STORIES
''STORIES ABOUT US (BONUS TRACK)''
1973
37:11
1/Darling
Ian Lloyd/2:40
2/Don't Ever Let Me Down
Ian Lloyd/2:17
3/Love Is in Motion
Michael Brown / Ian Lloyd/3:17
4/Hey France
Ian Lloyd/2:53
5/Please, Please
Michael Brown / Ian Lloyd/4:57
6/Changes Have Begun
Steve Love/3:30
7/Circles/1:33
8/Believe Me
Ian Lloyd/3:36
9/Words
Ian Lloyd/2:24
10/Top of the City
Ian Lloyd/2:56
11/Down Time Blooze
Keith Harwood / Ian Lloyd / Steve Love / Bryan Madey/1:16
12/What Comes After
Ian Lloyd/1:57
13/Brother Louie
Erroll Brown / Anthony Wilson/3:55
Michael Brown /Harpsichord, Keyboards, Mellotron, Piano, Synthesizer
Peter Buonconsigilio /Violin
Peter Hofmann /Guitar
Ian Lloyd /Vocals
Harry Lookofsky /Violin
Steve Love /Bass, Sitar, Vocals
Bryan Madey /Drums, Percussion
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Compared to the band's intricate, insular debut, About Us is a completely different story altogether. No work is required of the listener on this second album by Stories, as Eddie Kramer's cinematic production gives the band definition and drama, pulling them into the leagues of such power poppers as Badfinger, the Raspberries, and Todd Rundgren. Not that Stories rocked as hard as any of those three -- there's not much kinetic thrust to their rhythms or reckless abandon to their playing, not even on the boogie "Don't Ever Let Me Down" or the jokey blues of "Down Time Blooze" -- but there's muscle and color to their sound on About Us; the songs leap out of the speakers and command attention, unlike the tunes on the debut which whispered and required close listening. Not that Michael Brown has abandoned his long-standing infatuation with delicate melodies, or even his fondness for McCartney-esque whimsy, but when put through the filter of Kramer's production, everything becomes bigger and bolder, to the extent that a jaunty piano instrumental, "Circles," recalls nothing so much as one of Billy Joel's ragtime tunes of the early '70s. Such moves toward the mainstream are undoubtedly why Brown bolted some time during the recording, leaving the band as the sole province of singer Ian Lloyd, but the music left behind is almost all unmistakably Brown's, as its all driven by melody and even occasionally built upon baroque keyboards. The major difference and inarguable improvement is the production, which fleshes out the songs, not only making them easier to appreciate but harder to resist, turning About Us into a minor power pop classic. Of course, the exception to the rule is the album's lone hit, a lush cover of Hot Chocolate's "Brother Louie" which suggested Stories were a blue-eyed soul AM pop band, a suggestion that the rest of the album proved unfounded, but fewer people heard the other 12 songs on this album, not just in 1973, but throughout the years, so About Us turned into a lost pop classic that even pop aficionados had to be persuaded to find. But once they were persuaded, they were often seduced by this sumptuous yet powerful pop album.
BIOGRAPHY
by Jason Ankeny
Though originally helmed by onetime Left Banke mastermind Michael Brown, Stories ironically scored their lone hit, the 1973 chart-topper "Brother Louie," following Brown's exit from the lineup. After leaving Left Banke in 1967, Brown -- the keyboardist who composed the group's classic "Walk Away, Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina" -- cut a 1969 LP with the band Montage which closely recalled the pioneering baroque pop approach of his previous work; he then formed Stories with vocalist Ian Lloyd, guitarist Steve Love, and drummer Bryan Madey. Following the group's self-titled 1972 Kama Sutra label debut, the mercurial Brown abruptly resigned, at which point the remaining Stories recruited bassist Kenny Aaronson and pianist Ken Bichel to record 1973's About Us. "Brother Louie," a tale of interracial romance penned by Hot Chocolate's Errol Brown, hit number one that summer, but Stories never again returned to the Top 40. Brown, meanwhile, resurfaced in 1976, leading the short-lived Beckies before spending the following decades out of the limelight.
