James Lee Stanley

by | Jan 4, 2024 | Uncategorized

Anyone familiar with the Old Town folk music scene of the early ‘70s knows the name of James Lee Stanley. “Blending folklore, comedy and stage presence in his songs, he could deliver with his remarkable vocal prowess finely woven tapestries of emotion and experience,” was one description of his persona. You would think with 37 albums and a documentary that has garnered 20 awards that everyone had heard of James Lee Stanley (4/30/46). Not so. So, we’ll tell you the story.

Like many children, Stanley first learned to play ukelele growing up in the Philadelphia area. After a stint in the Air Force from 1969-72 he relocated to the Los Angeles area where he went on to study music at Cal State-Northridge. Upon graduation he began working as a songwriter for legendary producer Bones Howe. He did his first recording session thanks to a friend – Mama Cass. That session led to a recording contract with Wooden Nickel Records.

“The producer told me to write songs, so I did,” recalls Stanley. “They were terrible.” He may have thought so, but the campy folk-flavored tales captured and ability to entertain on stage captured the hearts of the era’s folk music community as reflected by songs such as “I Knead You” www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQmiurM4Zks.

Stanley would sign a ten-record deal with Wooden Nickel. But all did not sit well. After a couple albums, and positive press reviews, Stanley became unhappy with the promotion offered by the label. “Publicity campaign?”, Stanley said. “They made three T-shirts, one for me, one for the president of Wooden Nickel and one for his wife. And there was one group ad with Tower Records L.A. in which my album was included. So far as I know, that was it.”

(Editor’s Note: While Stanley says he did not get much promotional effort from Wooden Nickel, the label did release a promo single of “I Knead You” b/w “Every Minute” from his debut album. A promotional release of “I Knead You” was edited from the album version, eliminating the studio “chatter” that precedes the album track. And for the second album, they issued promotional singles for “This Could Be Goodbye” and “Lydia” along with the singles “Wishing Well” b/w “This Could Be Goodbye” and “Afternoon Rain” b/w “Lydia.” Wooden Nickel even released a commercial single with “Plenty of Reason” b/w “Windmill” for his third album Three’s the Charm. For “Plenty of Reason” they shortened the 4:42 album track to 3:45 with a slightly different stereo mix.)

After three records, he asked the label to release him. Luckily they did without a fight.

After bouncing around on a couple small independent labels, in 1985 he would form his own Beachwood Records label. “I wanted to make a recording of music and comedy and all the labels said: ‘Choose one or the other.’ So I chose to start my own label and do just what I do.” Now, nearly 40 years later, Stanley has amassed a catalog of more than two dozen albums on the label.

Over the years he’s also been involved in a couple “Two Man Band” projects, one with Michael Smith in 2002 and recording a number of albums with Monkee Peter Tork. In 2004 he teamed with guitarist John Batdorf on a Rolling Stones’ tribute All Wood and Stones, and in 2013 a Doors’ tribute All Wood and Doors with Cliff Eberhard. Recently in 2019 he teamed with guitarist Dan Navarro and an acoustic tribute to Led Zeppelin All Wood and Led.

Filmmaker Gary Katz has produced an award-winning film documenting Stanley’s life – The Opening Act: The Extraordinary Journey of James Lee Stanley.