Description
Medieval Death LP and free DVD + Mordicus “Rights ‘n Trials” LP. Official videos, audio, info.
Check the exclusive video showing this LP for sale
Check the exclusive video showing this LP for sale
Stoney and Meatloaf is the little known debut album of singer Meat Loaf, released in 1971, a collaboration with female vocalist Shaun “”Stoney”” Murphy. Meat Loaf and Murphy met while performing with the Detroit cast of Hair.
Proof that pre-Steinman Meat was just as theatrical and pleasantly overblown as post, this minor gem was concocted while Meat and Shaun “Stoney” Murphy were both cast members in musical Hair. Signed to Motown’s short-lived rock subsidiary Rare Earth Records, S&M is very much in line with Motown’s vision, a frothy stew of brass and thunder, full bluesy R&B and sexed-up gospel-rock.
The highlight, in title alone even, is opener (I’d Love to Be) As Heavy As Jesus, which has to be the most Meat Loaf-y phrase of all time.
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In 1971, Meat Loaf was signed to Motown Records’ Rare Earth subsidiary in a vocal duo with a woman named Stoney. Rare Earth released a couple of singles and an album (Stoney and Meatloaf, September 1971, Rare Earth 529), getting some minor chart action out of one of the singles. Six years later, Meat Loaf became a success with Bat out of Hell, and in October 1978, Motown Prodigal subsidiary unearthed six tracks from the Stoney and Meatloaf LP, added three previously unreleased tracks, and released Meatloaf (Featuring Stoney). Meat Loaf distinctive dramatic tenor is identifiable on these hard rock tracks, but the material is in no way comparable to the style he later developed for Bat out of Hell.
Side one
“”Jimmy Bell”” – 5:14 (Public domain)
“”She Waits by the Window”” – 4:07 (Campbell / Monette)
“”It Takes All Kinds of People”” – 2:23 (Jerome / Valvano)
“”Stone Heart”” – 2:57 (Campbell / Monette)
“”Who Is the Leader of the People?”” – 4:15 (Nick Zesses / Dino Fekaris)
Side two
“”What You See Is What You Get”” – 2:15 (Jerome / Valvano)
“”Kiss Me Again”” – 4:14 (Campbell / Monette)
“”Sunshine (Where Heaven?)”” – 3:02 (Terrana / Mike Valvano)
“”Jessica White”” – 2:43 (Campbell / Monette)
“”Lady Be Mine”” – 4:44 (Campbell / Monette)
“”Everything Under the Sun”” – 3:01 (Campbell / Monette)
Lead Vocals: Meat Loaf, Stoney Murphy
Backing Vocals: Mike Campbell, Telma Hopkins, Joyce Vincent
Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers, Scorpion (Bob Babbitt, Mike Campbell, Ray Monette and Andrew Smith) and Ralph Terrana
Singles
“”What You See Is What You Get”” (b/w “”Lady Be Mine””)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjBpi3Cu6V4
“”It Takes All Kinds of People”” (b/w “”The Way You Do the Things You Do””)
The original 1971 issue of the self-titled album Stoney and Meatloaf was released on a label called Rare Earth, a subsidiary of Motown. It mainly consists of blue-eyed soul duets, with hints of gospel (“”(I’d Love To Be) As Heavy As Jesus””) and blues (“”Lady Be Mine””). Many of the songs have a showtunes feel, which is not surprising considering the job which the two singers previously held. The songs were mostly written by Motown employees; strings and horns often figure prominently. Both of the singers have impressive pipes. Murphy voice has a slightly gritty soulfulness. Meat Loaf sounds a bit hammy at times, but not nearly as much as he did on his later, better-known work. The pair had good chemistry; it particularly impressive to hear both of them display their vocal abilities on “”She Waits By The Window”” and “”What You See Is What You Get””. But two of the album high points are the songs that each singer sang without the other. Stoney confidently struts through Ike and Tina Turner “”Game of Love””, and Meat sounds unusually earthy and hard-hitting on his cover of the Cat Iron blues song “”Jimmy Bell””. Stoney and Meatloaf is a professionally entertaining album from two stage-trained entertainers.
Note: The album has never been released on CD, only a few tracks have turned up on Motown various artists collections.
Meat Loaf exploded to superstardom like a Bat Out of Hell with his 1977 solo debut. But the roots of his success could be traced to his short but blazing tenure with Motown. In 1970, the young performer with the big frame and even bigger voice was garnering rave reviews in the Detroit company of Hair alongside Shaun Murphy, a.k.a. Stoney, a powerhouse blues singer who stopped the show nightly with her incendiary rendition of “Easy to Be Hard.” Motown quickly saw the potential of this one-of-a-kind duo and signed them to its rock-oriented Rare Earth imprint. Produced in the Motor City by Ralph and Russ Terrana and Mike Valvano, 1971’s Stoney and Meatloaf boldly fused rock, soul, blues, gospel, funk, and country. But despite Stoney and Meatloaf’s explosive vocals, top-drawer songs and production, and the top 40 R&B success of the single “What You See Is What You Get,” the pair’s time at Motown was short-lived. Stoney and Meatloaf remained Meat Loaf’s only album to never see an official CD release.
Medieval Death LP and free DVD + Mordicus “Rights ‘n Trials” LP. Official videos, audio, info.
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