Stone is a funk star

“I can tell you that Sal Filipelli: This Day in Music History will feature three songs written by Sal Filipelli and Sly Stone,” says Sal Filipelli of his upcoming full-length. Its debut single, “One More Hit,” which dropped June 26 (Filipelli’s birthday), is one of the collaborations with the funk star behind Sly & the Family Stone.

“The press likes to eat him alive because of more recent performances and his unwillingness to talk to the press himself,” says Filipelli. “Sly has been very good to me, a true friend, and I am only interested in portraying him as the musical genius and legend that he is. With that said, I realize that is what the press is interested in.”

Indeed, the Reader website’s first announcement of the single referred to the “reclusive one-time funk star Sly Stone (whose epically failed Coachella and Grammy ‘comebacks’ earned worldwide derision),” a description Filipelli takes issue with. “First of all, he’s not a ‘one-time funk star,’ he is a funk star, Woodstock ’69 veteran, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. There are so many nice things you can say about the guy...it sounds like you’re trying to take a stab at him.”

Three of the album’s planned nine tracks are from the Stone sessions (“the whole time, I was working on a bunch of songs”), though Filipelli mentions “several more songs [with Stone], which are not scheduled for release.” The cover for “One More Hit” (available at CDbaby and on iTunes) sports little more than handwritten titles, a motif he plans to keep with the next few singles. “It’s to represent the album being hidden in a brown paper bag until it actually comes out...artwork, however, must remain a mystery for now.”

Also a mystery is the album’s release date, which he says “is pending post-production funds, in case you know anybody who wants to donate in order to get this train moving. The Kickstarter video is already made and you can see it at SalFilipelli.com. The full album will be pressed on CD, distributed digitally, and eventually also will be available on colored vinyl.

“It is doubtful that the whole record will be out before August.”