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JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS



Bloodstone

BLOODSTONE



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Bloodstone was a key group in creating the shift from the R & Band soul group concepts of the '50s and '60s to the funk and black rock ideas of the '70s and afterward.

The group began in Kansas City, while the original members were in high school, as an a cappella doo wop group, the Sinceres, around 1962. They evolved with the decade, and by 1968 were ensconced in Las Vegas, playing lounges like many other soul minor leaguers (Sonny Charles & the Checkmates, most notoriously). From there, they went to Los Angeles and did the unexpected: They learned to play instruments and became a band (like the Clash and Steely Dan, they never did settle on a permanent drummer).

In fact, Bloodstone was a very good funk-soul group using the Hendrix-derived licks of Charles Love and Willis Draffen against multiple percussion ideas to underpin a vocal blend that still owed its soul to gospel and doo wop. (If this makes you think of the Isley Brothers of "That Lady," you're on the right track.)

Bloodstone received no record company interest in L.A., however, so at the advice of its manager, the group relocated to London in 1971. There, they teamed up with Mike Vernon, founder of the Blue Horizon label, who'd made his bones producing an album with the great Chicago pianist Otis Spann; white blues acts like Fleetwood Mac and Savoy Brown; and early Euro-rock with Focus. Vernon took Bloodstone into the studio and by early 1973, its debut single, "Natural High," had cracked the R & Band pop Top Ten, becoming the group's defining song.

Vernon produced the first five Bloodstone albums, which garnered seven Top 20 R & Bsingles, almost all of which made the pop Top 40. The group was a big concert draw, and its album sold well, if not spectacularly. Somehow, all of this was parlayed into a 1975 film deal. Train Ride to Hollywood is arguably the funniest picture of the whole '70s blaxploitation film boom, derived in equal parts from the Marx Brothers and such early spoofs as The Palm Beach Story and International House. Somehow, amidst the slapstick and the reefer jokes, Bloodstone wedges in a fairly complete history of black vocal harmony music from the Mills Brothers to the Coasters to their own bad selves. They do it even better on the soundtrack album. (All of the Vernon-produced Bloodstone albums contain versions of '50s and '60s oldies.)

We Go a Long Way Back The group then faded from popular view, despite a brief stint at Motown, until the early '80s, when it hooked up with the Isley Brothers' T-Neck and scored a commercially and artistically successful album, We Go a Long Way Back, produced by the Brothers. The title track returned them to the R & BTop Ten in 1982, but although several other T-Neck singles charted, the group's recording career essentially ended there. Nevertheless, this heartland group had made a significant mark and can lay fair claim to being one of the first to figure out its particular era's future.

-- by Dave Marsh, All Music Guide


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LINKSYEARTITLE
1972Bloodstone
1973Natural High
1974Unreal
1974I Need Time
1975Riddle of the Sphinx
1976Do You Wanna Do a Thing?
1976Lullaby of Broadway
1976Train Ride to Hollywood
1979Don't Stop
1982We Go a Long Way Back
1984Party
1999Go On and Cry
2004Now! ... That's What I'm Talkin' About
2005The Street Preacher
2009Do You Wanna Do a Thing


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1972 Bloodstone

01. Sadie Mae
02. Take These Chains
03. You Don t Mean Nothin
04. Little Green Apples
05. This Thing Is Heavy
06. Friendship
07. Lady of the Night
08. Dumb Dude


1973 Natural High

01. You Know We've Learned
02. Who Has the Last Laugh Now
03. Peter's Jones
04. That's The Way We Make Our Music
05. Damn That Rock'N'Roll: Bo Diddley/Diddley Daddy
06. Natural High
07. I Need Your Love
08. Tell It To My Face
09. Ran It In The Ground
10. Never Let You Go
11. Girl (You Look So Fine)
12. Judy, Judy
13. Sadie Mae
14. Take These Chains
15. You Don't Mean Nothin'
16. Little Green Apples


1974 Unreal

01. Outside Woman
02. What Did You Do To Me? (Part 1)
03. What Did You Do To Me? (Part 2)
04. Unreal
05. Everybody Needs Love
06. Something
07. Keep Our Own Thing Together
08. Let Me Ride
09. The Traffic Cop (Dance)
10. Moulded Oldies: Hound Dog/Searchin'/So Fine
11. This Thing Is Heavy
12. Friendship
13. Lady Of The Night
14. Dumb Dude
15. You Don't Understand


1974 I Need Time

01. Closer Together
02. Funky Park
03. That's Not How It Goes
04. Out of My Life
05. Loving You Is Just a Pastime
06. I Need Time
07. Little Linda
08. I Believe You Now
09. Get Up (Or Get Out)
10. We Did It


1975 Riddle of the Sphinx

01. For The First Time
02. I Just Learned To Walk
03. Sign For Me Dad
04. My Little Lady
05. Something's Missing
06. A Time For Reflection
07. This World Is Funky
08. Young Times Old Times
09. Wasted Time
10. Nobody But You
11. Save Me


1976 Do You Wanna Do a Thing?



1976 Lullaby of Broadway



1976 Train Ride to Hollywood

01. As Time Goes By
02. Yakety Yak
03. Train Ride
04. What Do I Have To Do?
05. Hooray For Romance
06. Rock 'N' Roll Choo Choo
07. Go To Sleep
08. Toot! Toot! Tootsie (Goodbye)
09. I'm In Shape
10. Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream)
11. Money (That's All I Want)


1979 Don't Stop

01. Don't Stop
02. I'm Just Doing My Job
03. Throw a Little Bit of Love My Way
04. It's All Been Said Before
05. She Wants to Hear the Words
06. Just Wanna Get the Feel of It
07. You Bring Out the Best in Me
08. It's Been a Long Time


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1982 We Go a Long Way Back

01. Go On and Cry
02. How Does It Feel
03. We Go a Long Way Back
04. Funkin' Around
05. My Kind of Woman
06. My Love Grows Stronger
07. Nite Time Fun
08. My Love Grows Stronger, Pt. 2
09. We Go a Long Way Back [Extended 12” Version]
10. Go On and Cry


1984 Party

01. Bloodstone's Party
02. Feel That Heat
03. Contagious
04. Men Need Tenderness Too
05. Instant Love
06. It Feels So Good (With You)
07. I Adore You
08. Why Be the First One Home


1999 Go On and Cry

01. Go On And Cry
02. How Does It Feel
03. We Go A Long Way Back
04. My Kind Of Woman
05. Nite Time Fun
06. My Love Grows Stronger
07. Funkin' Around
08. Bloodstone's Party
09. Instant Love
10. It Feels So Good {With You)


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2004 Now! ... That's What I'm Talkin' About

01. Tears in My Eyes
02. Now That's What I'm Talking About
03. I've Never Found a Girl
04. I Feel Good
05. Just for You
06. Good Old Days
07. Just the Thought of You
08. Baby
09. God Knows
10. Big City
11. B With U-2 Nite
12. Come and Get It
13. You're My Baby
14. Bloodstone Party Train


2005 The Street Preacher

01. INTRO
02. STRIKEOUT
03. CONFRONTATION
04. THIS IS ME!
05. NEXT LEVEL FEAT PRINCESS
06. WEST COAST RIDIN FEAT KRISTY WILLIAMS
07. HEATED!
08. FULL MENTAL
09. GET NONE
10. CRIME LAND


2009 Do You Wanna Do a Thing

01. Stand Up, Let's Party
02. If You Wanna Be My Baby
03. Just Like In The Movies
04. Do You Wanna Do A Thing
05. Shake The Building
06. This Is It
07. When We're Doin' It
08. Give Me Your Heart




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