MICHAEL STANLEY
''FRIENDS & LEGENDS''
1973
37:23
1/Among My Friends Again/2:40
2/Help/Lennon, McCartney/4:17
3/Yours For A Song/3:29
4/Let's Get The Show On The Road/7:33
5/Just Keep Playing Your Radio/2:41
6/Roll On/3:59
7/Bad Habits/3:40
8/Funky Is The Drummer (Featuring The Paul Harris Explosion)/Paul Harris, Kenny Passarelli, Michael Stanley, Joe Vitale, Joe Walsh/2:56
9/Poet's Day/6:41
Jon Bendis / Guitar Acoustic, Guitar
Dan Fogelberg / Backing Vocals
Richie Furay / Backing Vocals
J. Geils / Producer
Lani Groves / Backing Vocals
Carl Hall / Backing Vocals
Joe Harris / Organ, Piano, Clavinet
Paul Harris / Organ, Piano, Clavinet
Joe Lala / Percussion, Conga, Timbales, Tympani [Timpani]
Kenny Passarelli / Bass
Al Perkins / Guitar, Pedal Steel, Guitar Steel
David Sanborn / Sax (Alto)
Michael Stanley / Guitar, Arranger, Vocals, Guitar 12 String
Bill Szymczyk / Percussion, Producer
Tasha Thomas / Backing Vocals
Joe Vitale / Synthesizer, Flute, Drums, Backing Vocals
Joe Walsh / Synthesizer, Guitar, Guitar Electric, Guitar 12 String
REVIEW
by Bret Adams
The title of Michael Stanley's 1973 album Friends & Legends — his second and final solo effort before starting the Michael Stanley Band — is certainly deserved. The Clevelander's talent must have been immediately evident to big names in the music business, because even Stanley's self-titled debut featured stellar guests. Bill Szymczyk produced Friends & Legends, and he recruited Joe Walsh and his band Barnstorm, Stephen Stills' Manassas, saxophonist David Sanborn, Richie Furay, and Dan Fogelberg to perform on it; J. Geils is also credited for helping Stanley co-produce the saxophone parts. "Among My Friends Again" is pleasant, easygoing folk-rock. An extremely mellow, reflective cover of the Beatles' "Help" is impressive, and Stanley says in the liner notes to the Razor & Tie reissue that a friend played it for John Lennon, who replied that Stanley's version was performed the way he originally conceived the song. The dramatically brooding "Let's Get the Show On the Road" is one of Stanley's best songs and was a concert favorite for many years; Sanborn's rich saxophone work on the track is stellar, and he really stretches out on the funky, Latin-flavored outro jam. "Just Keep Playing Your Radio" is an early example of rock's embrace of reggae. Thanks to Joe Vitale's multi-tracked flute parts and its overall Latin feel, "Roll On" resembles the music of War. "Funky Is the Drummer" is a fun, little throwaway on which Stanley introduces the musicians. The long guitar jam at the end of the otherwise subdued "Poets' Day" concludes Friends & Relatives on a blistering note.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bret Adams
Cleveland native Michael Stanley became a regional phenomenon, but the singer/songwriter/guitarist and his Michael Stanley Band deserved more national success than they achieved. Stanley, whose real name is Michael Stanley Gee, played bass with the folk-rock group Silk in the late '60s. He then went solo and released two solo albums in the early '70s that fit right in with the "singer/songwriter" era. His talent attracted the likes of producer Bill Szymczyk and guest musicians Joe Walsh, Todd Rundgren, and David Sanborn from the beginning. He formed the Michael Stanley Band (aka MSB) in 1975 and pursued a more straightforward rock direction. MSB recorded a string of albums through the late '70s and early '80s that were modest successes nationally but major hits in Ohio. In fact, the Michael Stanley Band was such a sensation at home that it still holds attendance records at major concert venues. 1980's Heartland was easily MSB's best album, and Stanley agrees. It included the hit single "He Can't Love You" (sung by vocalist/keyboardist Kevin Raleigh) and the minor hit "Lover" (sung by Stanley and featuring blistering saxophone by Clarence Clemons). MSB's second and last Top 40 hit was Stanley's anthem "My Town" in 1983. After recording for Epic, Arista, and EMI, MSB independently released two albums on their own before breaking up in 1987.
The Michael Stanley Band was a reliably consistent, meat-and-potatoes enterprise responsible for superb Midwestern rock & roll. Stanley went on to become a popular television and radio personality in Cleveland. He still regularly releases albums — solo and the one-off group project the Ghost Poets — and performs annual summer and New Year's Eve shows along with occasional acoustic dates; these concerts and albums both feature MSB alumni and other Cleveland musicians. Razor & Tie has reissued most of MSB's catalog and two excellent best-of collections on compact disc.
