Billy Stewart
is an artist I've admired for many years, who seems to have been overlooked
in the main, (apart from the a couple of records he is probably best known for "Sitting In The Park" and "I Do Love You") died on this day in 1970 aged only 32.
He had another hit with his superb version of the George Gershwin's
standard "Summertime" from Porgy & Bess. If you've never had the pleasure of hearing
it, be prepared to be blown away by his rendition which turns it completely on
it's head with his unique vocal style of word-doubling and scat which he attributed to his love of calypso music.
William Larry Stewart II was born in Washington D.C. on 24 March 1937
and, tragically, is another artist taken from us far too early, being
killed in a car crash in 1970 aged only 32. Stewart was driving the car,
with three band members as passengers, to a gig in South Carolina when
it left the road on a bridge and plunged into the river killing all four
passengers on 17 Jan 1970. Family member Sarah Stewart sued the Ford
Motor company claiming that the vehicle had a mechanical failure
but lost in the first instance but appealed and won an out of court
settlement several years later, alleged to be $500k.
Although still young, he'd already been recording for almost fourteen
years, releasing his first single in Apr 1956 aged 19. He had been
singing with his four brothers prior to that from the age of 12 as the
Stewart Gospel Singers and The 4 Stewart Brothers (not be confused with
The Stewart Four
who Sly Stewart (Stone) was a member of) who had their own radio show on
WUST in Washington D.C.
He crossed over into secular music performing occasionally with The
Rainbows who's members included Don Covay. Bo Diddley is credited with
discovering Stewart and invited him to become his pianist/keyboardist
which led to his first single on Chess ("Billy's Blues Pt.1 & Pt.2)
in 1956, the label Diddley was signed to.
Stewart was friendly with a young Marvin Gaye who also filled in for The
Rainbows when other members weren't able to perform. When the Rainbows
disbanded in 1957, two of the members (James Nolan and Chester Simmons)
joined Gaye in The Marquees in 1957. The Marquees were introduced to Bo
Diddley and his manager Phil Landwehr who then became their manager and they
recorded two songs for Okeh backed by Bo Diddley's band ("Wyatt Earp"
and "Hey Little School Girl") and also backed Billy Stewart on his single for Okeh ("Billy's
Heartaches" and "Baby, You're My Only Love").
The Marquees, after a lack of success with their early singles, met Harvey Fuqua and formed the New Moonglows which also included Chuck Barksdale of The Dells (who disbanded between 1958-60), but the New Moonglows was short-lived and disbanded in 1960 and Barksdale re-joined the reformed Dells.
Apart from the one single on Okeh, all Stewart's recording where for
Chess. He had eleven R&B charting singles and eight of them crossed
over to the Hot 100. His biggest hits were the aforementioned three
above with "Summertime" reaching #10 Hot 100 / #7 R&B but "Sitting
In The Park" and "I Do Love You" rising slightly higher on the R&B
chart, #4 and #6 respectively. "Sitting In The Park" has been covered
many times since. The first time by the UK's Georgie Fame & The Blue
Flames in 1966 and probably the best know is by GQ in 1980 who also
covered "I Do Love You". The most recent, which is not really a cover
but heavily influenced by it, is from Bill Albright "Sitting By The Phone" released last June.
As you can imagine, trying to find vintage footage for him is not easy
but two videos were found. Also included is a trailer for a 60 minute
documentary "Fat Boy: The Billy Stewart Story" which premiered on PBS WHUT-TV Howard University Television on 24 Oct
2020 and was scheduled for national broadcast in Feb 2021. You can watch
in full by clicking on the link above.
The playlist below features almost all of his singles, barring the pre
1964 ones, in chronological order. Enjoy.
Album Discography
1965 - I Do Love You [Chess #1496] 1496
1966 - Unbelievable [Chess #1499]
1967 - Billy Stewart Teaches Old Standards New Tricks [Chess 1513]
1969 - Cross My Heart [Chess 1540]
(NB this may have been a posthumous release in 1974 but included both
sided of all his last four singles)
Chess released a tribute album in 1979after his death and many other
compilations have been released.
1970 - Remembered [Chess 1547]
Singles Discography
1956-06 - Billy's Blues Pt. 1 / Billy's Blues Pt. 2 [Chess #1625]
1956-08 - Billy's Blues - Part 1 / Billy's Blues - Part 2 [Argo #5256]
1957-11 - Billy's Heartache / Baby, You're My Only Love [OKeh #4-7095]
1962-05 - Reap What You Sow / Fat Boy [Chess #1820]
1962-10 - True Fine Lovin' / Wedding Bells [Chess #1835]
1963-04 - Oh My (What Can The Matter Be) / Scramble [Chess #1852]
1963-08 - Strange Feeling / Sugar And Spice [Chess #1868]
1964-03 - Count Me Out / A Fat Boy Can Cry [Chess #1888]
1964-08 - Tell It Like It Is / My Sweet Senorita [Chess #1905]
1965-02 - I Do Love You / Keep Loving [Chess #1922]
1965-07 - Sitting In The Park / Once Again [Chess #1932]
1965-09 - How Nice It Is / No Girl [Chess #1941]
1965-12 - Mountain Of Love / Because I Love You [Chess #1948]
1966-04 - Love Me / Why Am I Lonely [Chess #1960]
1966-06 - Summertime / To Love To Love [Chess #1966]
1966-09 - Secret Love / Look Back And Smile [Chess #1978]
1967-01 - Every Day I Have The Blues / Ol' Man River [Chess #1991]
1967-08 - Why (Do I Love You So) / Cross My Heart [Chess #2002]
1968-06 - Tell Me The Truth / What Have I Done [Chess #2053]
1969-04 - I'm In Love (Oh Yes I Am) / Crazy 'Bout You Baby [Chess #2063]
1970-01 - By The Time I Get To Phoenix / We'll Always Be Together [Chess
#2080]
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1 comment:
It is always good to make known these great singers who have contributed to Soul music. Unfortunately, here is one of them who died too young, with this inimitable voice. You can listen to everything: it is an essential pillar for your knowledge!!!
Yves
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