Rob Stoner | |
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Birth name | Robert David Rothstein |
Born | Manhattan, New York, United States | April 20, 1948
Occupation(s) | Multi-instrumentalist |
Instrument(s) | Guitar, bass guitar, piano, vocals |
Rob Stoner is a singer and multi-instrumentalist best known for his role as the musical director for three Bob Dylan tours and his contributions to many hit albums, including Bob Dylan's Desire and Don McLean's American Pie. He has worked with a wide array of prominent artists across various genres and continues to perform as a solo act. He works as an online guitar instructor.
Rob Stoner grew up in Manhattan and New Rochelle, NY. He joined the musicians union at age 15, working as a wedding singer-guitarist performing standards from the Great American Songbook. His parents were professional photographers. His father, Arthur Rothstein, is one of the premier photojournalists of the 20th century. Before graduating from NYC's Columbia College in 1969, Stoner began working as a session musician for artists like Don McLean, Pete Seeger, Tim Hardin and others, appearing on many albums.
Stoner's original compositions have been recorded by Johnny Winter, Link Wray, Robert Gordon, and others. In 1973, he was signed to CBS Records as a country singer. In 1974, Bob Dylan heard Stoner in an LA club and soon hired him as his bandleader and harmony singer. In 1978, Stoner resumed his solo career, releasing critically acclaimed solo albums.
Stoner has worked with a diverse range of artists, including: Link Wray, Chuck Berry, Ringo Starr, Roy Orbison, the Jordanaires, Levon Helm, Carl Perkins, Mick Ronson, Joni Mitchell, Roger McGuinn, Joan Baez, Danny Gatton, Lynn Anderson, Thommy Price, Doug Sahm, James Maddock, Pete Farndon, Topper Headon, Anton Fig, D.J. Fontana, Howie Wyeth, Ed Sanders, Carlos Santana, Kinky Friedman, Gordon Lightfoot, Rick Danko, Tony Garnier, Larry Campbell, David Mansfield, Scarlet Rivera, Kenny Aaronson, Hank DeVito, Emmylou Harris, John Herald, Johnny Thunders, Robbie Robertson, Jack Elliott, Gary Chester, Hank DeVito, Ken Pine, Don Covay, Jerry Garcia, Michael Brecker, Chris Spedding, Timothy Schmitt, Dan Rothstein, Tommy Allsup, Jerry Foster, Arno Hecht, BJ Thomas, Bobby Chouinard, Allen Ginsberg, Gene Cornish, Robin Williams, Don Imus, the Del-Vikings, Charlie Gracie, Mark Mothersbaugh, Carter Cathcart, and many others. He played piano, guitar, and bass on several albums by Link Wray and Robert Gordon, continuing to work with the latter until 2020.
Rob Stoner is featured in the Bob Dylan Rolling Thunder Revue Netflix film, directed by Martin Scorsese. He also acted in Dylan's indie film "Renaldo and Clara."
In his Rolling Thunder Logbook, playwright Sam Shepard describes Rob as "the brains behind the operation, grafting harmonies onto Dylan like a Siamese twin." Rolling Stone described his "cool vocals" as "high octane punkabilly," and Hi Fi Magazine wrote that "Stoner has a rich, romantic voice, full of rich expression." Rob also acted in Dylan's indie film "Renaldo and Clara."
Rob lives in Nyack, NY. The stage name "Stoner" had no meaning when Rob began using it; the word "stoner" did not come into use until years later. It is an anagram of Rothstein, which means "red stone" in German. Rob is the uncle of actor/director/screenwriter Noah Segan. His solo albums are streaming on smart speakers.
Steven Soles is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and guitarist.
Desire is the seventeenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 5, 1976, through Columbia Records. It is one of Dylan's most collaborative efforts, featuring the same caravan of musicians as the acclaimed Rolling Thunder Revue tours the previous year. Many of the songs also featured backing vocals by Emmylou Harris and Ronee Blakley. Most of the album was co-written by Jacques Levy, and is composed of lengthy story-songs, two of which quickly generated controversy: the 11-minute-long "Joey", which is seen as glorifying the violent gangster "Crazy Joey" Gallo, and "Hurricane", the opening track that tells a passionate account of the murder case against boxer Rubin Carter, who the song asserts was framed. Carter was released in 1985, after a judge overturned his conviction on appeal.
Renaldo and Clara is a 1978 American film directed by Bob Dylan and starring Bob Dylan, Sara Dylan and Joan Baez. Written by Dylan and Sam Shepard, the film incorporates three distinct film genres: concert footage, documentary interviews, and dramatic fictional vignettes reflective of Dylan's song lyrics and life.
