Stanley Clarke – Rocks, Pebbles and Sand

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Rocks, Pebbles and Sand is a 1980 album by jazz bass guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Stanley Clarke. This was the first recording where Stanley featured his tenor bass.

Reception

AllMusic review by Richard S. Ginell gave the album 3 stars and wrote:”Stanley Clarke, funkmeister and jazz-rock virtuoso, goes headlong into rock and urban contemporary music with a roar and a dual propensity for blazing electric bass slapping and mediocre vocals. Side One of the LP contains the rock, while Side Two concentrates on the funk. Along with Clarke this time is a different band, with Charles Johnson on screaming rock guitar, Steve Bach on keyboards, and Simon Phillips on drums, with assorted eclectic guests like former employer Chick Corea, Louis Johnson (then of the Brothers Johnson), and jazzman Victor Feldman. The strongest music, tellingly, is on the instrumental medley “All Hell Broke Loose/Rocks, Pebbles and Sand” near the beginning, where the band sizzles madly and Clarke’s riffsmithing is at its ingratiating peak. The most perplexing music is on “The Story of a Man and a Woman,” which tries to have it both ways by building an adventurous 11-minute concept piece around the most trite vocals.”

Track listing
All tracks composed by Stanley Clarke, except where indicated.

1. “Danger Street” 4:51
2. “All Hell Broke Loose” 5:03
3. “Rocks, Pebbles and Sand” 4:13
4. “Underestimation” 3:43
5. “You/Me Together” 4:05
6. “We Supply” Clarke, Louis Johnson 4:21
7. “The Story of a Man and a Woman – Part 1: She Thought I Was Stanley Clarke – Part 2: A Fool Again – Part 3: – I Nearly Went Crazy (Until I Realized What Had Occurred)” 11:13

Personnel
Stanley Clarke – bass, tenor bass, piccolo bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion, vocals
Chick Corea – moog synthesizer, electric piano
Steve Bach – keyboards
Greg Phillinganes – keyboards
Charles Johnson – guitar
Louis Johnson – guitar, bass, vocals
Victor Feldman – vibraphone
Simon Phillips – percussion, drums
John Robinson – drums on “We Supply”[4]
Dennis MacKay – percussion
Valerie Johnson – vocals
Josie James – vocals
Marcy Levy – background vocals
George Bohanon – trombone
Lew McCreary – trombone
David Duke – French horn
Vincent DeRosa – French Horn
Bill Reichenbach Jr. – horn
Jerry Hey – horn, trumpet
John Thomas – trumpet

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Released: 1980
Studio: Legend Studios (Lynden, Washington)
Chateau Recorders (North Hollywood, CA)
A&M Studios (Hollywood, CA)
Length: 37:29
Label: Epic
Producer: Stanley Clarke