In response to
Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill documentary

November 30, 2022

"I heard he pushed her down the stairs while drunk." 

In response to Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill, Rosace Publications denounces the unsubstantiated claim by Russ Giguere that David Bearden pushed Judee Sill down a flight of stairs. With no eyewitness to the event, such a claim rests on dubious hearsay and unfairly pins Bearden as a catalyst for Sill's demise. 

On June 3, 1977 (case number: SB117694), Sill filed and won a lawsuit against the Del Mar Motel for unsafe conditions that caused the fall. David's brother, James Bearden, drove 60 miles to bring his stereo to the Santa Barbara County Courthouse so Sill could play her music for the judge. James recalls Sill's romantic girlfriend accompanying her at the time, and she fell because it had just rained and the porch was wet.

Bearden himself refuted Russ's story in his lifetime. In the notes to 2005's Judee Sill - Dreams Come True, Bearden claimed that Russ Giguere never forgave him for sleeping with his lady Caroline. 

David Bearden's surviving family and friends are disappointed in the film's one-note portrayal of their relationship. They feel the film focuses solely on the misgivings of former colleagues and fails to convey the scope of Sill and Bearden's professional involvement. 

Bearden, a published poet, was a principal contributor to Sill's second album, Heart Food, which was dedicated to him with love. He penned "When the Bridegroom Comes," contributed lyrics to various other songs, and performed harmonica and slide guitar on the LP. Bearden also toured with Sill in the UK at the Albert Hall and many venues where "he was wildly cheered," noted Sill in their joint diary. (Bearden, D. O. (2018b). The Mental Traveler: Poems of David Omer Bearden (1st ed.). Rosace Publications.) 

While Sill's and Bearden's relationship was admittedly volatile, excluding a proper introduction about David and the creative value he contributed is disserving to both Bearden and Sill. The film's failure to present a rounded telling of these events (Pat Blessing was a close friend of Bearden's until he died in 2008—why was she not asked in the documentary?) undermines its credibility. It slanders the reputation of the deceased, who sadly cannot speak back.