Archive: Arts & Entertainment

This is the last edition of “former underrated masterpieces.” Hereafter, when I have time, I’m planning to dive into reviews of newer releases, particularly blues releases.  Rock and R&B have gone a tad stale. Most songs sound alike, there is too much glam without substance, and there are too few really new and innovative artists surfacing. Today’s rock, with a few exceptions, seems accentuated, and even defined, by compositions, if you can call them that, which are devoted only to rhythm, many with almost no melody at all. I find it trite and boring. Thus, the blues is where, in my opinion, most truly creative music is being generated these days. …Well, enough pontificating – MSB Stagepass awaits….

The Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame’s location in Cleveland is no accident. So many musicians and bands started or broke out from that gritty Midwestern city that there were few serious challengers for the title. Among the famous artists that came from the Cleveland music scene are Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Bobby Womak, Tracy Chapman, the Busboys, Artful Dodger, Eric Burton, Henry Mancini, Mitch Mitchell, the Pretenders, the Dead Boys, Pere Ubu, Joe Walsh, Devon Allman, Trent Reznor, and Devo. This is only a very partial list and does not include those artists and bands that called Cleveland a second home, ranging from the all-time best live band (the incomparable J. Geils Band) to Todd Rundgren (both with and without Utopia). And, of course, Michael Stanley and Jonah Koslen, the singer-songwriter-guitarists that helped to form the backbone of one of the best live Midwest rock ‘n roll bands in music history also came from this strong music tradition.

Click for albumStagepass, a double-live album recorded over three nights in 1976 at the famous Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, is a taste of what this band could do. It is a must own for anyone who appreciates straight forward “four corners” rock and roll with great keyboards, a hard driving edge, and a tip of the hat to the singer-songwriter tradition. Oddly, despite 8 Billboard top 100 album releases, a battery of songs in the top 100, and the ability to consistently draw crowds of 20,000-75,000 (depending upon the venue), even as a headliner, this band never achieved national fame or recognition. 

Michael Stanley started his career with the band Silk in the late 1960s, and then released two solo albums. The artistry of his compositions attracted producer Bill Szymczyk, producer for the Eagles, Joe Walsh, B.B. King, Derringer, Johnny Winter, Elvin Bishop, the Who, Wishbone Ash, J. Geils Band, Santana, and Dishwalla, among others. It also attracted both live and in-studio frequent musical guest appearances from Joe Walsh, Todd Rundgren, and David Sanborn.  This helped the band achieve a large and loyal following. The Michael Stanley Band, or MSB, was a true regional phenomenon formed when singer-songwriter Michael Stanley hooked up with another singer-songwriter named Jonah Koslen.

Jonah took lead guitar duties, a job for which he was eminently qualified, and with other musicians MSB was thus formed in 1975. MSB was comprised of Stanley and Koslen, but each member of the band was a master musician in his own right. Also in the band were former Glass Harp bassist Daniel Pecchio, former Circus drummer Tommy Dobeck, and Bob Pelander on keyboards. Over time the band ranged in size from five to sever members, also including Gary Markasky (lead guitar 1978–1983), Kevin Raleigh (keys and vocals 1978–1987), Michael Gismondi (bass 1979–1987), Rick Bell (sax 1982–1984), and Danny Powers (lead guitar 1983–1987).

Stagepass was the band’s third release, and, sadly, by 1987, after two independent releases (after ending ties with Epic and Arista) the band broke up.  Towards the end Koslen formed a new band called Breathless that had two national releases, and various projects have followed by various band members, including some semi-reunion bands such as the Ghost Poets. During the late 70s and early 80s MSB set record attendance levels at venues all over Cleveland, which is saying something significant given the weekly national acts that roll through Cleveland. Included were two attendance records at the Coliseum (over 40,000 for a New Year’s weekend gig) and a 4-night stand at the Blossom Music Center boasting attendance over 74,000 in 1982.

Stagepass’ opening song Midwest Midnight starts with great guitar chord riffs feeding into deep bass support, with each thereafter instrument coming in one at a time until Stanley’s sonic venomous vocals start-in and decry the mediocrity of the corporate-conforming-British-invasion-slanted music industry. The second cut is among the most tasty – One Good Reason. It starts with a cool drum line, followed by a pounding bass, then slashing guitars, and winds out for almost 6 minutes in a classic Midwest hard-driving rock style. Cut three is Pecchio’s composition Real Good Time – a bright and melodious, yet oddly dark, ballad that starts with a slow instrumentally-based drive, then winds full out only to finish softly again. Koslen’s pop-rock Nothing’s Gonna Change My Mind follows, followed then by the hard rocking Calcutta Auction, which again emphasizes the grit and sneer of Stanley’s vocals when he leaves his softer folksy vocal side.

The next cut is Moving Right Along which, compositionally speaking, is a masterpiece in change ups and melodic shifts. The performance of this song on Stagepass has, to my mind, never been surpassed (and I have seen this band live over 15 times).  A tip of the hat to Carol King follows with a cover of Will You Love Me Tomorrow, which signals that this live trip through the early years of MSB is shifting into its slower folk/R&B-based roots and influences.  Next up is a cute little ditty called Waste a Little Time on Me, followed by Koslen’s acoustic love song Pierette, leading into Rosewood Bitters, famously the first song on the first side of the first Michael Stanley album.  It’s staccato acoustic sounds and mourning vocals place a Stanley signature on this song, and it will certainly be covered by many other bands as time winds forward (it has already been covered twice that I know of, most famously by Joe Walsh).

From here this live recording steps back into the heavy bass and drum rhythm of the Midwest rock and roll sound with a rendition of Wild Sanctuary performed at a fast, and almost frantic, pace with well timed and traded guitar solos.  MSB’s signature live song Let’s Get the Show on the Road next follows. It starts slow and melodic with subdued vocals, and then, as the band winds up, the guitars start screaming, the vocals achieve their classic Cleveland sneer, and the song reaches a crescendo, only to back off and build the tension for an all out jam by the end.  This song is akin in structure to other anthemal songs like Whipping Post (Allman Brothers), Green Grass & High Tides (the Outlaws), Freebird (Lynyrd Skynyrd), and the less-well-known Black Diamond (the Groundhogs).  Ending the set is the pop-rock sing-along anthem Strike up the Band, an audience favorite as evidenced by the thousands singing along.

What is striking about Stagepass is the remarkable timing of the band – nobody misses a beat and the timing and change ups are spot on and more like visual art for the ears.  The keyboards are among the best you will hear live, and Pelander herein challenges masters like Chuck Leavell and Brian Auger. The dueling guitars, trading rhythms with strong bass and drum lines, leaves one to wonder how in the nine hells this album, let alone this band, could have been overlooked as the signature 70s and 80s Midwest rock band, a title then seemingly captured by Bob Seger and REO Speedwagon.  As so aptly put in Midwest Midnight and Calcutta Auction, the music industry makes strange choices, so the bands that really shined during that era were often missed.

One such band is clearly and unquestionably the Michael Stanley Band (another, by my vote, would be the little-known band Missouri). So, if you enjoy straight-forward rock with a signature Midwest flair, particularly when performed by ridiculously talented musicians, this live album is a must own for any collection.  I hope you like it!

v8i15