Stoney and Meatloaf (1971)

October 1977 saw the release of one of the biggest rock albums of all time, Meat Loaf "Bat out of Hell" featuring Songs by Jim Steinman, produced by Todd Rundgren on Epic/Cleveland International Records. So many of us know those hits, "You Took the Words Right out of my Mouth (Hot Summer Night)", "Two out of Three Ain't Bad", "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" and of course "Bat out of Hell", and the album has sold in excess of 45 million copies worldwide, but before that Meat recorded another album...

You may or may not be aware of this but it was called "Stoney and Meatloaf" featuring an actress/singer named Stoney (Shaun Murphy) and (of course) Meat Loaf (only his name is spelled Meatloaf on the front cover. His name is supposed to be spelled "Meat Loaf" with a space between and two capitol letters.) Motown Records had signed them both to record an album on Rare Earth Records, which Wikipedia says "was a subsidiary focusing on rock music by white artists."

There were two singles, including "What you see is what you get" and "It takes all kinds of people". "What you see is what you get" actually reached Number 36 on the Best Selling Soul Singles Chart and 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 (thanks Wikipedia again), and Meat and Stoney toured in support of the album with Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers opening for acts like Richie Havens, the Who, the Stooges, Bob Seger, Alice Cooper and Rare Earth (thanks Wiki again!)

Everything was looking great, but then something happened when Stoney and Meat recorded a new song called "Who is the Leader of the People?" which was then released by Edwin Starr (he recorded the hit "War" in 1970). It was the same version they'd recorded, except with the vocals taken off (but the background vocals left in) and replaced with Edwin's lead. Meat ended up leaving the label and Stoney after recording another single with Motown became a member of the Bob Seger Band. Meat went to New York to audition for Joseph Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival, where he met composer Jim Steinman... and the rest is history.

After discovering this album existed, around the year 1999 or 2000, I started reading an excellent website that had been set up by a guy named David Shadbolt, which talked all about the project, and from there I started to go in search of the album. It had never been released on CD, only a couple of the songs on Motown compilations, but second hand copies of the albums were still out there.

I say "albums" because after "Bat out of Hell", Motown reissued the album, but called it "Meatloaf featuring Stoney and Meatloaf", putting the emphasis on Meat Loaf, and including unreleased tracks with an emphasis again on Meat's vocals. "Who is the Leader of the People?" was included too, but with lines missing (compare it to Edwin's and you'll hear this) probably because Stoney's lead vocals had been muted. There were also two versions of this reissue, an American release with a plate of meatloaf on the front cover which skips the two singles, and a European one which resembles the original and both of the singles have been put back. Both of these reissues were also released on tape, while the original album only exists as an LP (so far as I'm aware anyway.)

Eventually, with a little help from my friend Adam, I was able to hear all three versions, and what I heard was something that was completely different to any other album of Meat Loaf's I'd ever heard. I was probably biased since I was such a big fan of his music, but I loved it from first listen. This review here is more or less going to be positive because of that, well at least the original version which would be the one Meat wants you to hear.

Songs from the original:

"(I'd love to be) As heavy as Jesus"---History has it that when Meat Loaf auditioned this song to Jim Steinman for his musical "More Than You Deserve", Jim replied: "You're as heavy as two Jesuses". You can't help but get that story stuck in your head as you listen to this, but it was so cool to hear the actual song (Side note: I'm not actually sure which song Meat auditioned, because I've also heard that he sang "You gotta give your heart to Jesus" from the musical "Rainbow".)

"She Waits by the Window"---I had always loved this one from the American reissue, which was the first version I heard, and it hasn't been changed from the original. I just really love this song. It's haunting and it pulls you in.

"It Takes all Kinds of People"---missing from the American reissue, but put back for the European, you can totally see why this was a single, in the same way you can see Meat's "Special Girl" as a single. I like it.

"Game of Love"---the songwriter credit here says "Eki Renrut" which is Ike Turner backward. This is sung solely by Stoney. Yeah, I like this too.

"Kiss me Again"---a nice pleasant little duet between Stoney and Meat.

"What you see is what you get"---this is the big single, and I really like it. Meat does a cool version on his 1996 live album "Live Around the World" (which is essential listening for fans!)

"Sunshine (Where's Heaven)"---the song that always stays with me the most from this album. Oh, it absolutely kills me, musically and lyrically. I've listened to it many times.

"Jimmy Bell"---another solo song, this time for Meat, which is even longer on the reissue (longer instrumental break). I prefer the reissue version, because the music just keeps going.

"Lady be Mine"---another nice duet in the vein of "Kiss me Again". These songs are pretty interchangeable for me.

"Jessica White"---that hook gets stuck in your head, "Jessica White/Won't you stay with me a while?" I like it.

Reissue songs:

"Stone Heart"---Meat is singing solo on an unearthed song called "Stone Heart", I've always liked this.

"Who is the Leader of the People?"---even though it's missing those lines, GOSH I LOVE THIS!!!! This is such a rocking song!!!

"Everything under the Sun"---sung just by Meat Loaf again, this is the one out of all the songs to make the least impact on me, but it's pleasant enough. If there had been another Stoney & Meatloaf album, I wouldn't have cut this.

So there you have it, and if you're curious about this album---either as a Meat Loaf fan or "Bat out of Hell" listener---check it out and see what you make of it. I only wish it was more easily accessible, that is if you're not shopping on the internet, and like I said it's never been released on CD to this day.

Well, actually it has, as a small release from a label called Big Pink Music, which happened sometime in 2017. If you can get a copy of that, let me know, because I haven't heard it yet.