''FRIENDS & LEGENDS''
1973
37:23
1/Among My Friends Again/2:40
2/Help/Lennon, McCartney/4:17
3/Yours For A Song/3:29
4/Let's Get The Show On The Road/7:33
5/Just Keep Playing Your Radio/2:41
6/Roll On/3:59
7/Bad Habits/3:40
8/Funky Is The Drummer (Featuring The Paul Harris Explosion)/Paul Harris, Kenny Passarelli, Michael Stanley, Joe Vitale, Joe Walsh/2:56
9/Poet's Day/6:41
Jon Bendis / Guitar Acoustic, Guitar
Dan Fogelberg / Backing Vocals
Richie Furay / Backing Vocals
J. Geils / Producer
Lani Groves / Backing Vocals
Carl Hall / Backing Vocals
Joe Harris / Organ, Piano, Clavinet
Paul Harris / Organ, Piano, Clavinet
Joe Lala / Percussion, Conga, Timbales, Tympani [Timpani]
Kenny Passarelli / Bass
Al Perkins / Guitar, Pedal Steel, Guitar Steel
David Sanborn / Sax (Alto)
Michael Stanley / Guitar, Arranger, Vocals, Guitar 12 String
Bill Szymczyk / Percussion, Producer
Tasha Thomas / Backing Vocals
Joe Vitale / Synthesizer, Flute, Drums, Backing Vocals
Joe Walsh / Synthesizer, Guitar, Guitar Electric, Guitar 12 String
REVIEW
by Bret Adams
The title of Michael Stanley's 1973 album Friends & Legends — his second and final solo effort before starting the Michael Stanley Band — is certainly deserved. The Clevelander's talent must have been immediately evident to big names in the music business, because even Stanley's self-titled debut featured stellar guests. Bill Szymczyk produced Friends & Legends, and he recruited Joe Walsh and his band Barnstorm, Stephen Stills' Manassas, saxophonist David Sanborn, Richie Furay, and Dan Fogelberg to perform on it; J. Geils is also credited for helping Stanley co-produce the saxophone parts. "Among My Friends Again" is pleasant, easygoing folk-rock. An extremely mellow, reflective cover of the Beatles' "Help" is impressive, and Stanley says in the liner notes to the Razor & Tie reissue that a friend played it for John Lennon, who replied that Stanley's version was performed the way he originally conceived the song. The dramatically brooding "Let's Get the Show On the Road" is one of Stanley's best songs and was a concert favorite for many years; Sanborn's rich saxophone work on the track is stellar, and he really stretches out on the funky, Latin-flavored outro jam. "Just Keep Playing Your Radio" is an early example of rock's embrace of reggae. Thanks to Joe Vitale's multi-tracked flute parts and its overall Latin feel, "Roll On" resembles the music of War. "Funky Is the Drummer" is a fun, little throwaway on which Stanley introduces the musicians. The long guitar jam at the end of the otherwise subdued "Poets' Day" concludes Friends & Relatives on a blistering note.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bret Adams
Cleveland native Michael Stanley became a regional phenomenon, but the singer/songwriter/guitarist and his Michael Stanley Band deserved more national success than they achieved. Stanley, whose real name is Michael Stanley Gee, played bass with the folk-rock group Silk in the late '60s. He then went solo and released two solo albums in the early '70s that fit right in with the "singer/songwriter" era. His talent attracted the likes of producer Bill Szymczyk and guest musicians Joe Walsh, Todd Rundgren, and David Sanborn from the beginning. He formed the Michael Stanley Band (aka MSB) in 1975 and pursued a more straightforward rock direction. MSB recorded a string of albums through the late '70s and early '80s that were modest successes nationally but major hits in Ohio. In fact, the Michael Stanley Band was such a sensation at home that it still holds attendance records at major concert venues. 1980's Heartland was easily MSB's best album, and Stanley agrees. It included the hit single "He Can't Love You" (sung by vocalist/keyboardist Kevin Raleigh) and the minor hit "Lover" (sung by Stanley and featuring blistering saxophone by Clarence Clemons). MSB's second and last Top 40 hit was Stanley's anthem "My Town" in 1983. After recording for Epic, Arista, and EMI, MSB independently released two albums on their own before breaking up in 1987.
The Michael Stanley Band was a reliably consistent, meat-and-potatoes enterprise responsible for superb Midwestern rock & roll. Stanley went on to become a popular television and radio personality in Cleveland. He still regularly releases albums — solo and the one-off group project the Ghost Poets — and performs annual summer and New Year's Eve shows along with occasional acoustic dates; these concerts and albums both feature MSB alumni and other Cleveland musicians. Razor & Tie has reissued most of MSB's catalog and two excellent best-of collections on compact disc.
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