Hard Rain is a live album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on September 13, 1976, by Columbia Records. The album was recorded during the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue.
The Rolling Thunder Revue was a 1975–76 concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan with numerous musicians and collaborators. The purpose of the tour was to allow Dylan, who was a major recording artist and concert performer, to play in smaller auditoriums in less populated cities where he could be more intimate with his audiences.
"Hurricane" is a protest song by Bob Dylan co-written with Jacques Levy and released as a single in November 1975. It was also included on Dylan's 1976 album Desire. The song is about the imprisonment of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (1937–2014). It compiles acts of racism and profiling against Carter, which Dylan describes as leading to a false trial and conviction.
"Coyote" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell from her eighth album Hejira (1976). It was released as the album's lead single.
Robert John Neuwirth was an American folk singer, songwriter, record producer, and visual artist. He was noted for being the road manager and associate of Bob Dylan, as well as the co-writer of Janis Joplin's hit song "Mercedes Benz".
Street-Legal is the eighteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on June 15, 1978, by Columbia Records. The album was a departure for Dylan, who assembled a large pop-rock band with female backing vocalists for its recording.
The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue is a live album by Bob Dylan released by Columbia Records in 2002. The third installment in the ongoing Bob Dylan Bootleg Series on Legacy Records, it documents the Rolling Thunder Revue led by Dylan prior to the release of the album Desire. Until the release of this album, the only official live documentation of the Rolling Thunder Revue was Hard Rain, recorded during the less critically well received second leg of the tour.
"Isis" is a ballad written by Bob Dylan in collaboration with Jacques Levy, in July 1975. The song is the second track on Dylan's 1976 album Desire. The song, which features allusions to ancient Egypt, including sharing its title with an Egyptian goddess, has been characterized by Dylan as a song "about marriage".
"People Get Ready" is a 1965 single by The Impressions, and the title track from the People Get Ready album. The single is the group's best-known hit, reaching number three on the Billboard R&B chart and number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The gospel-influenced track was a Curtis Mayfield composition that displayed the growing sense of social and political awareness in his writing.
Arlen Roth is an American guitarist, teacher, and author. From 1982 to 1992, he was a columnist for Guitar Player magazine. Those ten years of columns became a book, Hot Guitar.
Howard Pyle Wyeth, also known as Howie Wyeth, was an American drummer and pianist. Wyeth is remembered for work with the saxophonist James Moody, the rockabilly singer Robert Gordon, the electric guitarist Link Wray, the rhythm and blues singer Don Covay, and the folk singer Christine Lavin. Best known as a drummer for Bob Dylan, he was a member of the Wyeth family of American artists.
Cardiff Rose is a solo studio album by American singer/songwriter and ex-The Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn, released in 1976. The album, produced by Mick Ronson, was recorded on the heels of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue 1975 tour, in which both McGuinn and Ronson had participated. Other key members of the Rolling Thunder Revue were primary contributors: David Mansfield, Rob Stoner, Howie Wyeth, and lyricist Jacques Levy. Levy had previously co-written "Chestnut Mare" with McGuinn, and collaborated with Dylan on the album Desire.
"Thunder on the Mountain" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released in 2006 as the first track on his album Modern Times. Like much of Dylan's 21st century output, he produced the song himself under the pseudonym Jack Frost.
"When I Paint My Masterpiece" is a 1971 song written by Bob Dylan. It was first released by The Band, who recorded the song for their album Cahoots, released on September 15, 1971.
"Rita May" is a song by Bob Dylan, originally recorded during the sessions for the album Desire, but released only as the B-side of a single and on the compilation album, Masterpieces. The song is based on the 1957 rockabilly song "Bertha Lou". Some listeners believe that the lyrics of the song refer to writer Rita Mae Brown, who had complained of the lack of opportunities for casual lesbian sex.
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese is a 2019 American documentary film, composed of both fictional and non-fictional material, covering Bob Dylan's 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue concert tour. Directed by Martin Scorsese, it is the director's second film on Bob Dylan, following 2005's No Direction Home. The bulk of Rolling Thunder Revue is compiled of outtakes from Dylan's 1978 film Renaldo and Clara, which was filmed in conjunction with the tour.
"One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as the fourth track on his seventeenth studio album Desire (1976). The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Don DeVito. The album version of "One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)" was recorded on July 30, 1975, and released on Desire in January 1976. Dylan said the song was influenced by his visit to a Romani celebration at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in France on his 34th birthday.