This is another song that I hadn't heard in over half a century before listening to it just now. My reaction was that this is generic mid-1970s funky pop. I managed to listen to most of it but I didn't feel any twinge of nostalgia for the song or for the era it was from.
Stories were from New York City. The two leaders of the group, Ian Lloyd and Michael Brown, were introduced to each other by their fathers, who were both session musicians who played the violin. Brown had already charted twice as the front man of The Left Banke with "Walk Away Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina"; he left Stories after they released their second album and at about the time they released "Brother Louie" (I'm not sure whether he played on it).
"Brother Louie" was originally recorded by the British band Hot Chocolate, who reached #7 on the UK chart with it earlier in 1973. Stories' version of the song (which I like better than the original) made it all the way to #1 both in the United States and Canada and was awarded a gold disc for selling over half a million copies.
Lloyd left the band after the release of their third album; the remaining members of Stories carried on, releasing a cover of "Mammy Blue" that reached #50 on the Hot 100. Their version has roughly the same instrumental sound as "Brother Louie" and I didn't see a need to listen to it. The final version of the band broke up in 1974.
Created September 1, 2026.