along with their sisters 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. Only their eldest sister Loretta did not pursue a musical career; the others, including youngest sister 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. 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 Filipino —were the only non-white members. 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. After high school Stone studied music at the Vallejo campus of Solano Community College. Early on, a fifth-grade classmate misspelled his name "Slyvester," and the nickname had followed him ever after.
  
  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 on 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.
  
  Stone was influential in guiding KSOL-AM into soul music and started calling the station K-SOUL. The second station where he deejayed was a popular soul music station (sans the K-SOUL moniker), at 107.7 FM (now known as KSAN). While still providing "music for your mind, body, and your soul" on KSOL, Sly Stone played keyboard for numerous major performers including Dionne Warwick, Righteous Brothers, Marvin Gaye, 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.
  
  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. After also adding Larry Graham as a bassist, they fused the bands together. Working around the Bay Area in 1967, this multiracial band made a strong impression.
  
  Sylvester Stewart was born in Denton, Texas, on March 15, 1943, before the family's move to Vallejo, California, in the 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. Sylvester and his brother Freddie, along with their sisters 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. Only their eldest sister Loretta did not pursue a musical career; the others, including youngest sister 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. 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 Filipino —were the only non-white members. 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. After high school Stone studied music at the Vallejo campus of Solano Community College. Early on, a fifth-grade classmate misspelled his name "Slyvester," and the nickname had followed him ever after.
  
  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 on 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.
  
  Stone was influential in guiding KSOL-AM into soul music and started calling the station K-SOUL. The second station where he deejayed was a popular soul music station (sans the K-SOUL moniker), at 107.7 FM (now known as KSAN). While still providing "music for your mind, body, and your soul" on KSOL, Sly Stone played keyboard for numerous major performers including Dionne Warwick, Righteous Brothers, Marvin Gaye, 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.
  
  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. After also adding Larry Graham as a bassist, they fused the bands together. Working around the Bay Area in 1967, this multiracial band made a strong impression.