Stoney and Meatloaf

Stoney and Meatloaf's Everything Under the Sun: The Motown Recordings from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music is the ultimate celebration of late rock superstar Meat Loaf's singular collaboration with the extraordinary, Grammy-nominated Shaun Murphy (who went on to sing for more than four decades with Bob Seger and spend 16 years as lead singer of Little Feat).  This 2-CD, 28-track anthology premieres the original 1971 Stoney and Meatloaf album on CD, bolstered by four mono single versions on the first disc including Stoney and Meatloaf's non-LP cover of Motown classic "The Way You Do the Things You Do."

CD 2 opens with Stoney's eight solo recordings for the label, only two of which have ever seen release on a rare 1973 single.  Both sides of the released single were written and produced by the team of Nick Zesses and Dino Fekaris (with Motown mainstay Bea Verdi collaborating on "It's Always Me") while Stoney's six previously unreleased sides - all recorded in Los Angeles following the label's exodus there - include Jerry Fuller's "Touch and Go," Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham's "A Woman Left Lonely," and funky Motown staple "Mo Jo Hannah," all helmed by Joe Porter, and two collaborations with Bob Gaudio: Stoney's original "Stone Liberty," the track of which was then supplied to Diana Ross, and a dramatic solo remake of "Sunshine (Where's Heaven)."  From pop to blues, rock, and soul, these tracks showcase Stoney's tremendous versatility.

The second disc concludes with a clutch of brand-new stereo mixes by acclaimed engineer Kevin Reeves (The Supremes, Cream, John Coltrane) from Stoney and Meatloaf including the stereo premiere of "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and full restorations of the duo's complete vocals to the outtakes which premiered, sans Stoney's leads, on the controversial 1978 reissue Meatloaf Featuring Stoney and Meatloaf.

Everything has been mastered by Kevin Reeves.  The 36-page deluxe booklet designed by John Sellards features previously unreleased photos as well as an essay by TSD's Randy Fairman drawing on fresh interviews with Shaun Murphy and original album producer Ralph Terrana.  Produced by Joe Marchese and Andrew Skurow, Everything Under the Sun: The Motown Recordings proves that rock and roll dreams do, indeed, come through.