5378 - IAN LLOYD & STORIES

5378 - IAN LLOYD & STORIES - Traveling Underground (1973)

STORIES
''TRAVELING UNDERGROUND''
1973
41:21

1/Bridges
Ian Lloyd/5:08
2/Soft Rain
Ian Lloyd / Steve Love/4:34
3/Hard When You're So Far Away
Steve Lowe/4:27
4/If It Feels Good (Do It)
John Stevenson/2:48
5/Mammy Blue
Hubert Giraud / Phil Trim/3:41
6/Stories Untold
Ian Lloyd/4:03
7/I Can't Understand It
Steve Love/3:55
8/Earthbound/Freefall
Kenneth Bichel / Ian Lloyd/8:14
9/Traveling Underground
Ian Lloyd/4:31

Kenny Aaronson /Bass, Guest Artist
Kenneth Bichel /ARP Synthesizer, Keyboards, Mellotron, Synthesizer
Michael Brown /Keyboards, Synthesizer
Ian Lloyd /Vocals
Stewe Love /Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Bryan Madey /Drums, Percussion
Larry Wilcox /String Arrangements

REVIEW
by Alex Henderson
With 1973's Traveling Underground, Stories changed its name to Ian Lloyd & Stories and unveiled a new five-man lineup. Lead singer Lloyd (a whiskey-voiced belter comparable to Rod Stewart and Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant), guitarist Steve Love, and drummer Bryan Madey were still on board. But keyboardist/composer Michael Brown (a graduate of Left Banke and Montage) was gone, and the new members were keyboardist Kenneth Bichel and bassist Kenny Aaronson. Traveling Underground proved that there was life after Brown for Stories; this is a generally solid effort, although About Us remains the band's most essential album. Like before, Stories came out with an R&B-minded single that doesn't sound anything like the rest of the album it's on. "Mammy Blue" is as different from the other songs on Traveling Underground as "Brother Louie" is from the rest of About Us. A long way from the R&B leanings of "Mammy Blue," tracks like "Stories Untold," "Hard When You're So Far Away," and "Earth Bound/Freefall" favor the type of baroque art-rock approach that had worked so well on Stories' previous releases. "Brother Louie" and "Mammy Blue" indicated that Stories might have made a great blue-eyed soul band, instead, Traveling Underground is the work of a fine pop-rock/art-rock band that occasionally detoured into blue-eyed soul.

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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5377 - STORIES

5377 - STORIES - Stories About Us (Bonus Track) (1973)

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.
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5376 - STORIES

5376 - STORIES (1972)

STORIES
''STORIES''
1972
35:54

1/Hello People
Erroll Brown / Ian Lloyd/3:54
2/I'm Coming Home
Erroll Brown / Ian Lloyd/2:38
3/Winter Scenes
Erroll Brown / Ian Lloyd/4:18
4/Step Back
Michael Brown / Ian Lloyd/3:20
5/You Told Me
Erroll Brown / Ian Lloyd/3:06
6/Saint James
Ian Lloyd/4:30
7/Kathleen
Erroll Brown / Ian Lloyd/3:14
8/Take Cover
Erroll Brown / Ian Lloyd/3:01
9/Nice to Have You Here
Erroll Brown / Ian Lloyd/3:25
10/High and Low
Erroll Brown / Ian Lloyd/4:28

Michael Brown /Harpsichord, Keyboards, Moog Synthesizer, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer
Peter Buonconsigilio /Violin
Peter Hoffman /Guitar
Ian Lloyd /Vocals
Harry Lookofsky /Violin
Steve Lowe /Bass, Vocal Harmony
Bryan Madey /Drums, Percussion
Larry Wilcox /Arranger, String Arrangements, Strings

REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stories was always an odd creature, bearing echoes of Michael Brown's delicate work with Left Banke, a more mainstream McCartneyesque pop also reminiscent of a sweeter Raspberries and, thanks to Ian Lloyd's light rasp, hints of Rod Stewart. That hoarse soulfulness served Lloyd well on the band's only hit "Brother Louie" -- which appeared on their second album, About Us -- but he was never a true blue-eyed soul vocalist, and not just because Stories didn't often delve into blues-rock: his touch was too light, his voice too high and thin to dig deep into R&B. He was stuck between two sounds, between precious pop and soulful rock, which was completely appropriate for Brown's artful pop writing. Brown's songs for Stories weren't immediate, they were elliptical and gentle, just melodic enough to hint that these tunes are hookier than they are, having just enough structure to suggest big pop arrangements that never quite materialize, at least on their debut Stories. The touchstone for Stories is quite plainly Paul McCartney, as this is music that places the melody at the forefront; it's proudly precious and willfully whimsical, music crying out for listeners with a sweet tooth. Here, Stories make Badfinger seem like muscular macho men, as their hardest-rocking song "Take Cover" -- with its big, cascading chorus, it's a tune that could have slipped onto No Dice -- almost perversely avoids power chords. Then again, "Take Cover," while it does point the way to About Us, is atypical on Stories, as it's built upon Baroque ballads and lovely, lilting midtempo pop, signatures of Michael Brown from the days of Left Banke. While it's interesting to hear Brown navigate the valleys of modern rock production here, Stories could have used more definition in its arrangements, more power in its production, to really grab listeners. As it stands, it's ideal music for cultists: music that requires a bit of work, but not too much, to truly appreciate, and it does pay back the effort it demands.

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