Editorial: The influence of Brian Wilson, Sly Stone and … St. Charles?
Though their music was similar only in being groundbreaking, Wilson and Stone's lives followed similar, tragic narrative arcs. Both reached artistic peaks achieved by few others in pop music over periods of just a few years. Both were masters of the recording studio at a time when most artists left that part of their work to producers and focused on live performance. And both suffered from the ravages of drug abuse and mental illness for much of the remainder of their lives, making their many fans mourn for what more they could have offered.
But what they created in their primes served as inspiration for legions of artists to come.
Prince, Public Enemy and OutKast counted Sly Stone as a major influence. Wilson's lush, deceptively sophisticated harmonies and instrumentation were foundational for too many orchestral pop artists to count, and thanks to his epic rivalry with the Beatles in the mid-'60s, they pushed each other to greater heights. The Beatles' 'Rubber Soul' stirred Wilson to create his masterpiece, the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds,' which then inspired the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.'
Speaking of 'Rubber Soul,' Wilson told the Tribune a little over a decade ago, 'I was so blown away by that damn album that I went and wrote ('God Only Knows.') Paul McCartney subsequently called Wilson's work of genius possibly the greatest song ever written.
Wilson set out to top the Fab Four yet again with what would have been 'Smile,' but threw in the towel on that legendary 'lost album' amid intra-band acrimony and debilitating mental health issues.
Stone and Wilson both were children of California, but we choose to remember the brief but fascinating role of west suburban St. Charles in Wilson's life. Having remarried and feeling revived, Wilson moved to the suburb in the late 1990s to live near producer Joe Thomas, who worked on Wilson's 1998 comeback album, 'Imagination.' Wilson, an iconic Southern Californian, didn't learn to love Midwestern winters and in a few years' time moved back to where he once belonged.
But we like to think our slightly less glamorous region played a significant role in Wilson's latter-years career resurgence that followed from what we'll call 'the St. Charles years,' topped by his 2004 celebrated re-creation with a stellar band of his vision for 'Smile.'
God only knows what we'd do without the immense musical legacies Wilson and Stone left us this week.
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USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Fans, brands, players and parties: Here's what you missed at WNBA All-Star in Indy
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New York Post
12 hours ago
- New York Post
Art advisor to the stars Barbara Guggenheim slept with clients, once ripped off Sylvester Stallone: Lawsuit
A high-powered art advisor who worked with Tom Cruise and Sylvester Stallone is an unethical, abusive liar who slept with clients and dealers, got kickbacks and urged her former partner to whore herself out to close deals, according to a bombshell lawsuit. Barbara Guggenheim, 78, who is not believed to be related to the famed museum family, once urged her young employee Abigail Asher — who later became her partner — to 'wear leather and be provocative' and 'that she should never go to a client's home unless she was prepared to sleep with him,' Asher alleged. Asher, 61, was 'exploited, controlled and threatened by' Guggenheim for nearly 40 years before the two agreed to split in 2023 — only to have Guggenheim spy on her and falsely accuse her of stealing more than $20 million from their company, Asher alleged in court papers first reported by ArtNews. Advertisement 3 Barbara Guggenheim and Abigail Asher worked together from 1987 until 2024, when Guggenheim sued Asher in Manhattan. This week, Asher filed her own explosive claims against Guggenheim. Patrick McMullan via Getty Images 'It should go without saying that art advisors with fiduciary duties to their clients should not become sexually involved with other art dealers or experts who are on the opposite side of deals they are orchestrating for clients,' Asher said in the lawsuit. 'But Guggenheim violated this rule — a lot.' Advertisement Whenever Asher, who began working for Guggenheim in 1987, spoke up about Guggenheim's behavior the older woman allegedly 'threatened to destroy Asher with her 'secret weapon'' — her then-husband, powerhouse Hollywood attorney Bert Fields, who repped Cruise, Michael Jackson, George Lucas and the Beatles. In 1995 the two agreed to evenly share the company's profits and expenses but Asher said she was generating far more than Guggenheim, including nearly $20 million in deals during their last decade together. She also claimed Guggenheim charged their company, West Village-based Guggenheim Asher Associates, for outrageous expenses, such as $3,000 in dance lesssons; an $8,000 spa trip in California; a $12,500 African safari; $36,000 for Fields' 2022 funeral; $48,000 for a party at the Wolfgang Puck-owned Spago in Beverly Hills; and more than $400,000 for car services. 