Sly Stone’s former manager helped divert and misappropriate tens of millions of dollars owed to the legendary funk artist for more than 20 years, the singer’s attorney told a Los Angeles jury Tuesday
In his opening statement in the trial of Stone’s lawsuit against manager Gerald Goldstein and music attorney Glenn Stone, lawyer Nicholas Hornberger alleged his 71-year-old client — the former frontman for the band Sly and the Family Stone — was betrayed by two men who were supposed to be carefully looking after his interests.
“Mr. Stewart is entitled to these royalties,” Hornberger said, referring to Stone by his given name, Sylvester Stewart. “These people need to be sent packing.”
But attorney Gregory Bodell, on behalf of Goldstein and Glenn Stone, said the singer broke promises to both his clients made under a 1988 agreement to make new records as part of the parties’ joint efforts to revitalize his career.
“This case is not about the royalties,” Bodell said. “It’s about the record deal.”
Also named as co-defendants in the case are several Goldstein-affiliated companies that Hornberger contends the defendant used to assist in the alleged scheme to defraud Stone. They include Even St. Productions Ltd. and Majoken Inc.
According to Hornberger, Goldstein used the allegedly diverted royalties to live a lavish lifestyle and purchase luxurious properties.
But Bodell said the singer owned a half interest in both companies and was paid millions of dollars during his association with Goldstein and Glenn Stone.
Hornberger played for jurors a montage of video clips that featured some of Sly and the Family Stone’s most popular hits, including “Dance To The Music,” “Family Affair,” “Hot Fun in the Summertime” and “Thank You.” One of the clips included Ed Sullivan introducing the band for a rendition of “Everyday People.”
Hornberger told jurors that his client began playing keyboards at age 7 and learned how to perform on guitar and drums by age 11. He formed Sly and the Family Stone in 1966, and the group was successful for a decade before breaking up in the mid-1970s, Hornberger said.
Stone developed a cocaine problem and eventually fell on hard times, during which he lived out of a camper truck with electricity provided by a family in the Crenshaw District, Hornberger said.
‘Stone was virtually penniless,” Hornberger said.
The singer hoped that Goldstein, a longtime figure in the music manager business, would help him make a comeback, but he and Glenn Stone instead worked to advance their own interests and Sly Stone never received the royalties owed him, Hornberger alleged.
Bodell countered that Goldstein and Glenn Stone gave the entertainer numerous chances to give new life to his music career.
“My clients believed in him, they thought he could do it again,” Bodell said.
Stone had huge tax debts, Bodell said. He said his clients hired noted criminal defense attorney Harland Braun to clear up many of Stone’s legal problems, all in the hope the singer would deliver on his commitment to make more records.
“My clients took a big chance,” Bodell said.
But Stone never fulfilled his promises, he said. The attorney also told jurors that a witness hired on behalf of the plaintiff as a financial expert estimated that Stone is owed about $400,000 in royalties, not the millions of dollars alleged by Hornberger.
Goldstein is himself a former musician who co-wrote The Angels’ “My Boyfriend’s Back” and was a producer and songwriter for the group War.
— City News Service