Stone Jam is the fifth album by the American

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

band

Slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. It was released in 1980 on

Cotillion Records Cotillion Records was a subsidiary of Atlantic Records (from 1971 part of WEA) and was active from 1968 through 1985. The label was formed as an outlet for soul, R&B, funk, pop, and jazz. Its first single, Otis Clay's version of "She's About ...

and

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Reco ...

d in 1997 on

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

. It was produced by

Jimmy Douglass Jimmy Douglass, also known as "The Senator", is an American recording engineer and record producer. Active since 1970, he has been credited on singles and albums for fellow Virginia-based acts including Missy Elliott and Timbaland. Career In ...

and Steve Washington. The album was listed on the ''Billboard'' 200, ''Billboard's'' 1981 Year-End Chart and was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. It contains the hit singles "Sizzlin' Hot", "Feel My Love", and "Watching You".

Overview

Slave's fifth album, ''Stone Jam'', was their highest charting since their first, ''Slave'', and their second to be certified

, ''Slave'' received the certification in 1977. The band's drummer,

Steve Arrington Steven Ralph Arrington (born March 5, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, drummer, record producer, engineer and minister, who grew up in Dayton, Ohio. Biography Arrington played in various local bands before joining and touring with The M ...

, took on more singing responsibilities than on previous albums and this, combined with the vocals of Starleana Young, contributed to the album's success. The single "Watching You" entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and also joined "Sizzlin' Hot" and "Feel My Love" on the

R&B Singles Chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

Reception and accolades

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second-longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. The newspaper is owned by Alden Global Capital ...

'' deemed the album "musically boring," but conceded that "Sizzlin' Hot" and "Let's Spend Some Time" "may cut it on the dance floor." Alex Henderson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

breaks Slave's brand of funk into two categories; 'hardcore' and 'sophisticated'. He notes that their earlier work falls into the former category but, with the exception of the tracks "Stone Jam" and "Sizzlin' Hot", this album is in the later. He goes on to write that this "sleeker" approach is "every bit as appealing" as their earlier more aggressive work. He describes the tracks "Dreamin'", "Feel My Love" and "Let's Spend Some Time" as "addictive jams" and the album as "consistently melodic".

Jam-Master Jay Jason William Mizell (January 21, 1965 – October 30, 2002), better known by his stage name Jam Master Jay, was an American musician, record producer and DJ. He was the DJ of the influential hip hop group Run-DMC. During the 1980s, Run-DMC becam ...

Run–D.M.C. Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most ...

has named it as one of his favorite albums. The album made the ''Billboard'' 1981 Year-End Pop Chart at number 99 and the Soul Chart at number 7. The song "Watching You" was interpolated twice by rapper

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

, first in the chorus of "

Gin and Juice "Gin and Juice" is a song by American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg. It was released on January 18, 1994 by Death Row, Interscope and Atlantic, as the second single from his debut album, ''Doggystyle'' (1993). The song was produced by Dr. Dre and con ...

" in 1993, then in " Let's Get Blown" in 2004.

Tracks

#"Let's Spend Some Time" (Mark Antone Adams/

/Mark Hicks/Jennifer Ivory/ Curt Jones/Ray Turner/Steve Washington/ Starleana Young) – 4:38 #"Feel My Love" (Adams/

/Hicks/Jones/Turner/Washington/Danny Webster) – 4:31 #"Starting Over" (Adams/Hicks/Jones/Floyd Miller/Turner/Young) – 4:27 #"Sizzlin' Hot" (Adams/Arrington/Miller/Turner/Washington/Webster) – 5:07 #"Watching You" (Adams/Arrington/Turner/Washington/Webster) – 4:41 #"Dreamin'" (Adams/Arrington/Jones/Miller/Turner/Washington) – 4:20 #"Never Get Away" (Adams/Arrington/Hicks/Jones/Turner/Webster) – 5:09 #"Stone Jam" (Adams/Hicks/Jones/Turner/Washington/Webster/Young) – 6:43

Bonus tracks

"Feel My Love" (Disco Mix) – 4:47 #"Sizzlin' Hot" (Single Version) – 4:06 #"Watching You" (Single Version) – 3:28

Personnel

*Mark Antone Adams – assistant producer,

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

*Charles Carter – assistant producer,

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

*Bill-Dog Dooley – assistant engineer *

–

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, mixing, producer, vocals *Bob Heimall –

art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

*Mark Hicks –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

*Bill Inglot – remastering *Jennifer Ivory – assistant executive producer *Curt Jones – guitar, vocals *Tom Lockett – assistant engineer, saxophone, vocals *Randy Mason – assistant engineer *David McLees – reissue producer *Floyd Miller –

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

, percussion,

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

*Ray Turner – keyboards *Rickey Vincent –

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

*Steve Washington – arranger, assistant engineer,

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

, mixing, producer,

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

, vocals *Danny Webster – guitar, vocals *Starleana Young – vocals

Charts and sales certification

Album charts

Single charts

RIAA certification

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1980 albums Slave (band) albums Rhino Entertainment albums Cotillion Records albums