Posted on 01/29/2015 2:12:20 AM PST by a fool in paradise
Funk singer Sly Stone has been awarded $5 million by a Los Angeles jury in his lawsuit against a former manager and attorney he claimed diverted royalties from his music for their own benefit.
The Los Angeles Superior Court announced its verdict on Tuesday, after two days of deliberations.
Stone’s litigation, filed under his real name Sylvester Stewart, involved millions of dollars in royalties and stretched over almost five years.
He filed suit in 2010, claiming that manager Gerald Goldstein and attorney Glenn Stone in the late 1980s induced him to sign an employment and shareholder agreement with Even Street Prods., but that they instead used the arrangement to divert millions in royalties, leaving him unable to get the money he said was due him.
The jury awarded $2.5 million in damages against Even St. Productions, $2.45 million against Goldstein and $50,000 against attorney Glenn Stone.
“It was a classic case of Hollywood accounting, but I guess it would have to be called record industry accounting,” said Nick Hornberger of Hornberger Law Corp., the lead attorney for the singer.
The jury, he said, “sent a very clear message.”
Gregory Bodell of Kozberg & Bodell, lead attorney for the defendants, said via e-mail that the jury found that Sly Stone was underpaid by $2.5 million under the employment agreement with Even St. Prods., and that the money was paid instead to Goldstein and Stone.
“We are disappointed in the finding and believe it will be changed by further proceedings,” Bodell said.
Stone, whose real name is Sylvester Stewart, testified that he had not received any royalty payments between 1989 and 2000.
But attorneys for Goldstein and Glenn Stone contended that the singer was paid millions, but broke an agreement to make new records. They claim that the singer was not tricked into signing the contract, but was aware of the terms and renewed the agreement 40 times over 15 years between 1994 and 2006.
It’s a “family affair”.....
Sly’s brain was lost a long time ago.
Mr G worked with Sly in the mid 80’s. At the time he was basically running a con in different places around the country. He found a “producer” (a young aspiring no name wannabe) and agreed to do a project with him. The producer would put Sly and entourage in a hotel, pay for all expenses and studio time (enter Mr G). At the time, Sly had no hair (wore a wig) no teeth (dentures) and missing nasal passages from snorting various things for so long.
In the studio, he would start one of his oldies, and could manage about 15-20 seconds of music before he was distracted and on to something else. He didn’t get even a smidge of new music done. The last straw for Mr G was when he caught Sly and several others free basing in the tiny restroom. He nudged them all towards the door, and locked them out. They were done.
When they left the hotel rooms they had done massive damage. We heard about the next “producer” they were working with in Fla. and later another one maybe in Kansas?
I am amazed in this lawsuit that there was any product done that would earn any money to argue over. Perhaps they took over his catalogue and did a re-issue.
There was a “duets” album that came out with a lot of guest stars (some of whom are now deceased) a few years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-op_9uvotoRY8VgOP20R9ENeoavcarml
I’m Back! Family & Friends
by Sly Stone - Topic•
14 videos
Dance To The Music (feat. Ray Manzarek)
Everyday People (feat. Ann Wilson)
Family Affair
Stand!
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (feat. Johnny Winter)
[I Want To Take You] Higher (feat. Jeff Beck)
Hot Fun In The Summertime (feat. Bootsy Collins)
Dance To The Music (Extended Mix)
Plain Jane
His Eye Is On The Sparrow
Get Away
Dance To The Music (Club Mix)
Family Affair (Dubstep Mix)
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Electro Club Mix)
In that clip Cassius Clay is spouting black separatist crap that Martin Luther King denounced. MLK said they (groups like the Nation of Islam) were every bit as wrong as the KKK.
And Clay’s parents did not support his beliefs.
Not every black citizen was on board with the rhetoric that CC was shouting but today more are. And it is because the Nation of Islam was mainstreamed in society (the MMM march in DC was CELEBRATED by the media in the 1990s with little direct challenge to the hate speech and antisemitism from Louis Farakhan and others at that event). Hippity Hoppers and athletes regularly name-check the NOI for street cred. Prisons are used as recruiting centers for black muslims.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nbKIngibEI
Mike Douglas Show w/Richard Pryor & Sly Stone 11/27/74 (Pryor on drums)
I think that’s a typo and should be Richard Pryor on drugs
"The Washington Post's Allison Stewart was also unfavourable towards the release, stating that "Stone seems more like a visitor to these tracks, like somebody assembled them and he showed up sometimes. He sounds tired."[6]
Everyone wonders what would’ve happened if Jimi Hendrix hadn’t died in 1970. He may have died of drugs (or complications) by 1980 (as several of his peers did) or he may have wandered off in the margins as Sly Stone, Roky Erickson, and Brian Wilson did.
There are those willing to help Sly make a comeback if only he was willing to help himself.
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