MICHAEL STANLEY
''MICHAEL STANLEY''
1972
39:37
1 - Rosewood Bitters/4:39
2 - Denver Rain/2:36
3 - Louisville A.D/3:56
4 - A Friend And Nothing More/4:06
5 - Rock And Roll Man/4:08
6 - Moving Right Along/5:28
7 - Resurrection/4:08
8 - Good Time Charlie/3:06
9 - Song For A Friend Soon Gone/3:58
10 - Subterranean Homesick Blues/Bob Dylan/3:07
Tracks By Stanley, Except 10
Patti Austin /Guest Artist, Vocals (Background)
Terence Boylan /Arranger
Rick Derringer /Guest Artist, Guitar (Steel), Pedal Steel
Carl Hall /Vocals (Background)
Gregg Hammel /Drums
Bob Olson /Organ, Piano
Todd Rundgren /Clavinet, Guest Artist
Michael Stanley /Arranger, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Stephen Swenson /Bass
Bill Szymczyk /Producer
Tasha Thomas /Vocals (Background)
Joe Vitale /Flute, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Joe Walsh /Arranger, Guest Artist, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Electric), Synthesizer, Vocals (Background)
REVIEW
by Bret Adams
It seems like many blue-collar rock & roll heroes of the 1970s and '80s got their start as folkies, and Cleveland legend Michael Stanley is one of them. His self-titled debut album was released in 1972, and it is a wildly mixed bag of introspective, acoustic folk-rock (a la James Taylor and others of that sensitive singer-songwriter ilk) and simple rock & roll. Stanley's potential was obvious, and this fact drew producer and Tumbleweed Records co-founder Bill Szymczyk, Joe Walsh, and other well-known musicians to the project. Stanley, Szymczyk, and Walsh went to Denver, assembled and briefly rehearsed an ad hoc band, and cut Michael Stanley in Los Angeles a week later. "Rosewood Bitters" opens the album, and it's still revered among Stanley fans. This relaxed, easygoing tune is based on acoustic guitar strumming and a sweet, gentle melody. Walsh plays slide guitar and Todd Rundgren adds clavinet. The country-flavored "Louisville A.D." features Rick Derringer on pedal steel guitar. "A Friend and Nothing More" slowly builds tension with slow piano, sparse acoustic guitar, resonant synthesizer, and steady drum parts. "Rock and Roll Man" is a conscious attempt to add a foot-stomper to the album, and Stanley forces his sneering vocals; luckily, Walsh redeems things with a piercing guitar solo. "Moving Right Along" is decent folk-rock enhanced by organ, flute, and guitar solos. A radically altered arrangement of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" closes the album. Stanley would release one more solo album before forming the Michael Stanley Band and becoming a superstar in Ohio, but it all began with the uneven yet promising Michael Stanley.
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.
DoWnLoAd
''MICHAEL STANLEY''
1972
39:37
1 - Rosewood Bitters/4:39
2 - Denver Rain/2:36
3 - Louisville A.D/3:56
4 - A Friend And Nothing More/4:06
5 - Rock And Roll Man/4:08
6 - Moving Right Along/5:28
7 - Resurrection/4:08
8 - Good Time Charlie/3:06
9 - Song For A Friend Soon Gone/3:58
10 - Subterranean Homesick Blues/Bob Dylan/3:07
Tracks By Stanley, Except 10
Patti Austin /Guest Artist, Vocals (Background)
Terence Boylan /Arranger
Rick Derringer /Guest Artist, Guitar (Steel), Pedal Steel
Carl Hall /Vocals (Background)
Gregg Hammel /Drums
Bob Olson /Organ, Piano
Todd Rundgren /Clavinet, Guest Artist
Michael Stanley /Arranger, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Stephen Swenson /Bass
Bill Szymczyk /Producer
Tasha Thomas /Vocals (Background)
Joe Vitale /Flute, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Joe Walsh /Arranger, Guest Artist, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Electric), Synthesizer, Vocals (Background)
REVIEW
by Bret Adams
It seems like many blue-collar rock & roll heroes of the 1970s and '80s got their start as folkies, and Cleveland legend Michael Stanley is one of them. His self-titled debut album was released in 1972, and it is a wildly mixed bag of introspective, acoustic folk-rock (a la James Taylor and others of that sensitive singer-songwriter ilk) and simple rock & roll. Stanley's potential was obvious, and this fact drew producer and Tumbleweed Records co-founder Bill Szymczyk, Joe Walsh, and other well-known musicians to the project. Stanley, Szymczyk, and Walsh went to Denver, assembled and briefly rehearsed an ad hoc band, and cut Michael Stanley in Los Angeles a week later. "Rosewood Bitters" opens the album, and it's still revered among Stanley fans. This relaxed, easygoing tune is based on acoustic guitar strumming and a sweet, gentle melody. Walsh plays slide guitar and Todd Rundgren adds clavinet. The country-flavored "Louisville A.D." features Rick Derringer on pedal steel guitar. "A Friend and Nothing More" slowly builds tension with slow piano, sparse acoustic guitar, resonant synthesizer, and steady drum parts. "Rock and Roll Man" is a conscious attempt to add a foot-stomper to the album, and Stanley forces his sneering vocals; luckily, Walsh redeems things with a piercing guitar solo. "Moving Right Along" is decent folk-rock enhanced by organ, flute, and guitar solos. A radically altered arrangement of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" closes the album. Stanley would release one more solo album before forming the Michael Stanley Band and becoming a superstar in Ohio, but it all began with the uneven yet promising Michael Stanley.
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.
DoWnLoAd
