Kansan best known as Peter Frampton’s bassist comes alive again with an old band
“Ronin” is the Japanese term for a wandering, masterless samurai. Effectively, a hired gun.
For Stanley Sheldon, that’s an occupation he can relate to. The Ottawa native and longtime Lawrence resident gained widespread fame as the bassist for Peter Frampton and a host of other stars during rock’s glory days. But years of drug use, a midlife career change and the march of time took him away from concert halls.
Now, at the age of 69, Sheldon has reunited with his post-Frampton band Ronin. The quartet that features some of the most prominent session players in rock history just returned from a tour of Japan.
“Traditionally the Japanese audiences don’t show a lot of emotion. It’s often just a smattering of applause at the end of each song. But we had them standing up and dancing,” Sheldon says.
Ronin features guitarist/vocalist Waddy Wachtel (of Stevie Nicks fame), drummer Rick Marotta (Steely Dan) and pedal steel player Dan Dugmore (Linda Ronstadt).
“It’s daunting to be in the presence of these guys who have played on thousands of records,” says Sheldon, still fit and handsome.
“We did interviews the first day there, and a lot of people who showed up brought (stacks of) albums a foot high to sign. Compared to the other guys, my stack was only about an inch thick. But a lot of people had ‘Frampton Comes Alive’ or the Lou Gramm record (‘Ready or Not’) — that featured our number one hit ‘Midnight Blue.’”
Aside from the connection to the band’s name, Ronin chose Japan as the setting for its first live appearance in nearly 40 years because of past success there. In 1981, Ronin was the opening act in a legendary package tour called California Live. The group joined headliners Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and J.D. Souther, performing at sold-out stadiums in Japan.
All the acts at the time were handled by uber-manager Peter Asher, who arranged the tour. Wachtel, Dugmore and Marotta had previously backed Ronstadt and/or Taylor, and after adding Sheldon, they spent two years together as Ronin. The Los Angeles-based ensemble released one self-titled album of straightforward guitar rock on Polygram Records before disbanding.
The brief life of Ronin
“It’s too bad we only have a few years remaining because our band sounds so incredible,” Sheldon says. “Imagine Rick Marotta, seasoned drummer from Steely Dan — he and I make a powerful rhythm section. I haven’t played with a drummer with that sense of time in quite a while. I call him ‘Peg’ because when he goes out and does these drum clinics, that’s the song everyone wants him to play.”
Sheldon calls Dugmore “probably the finest pedal steel player on Earth.” He says that combination with Wachtel’s pure, no-frills guitar tone gives the quartet a signature sound.
“Stanley’s bass playing is as solid as a rock,” Wachtel says. “Combine that with his good, high singing voice and sense of humor, and believe me, he is unique.”
The wild-haired veteran guitarist who has served as the right-hand man for Keith Richards, Steve Perry and Stevie Nicks, among others, remembers when Marotta first introduced him to Sheldon.
“Within moments I knew I had not only met a great bass player, but I knew I had a friend for life,” he says.
The members recall how several of them were reading the novel “Shogun” at the time they gathered for a rehearsal. Marotta (who would eventually write the theme song to TV’s “Everybody Loves Raymond”) delved even deeper into samurai culture and suggested the name Ronin.
“I found out on this tour that it has a lot of different meanings,” Sheldon explains. “Ronin not only means a wandering samurai, it also means a failed student.”
To imply the group originally failed might be stretching the truth a bit, yet it didn’t become as successful as the industry expected.
“For me, the memories weren’t so good from the California Live tour,” Sheldon says. “Waddy and Rick were always committed to other projects, and it really left a bad taste in my mouth. I’m the one who broke the band up. I left because I was disillusioned since they would leave and be gone for months, while I had quit my Frampton gig to do Ronin. It was just bad planning on my part.”
Spiraling addiction
He adds, “But we were all drug addicted as well, so that just exacerbated the whole problem. I was probably the worst offender of all. And it really clouded my decision-making. If I had it to do over again, I’m sure it would go a lot smoother.”
Although Sheldon has been clean for more than 30 years, the fallout from his heroin addiction remains with him.
It’s often what he hears when stumbling upon his past hits “Show Me the Way” or “Do You Feel Like We Do” whenever they come on the radio.
“I was so high that night at Winterland (in San Francisco) that I didn’t even know we were making a record,” he says of recording “Frampton Comes Alive,” a 1976 double-live album that sold 17 million units and stayed at the top of the charts for 10 weeks.
“But when I found out it was recorded, I said, ‘Let’s go listen to it.’ And we walked out to the remote truck that Peter hired. We heard the first few bars of ‘Something’s Happening,’ and it jumped out of the speaker. We knew we had something right then and there. Who could know it was going to be that big? But it was staggeringly good. Still is.”
He says what kept his fretless bass playing so on target was the timing of the event.
“Luckily, for me it was the beginning of my addiction. If there’s a good side to addiction, it’s the first blush. That’s when you can still enjoy it. I will not say I’m glad I did it, but I was so relaxed and calm because of the drug, with no distractions. It makes your hands steady — until a few months later when you’re addicted and sick,” he says.
After Frampton, Sheldon joined Warren Zevon’s “Excitable Boy” tour, where he initially collaborated with his future Ronin bandmates. After California Live, he enjoyed other prominent tours, including one alongside Foreigner’s Lou Gramm. (Foreigner will perform at Providence Medical Center Amphitheater on July 24, but due to illness, Gramm will not be on this tour.)
But with Ronin, Sheldon’s drug use started to spiral.
By 1987, he decided to leave L.A. and come back home to live with his parents in Ottawa and get clean.
It worked.
Back in Kansas
Sheldon also earned his undergraduate degree in environmental studies at the University of Kansas. He went on to get his master’s at KU in Latin American studies. Music became more of a hobby for him while he pursued a career in environmental compliance training.
While Sheldon reconnected with Frampton in 2004, and soon joined him on the road for many tours, their relationship eventually grew sour. (Frampton is now coping with a degenerative muscle disease called inclusion body myositis. Last year, he launched what he called his farewell tour and then planned to retire.)
Before Ronin’s Japan tour, Sheldon was performing at clubs with virtuoso Colorado-based guitarist Lucas Parker.
Even though he turns 70 this year, Sheldon remains the youngest member in Ronin.
“That’s my nickname: The Kid,” says Sheldon, who prepped for this opportunity in 2018 by touring with Grand Funk Railroad when their bass player took a leave of absence. (The band, with its original bassist, is scheduled to play Ameristar Casino on June 12.)
But the biggest benefit of this experience may be yet to come. Ronin recorded the first two shows of the Japanese tour. After listening to the tracks, they’re moving forward with releasing a live album.
“We all got very emotional when the tour was over, and I think a lot of it has to do with our age. We know time is running out,” Sheldon says.
“I’ve taken care of myself over the years so that if something came up, I’d be ready. … I realize how fortunate I am at this late date to be able to do this. There’s still an audience out there for us.”
Jon Niccum is a filmmaker, freelance writer and author of “The Worst Gig: From Psycho Fans to Stage Riots, Famous Musicians Tell All.”