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LA Jury Awards $5 Million to Funk Legend Sly Stone

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In this Feb. 8, 2006 file photo, Sly Stone from the group Sly and the Family Stone performs at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. A Los Angeles jury has awarded $5 million to funk legend Stone in a breach-of-contract suit against his business partners. Jurors on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, found that Stone's ex-manager Gerald Goldstein, attorney Glenn Stone and the company Even Street Productions owed him royalties. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

In this Feb. 8, 2006 file photo, Sly Stone from the group Sly and the Family Stone performs at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. A Los Angeles jury has awarded $5 million to funk legend Stone in a breach-of-contract suit against his business partners. Jurors on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, found that Stone’s ex-manager Gerald Goldstein, attorney Glenn Stone and the company Even Street Productions owed him royalties. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Funk legend Sly Stone was awarded $5 million on Tuesday in a breach-of-contract suit that claimed his business partners and his own company cheated him out of royalties.

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury ruled for the 71-year-old performer in his action against his ex-manager Gerald Goldstein, attorney Glenn Stone and Even St. Productions Ltd.

“It’s a good day for Sly, it’s a good day for entertainers in general,” said one of his attorneys, Nicholas Hornberger. “This was an important verdict for people that are artists, entertainers, music composers, etc.”

Stone, whose real name is Sylvester Stewart, led the group Sly and the Family Stone to a string of hits in the 1960s and early ’70s including “Everyday People,” ”Dance To The Music” and “Family Affair.” But heavy drug use began to take a toll.

His lawyers say Stone’s career was long eclipsed and he was destitute when Goldstein and Glenn Stone convinced him to become an employee of and co-owner of Even St. Productions with them in 1989.

Stone assigned royalty rights to the company and was supposed to receive some of the money it collected for him but Goldstein and Glenn Stone arranged to get it through shady accounting, Hornberger argued.

“They met him, they signed him up…but what they really wanted was his royalties,” Hornberger said.

Gregory Bodell, the attorney for Goldstein and Glenn Stone, said the performer approached his clients to revitalize his career and promised to make comeback records that he never recorded.

His clients weren’t seeking the performer’s royalties because he didn’t have any, in part because he owed millions to the Internal Revenue Service, Bodell said.

Sly Stone testified that he had not received any royalty payments between 1989 and 2000.

But Bodell said his clients helped to pay off the IRS, renegotiated royalty issues with record companies and over 20 years obtained millions of dollars in royalties for the performer — perhaps as much as $9 million.

Jurors assessed $2.5 million in damages against Even St. Productions, $2.45 million against Goldstein and $50,000 against Glenn Stone.

Bodell said the award will be challenged.

Even St. Productions filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2013. A message left for a lawyer representing the company was not immediately returned.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

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Love Life Organization Shows Love

As part of Love Life Week, the Love Life Foundation was honored to produce the 1974-75 World Champion Golden State Warrior Day. It’s a shame that our first Bay Area World Championship team’s unique accolades had been lost in the pre social media era and the cultural revolution of the 1970s.

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Members of the 1975 NBA championship team, Charles Dudley (left) and Clifford Ray (right) embrace Love Life Foundation leader Donald Lacy for his antiviolence mission. Courtesy photo.
Members of the 1975 NBA championship team, Charles Dudley (left) and Clifford Ray (right) embrace Love Life Foundation leader Donald Lacy for his antiviolence mission. Courtesy photo.

City of Oakland Celebrates 1975 NBA World Championship Team 

By Donald Lacy

Special to The Post

 As part of Love Life Week, the Love Life Foundation was honored to produce the 1974-75 World Champion Golden State Warrior Day.

It’s a shame that our first Bay Area World Championship team’s unique accolades had been lost in the pre social media era and the cultural revolution of the 1970s.

The 1975 NBA World Championship team were invited back to the City of Oakland last Friday, to be properly celebrated for their ground-breaking performance in 1975.

The heartwarming ceremony highlighted the recent passing of the legendary coach of that team, Al Attlles, and his former players Clifford Ray and Charles Dudley were on hand to represent the “Cardiac Kids” as they were called back then for their ability to make great comeback victories during their run for the title.

Warriors great Chris Mullin and former spiritual advisor Gary Reeves gave heartfelt testimonies of their experiences under Attles’ leadership and their relationship with the inspiration they received from the NBA 1975 World Champion Golden State Warriors.

The City of Oakland provided proclamations to all parties with speeches made by city leadership including Mayor Sheng Thao and Deputy Mayor Dr. Kimberly Mayfield and activity host Love Life non-profit founder and Executive Director Donald E. Lacy Jr..

There will be a celebration of life event Nov. 9 honoring Attles’ legacy at Alameda College.

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Oakland Post: Week of October 23 – 29, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 23 – 29, 2024

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