DoWnLoAd
''STORIES ABOUT US (BONUS TRACK)''
1973
37:11
1/Darling
Ian Lloyd/2:40
2/Don't Ever Let Me Down
Ian Lloyd/2:17
3/Love Is in Motion
Michael Brown / Ian Lloyd/3:17
4/Hey France
Ian Lloyd/2:53
5/Please, Please
Michael Brown / Ian Lloyd/4:57
6/Changes Have Begun
Steve Love/3:30
7/Circles/1:33
8/Believe Me
Ian Lloyd/3:36
9/Words
Ian Lloyd/2:24
10/Top of the City
Ian Lloyd/2:56
11/Down Time Blooze
Keith Harwood / Ian Lloyd / Steve Love / Bryan Madey/1:16
12/What Comes After
Ian Lloyd/1:57
13/Brother Louie
Erroll Brown / Anthony Wilson/3:55
Michael Brown /Harpsichord, Keyboards, Mellotron, Piano, Synthesizer
Peter Buonconsigilio /Violin
Peter Hofmann /Guitar
Ian Lloyd /Vocals
Harry Lookofsky /Violin
Steve Love /Bass, Sitar, Vocals
Bryan Madey /Drums, Percussion
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Compared to the band's intricate, insular debut, About Us is a completely different story altogether. No work is required of the listener on this second album by Stories, as Eddie Kramer's cinematic production gives the band definition and drama, pulling them into the leagues of such power poppers as Badfinger, the Raspberries, and Todd Rundgren. Not that Stories rocked as hard as any of those three -- there's not much kinetic thrust to their rhythms or reckless abandon to their playing, not even on the boogie "Don't Ever Let Me Down" or the jokey blues of "Down Time Blooze" -- but there's muscle and color to their sound on About Us; the songs leap out of the speakers and command attention, unlike the tunes on the debut which whispered and required close listening. Not that Michael Brown has abandoned his long-standing infatuation with delicate melodies, or even his fondness for McCartney-esque whimsy, but when put through the filter of Kramer's production, everything becomes bigger and bolder, to the extent that a jaunty piano instrumental, "Circles," recalls nothing so much as one of Billy Joel's ragtime tunes of the early '70s. Such moves toward the mainstream are undoubtedly why Brown bolted some time during the recording, leaving the band as the sole province of singer Ian Lloyd, but the music left behind is almost all unmistakably Brown's, as its all driven by melody and even occasionally built upon baroque keyboards. The major difference and inarguable improvement is the production, which fleshes out the songs, not only making them easier to appreciate but harder to resist, turning About Us into a minor power pop classic. Of course, the exception to the rule is the album's lone hit, a lush cover of Hot Chocolate's "Brother Louie" which suggested Stories were a blue-eyed soul AM pop band, a suggestion that the rest of the album proved unfounded, but fewer people heard the other 12 songs on this album, not just in 1973, but throughout the years, so About Us turned into a lost pop classic that even pop aficionados had to be persuaded to find. But once they were persuaded, they were often seduced by this sumptuous yet powerful pop album.
BIOGRAPHY
by Jason Ankeny
Though originally helmed by onetime Left Banke mastermind Michael Brown, Stories ironically scored their lone hit, the 1973 chart-topper "Brother Louie," following Brown's exit from the lineup. After leaving Left Banke in 1967, Brown -- the keyboardist who composed the group's classic "Walk Away, Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina" -- cut a 1969 LP with the band Montage which closely recalled the pioneering baroque pop approach of his previous work; he then formed Stories with vocalist Ian Lloyd, guitarist Steve Love, and drummer Bryan Madey. Following the group's self-titled 1972 Kama Sutra label debut, the mercurial Brown abruptly resigned, at which point the remaining Stories recruited bassist Kenny Aaronson and pianist Ken Bichel to record 1973's About Us. "Brother Louie," a tale of interracial romance penned by Hot Chocolate's Errol Brown, hit number one that summer, but Stories never again returned to the Top 40. Brown, meanwhile, resurfaced in 1976, leading the short-lived Beckies before spending the following decades out of the limelight.
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