3 A lawyer for Guggenheim called her former business partner's allegations 'libelous nonsense.' Getty Images for Barneys New Yor Advertisement Guggenheim was also known to send erratic and 'incomprehensible' emails, an example of 'a serious mental decline, which further damaged relationships,' Asher claimed. In 2023, the two restructured their company, and instead of equally splitting revenue and costs, each worked for their own earnings — a change that sent Guggenheim's finances 'into freefall,' Asher claimed in her lawsuit. It's not the first time someone accused Guggenheim of wrongdoing. In 1989, Stallone sued her in Los Angeles for fraud, claiming he shelled out $1.7 million for the painting, 'Pieta,' by Adolphe William Bouguereau, and owned by Guggenheim's pal, Stuart Pivar, who'd been unable to sell it. 3 Sylvester Stallone sued Guggenheim in 1989, accusing her of fraud. Getty Images for Netflix Advertisement Guggenheim was sleeping with Pivar at the time, Asher alleged. The piece had numerous 'slashes' in it and wasn't worth what he paid, Stallone claimed. The case was later settled. Guggenheim filed her own lawsuit against Asher in August 2024, accusing her of misappropriating more than $20 million from their business and secretly starting her own competing company. Guggenheim's August 2024 lawsuit against Asher 'is a transparent act of retaliation by a disgruntled former partner,' said Luke Nikas, an attorney representing Asher who said Guggenheim refused to 'retract her false accusations [or] acknowledge her wrongdoing.' Guggenheim's attorney, William Charron, ripped Asher's allegations as 'libelous nonsense.' 'Ms. Asher rolls out a litany of supposedly horrible acts by Ms. Guggenheim. So why did Ms. Asher keep working with her for nearly 40 years?' the lawyer said. 'Asher was stunned to see the extent of Guggenheim's misconduct,' Nikas told The Post, noting she was unaware of most of it until she prepared her lawsuit. Asher is seeking unspecified damages, while Guggenheim is seeking more than $20 million in damages.
Indianapolis Star
17 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
All-Star Bounce swarms downtown Indy with 2,500 kids ahead of 2025 WNBA All-Star Game
Thousands of kids donned red WNBA All-Star T-shirts and grabbed free orange and white Wilson basketballs outside American Legion Mall, ready for the All-Star Bounce. The July 19 event, a half-mile dribble to the finish line at Monument Circle, sent waves of young athletes through downtown Indianapolis, cheered on by parents, volunteers, and a squad of Indianapolis Colts cheerleaders. Twelve-year-old Jillian Hawley led the pack, sprinting to the finish line well ahead of the crowd. 'It made sense I came in first,' she said, referencing the weekend dedicated to women's sports. 'And I play basketball.' Younger sister, Pippa Hawley, 10, was also dribbling her way through the course. The two were already buzzing about their next stop: the WNBA Live fan event at the Indiana Convention Center, where hands-on games, giveaways, and surprise appearances from players awaited the pair. For Addi Hanshew, 11, the Bounce was a moment to level up. 'My mom gets to take videos of me doing good, to see what I can work on,' she said. Her mom, Kara Jennett, was quick to praise her drive: 'She pushed herself all the way through.' Corey Wilson, senior vice president of community engagement for Pacers Sports & Entertainment, said he enjoys seeing events take place out in the Indianapolis community. 'It's good to be able to do events beyond what's happening at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and allow the youth in our community to enjoy the game of basketball for WNBA All-Star weekend," Wilson said. Families funneled into Monument Circle, where the All-Star energy continued. A live DJ spun music, kids raced to shoot baskets at pop-up hoops, and others cooled off with handheld fans and water breaks. Ella Miller, 13, gasped when she saw an unexpected surprise at the city's center. 'That's Paige! That's Paige!' she and her family shouted, pointing toward Paige Bueckers, the Dallas Wings point guard and All-Star player, as she walked into the InterContinental Hotel. Ella and her sister, Kylie, 10, were both wearing Bueckers shirts. The two had been in the right place at the right time when they stumbled upon the basketball player walking into the hotel lobby. 'I've been watching her since third grade,' Ella said, nearly in tears. 'I'm so proud of Paige.' More than just a fan, Ella once did an entire school project on Bueckers. 'She's literally my favorite person, not even just as a player,' she said. Ella plays point guard on her basketball team and proudly calls herself an 'OG fan' of Bueckers. 'Ella introduced me to Paige,' Kylie said. 'I play soccer, but I'm so happy,' she said about the energy around women's sports right now. As she was walking back to her car, Jaimie Kennedy, 39, reflected on her morning as an All-Star Bounce volunteer. 'I really enjoy giving back,' she said. 'I love seeing those little kids' faces and asking if they had fun. When their faces lit up, it made my day.' She said it's pure joy. Kennedy's kids, now 18 and 20, grew up playing sports, and she's a fan herself. For her, Indy was the perfect place to be this weekend.
