Remembering My Songwriting Hero John Stewart on what would have been his 72nd birthday
Today is the fourth anniversary of the death of John Stewart, the legendary songwriter who inspired me on more levels that I can begin to explain. He left us in 2008 but he’s not gone: his voice, his spirit and his ideas continue. I originally wrote this tribute on what would have been his 72nd birthday; I offer it again today, on his death anniversary, and will keep posting it each year……I’ll never forget this guy, and if even one new person discovers him — well, his music and his vision for America are timeless, and worth sharing. A great singer/songwriter; a great and under-appreciated American; and a good man, gone too soon.
TRIBUTE FOR JOHN STEWART
I’ve had a pretty decent run in my life — had my share of adventures, been some places, seen some things — but in all that time, it may well be that the one person I wanted to actually be was John Stewart — I wanted to be him because I wanted to have his gift for discerning something incredibly essential and elemental about human nature, and our country’s nature, and to then be able to pour that understanding into songs that spoke from the heart and reverberated to the depths of my soul. I was a songwriter then, back in the 70’s, when I first came across John — still am, or try to be — and no one before or since has touched me with his music the way John did.
Quick, before you click and wander off somewhere else, give a listen to this fan video of his “Last Campaign Trilogy” — and know that he was on the road in 1968, a crucial part of Bobby Kennedy’s campaign, and he and Buffy were devastated by what happened in June of 1969 as we all were – yet he was able to transform his grief in to something uncannily beautiful, and unique, and right and true.
John’s music occupied a strange crossroads somewhere on the spectrum between folk, and country, and Americana. I eventually found myself singing a dozen or more of his songs — July You’re a Woman, California Bloodlines, Kansas Rain (whose lyrics: “I was standin’ in line at the Bank of America/No one spoke we were in the house of god” have peculiar resonance in the America of 2011, but then John’s songs are like that, timeless and true), The Pirates of Stone County Road, Freeway Pressure, The Last Hurrah, A Man Named Armstrong, Botswana, Lost her in the Sun, Little Road and Stone to Roll, Kansas Rain …. those are just the ones that jump into my midn as I write this, there are more, many more.
The song that got me started with John’s music was simple, no frills tune that I never tired of singing — July You’re A Woman. There are few lines here that give me a jolt of pleasure even now, 39 years since I first heard them in 1972: “I can’t keep my eyes on the white line out before me/When your hand is on my collar and you’re talkin’ in my ear/And I have been around with a gypsy girl named Shannon, daughter of the devil/How strange that I should mention that to you, I havne’t thought of her in years…” There was something both random and inevitable about the way he casually tossed that all together and in doing that, conjured up a resonance that was greater than the sum of its parts and hinted at a life that had seen much, but could delight in the moment of now.
Here’s a fan video of John performing one of his most evocative small town America classics — The Pirates of Stone County Road. Having grown up much of my childhood in small town Alabama, this one spoke to me very clearly……
My favorite — Survivors. As John says in his introduction in 2007 for this song written in the mid 70’s — it’s a song that never grows old — “fortunately…and unfortunately”. When I first heard it, the “outlaws in office” were one batch; there have been quite a few batches since then. But the song’s not about them, in fact it’s about how our country survives because of the heart of its people, not its politicans, and it delivers this message in a way that only John could write, and sing. This was possibly my favorite of all his songs. I feel like it digs deep into the soil of the American experience and extracts from it something meaningful that reaches across the many decades since it was written and tells us something about ourselves — and asks questions as well. “Just keep on plugging you old 9 to 5, you are the heartbeat the keeps us alive.”
Finally, there was a song that in some way stood tall above all the others — one that I could never sing because it’s a “talkin'” song and I just can’t quite pull the attitude off right to get that done — but I love the song. Here is a fan video of John singing “Mother Country” from his Phoenix Concert album in 1974:
I’d like to write some more — make some more sense of all this — but it’s time to pull out my dusty Martin and make some music. John Stewart died too young, but he he had a helluva a journey and said some things that mattered along the way, leaving us with a legacy of songs and ideas that won’t be forgotten.
RIP John, and God Bless You, Buffy.
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Hi Frank,
unfortunately, here in Germany the music of John Stewart was rarely played on the radio. And so, twice, I was fortunate enough to get to know his music through a regularly BFBS British Forces Broadcasting Service Radio Show, where a very subtle presenter (Alan Bangs) occasionally presented his music late at night.
Back in the seventies I only became aware of him through John’s music and his voice, but I did appreciate his interesting lyrics only much later.
The second time refers to a concert that John gave here in Hamburg in the late seventies in a legendary club called “Uncle Pö’s Carnegie Hall”, which has remained unforgettable for me until today.
Of course this my enthusiasm include songs like “Hung On Your Heart”, “Little Road and a Stone to Kill”, “Chilly Winds”, “Last Hurray” and of course “California Bloodline” – especially the live recording of the Phoenix Concerts (“He did not have any fun but he was cool”) and many more.
Thank you for this reminder, a very good opportunity to listen to his music again!
Woody
“SIX”
And today makes six.
As of six days ago (January 18, 2014), John Stewart has been dead for six years.
His legend seems to be fading fast. No tributes, no mentions, no nothing.
People might remember that certain fans — like Michael Sellers and I — like to think of him as “The Greatest American Singer/Songwriter No One Has Ever Heard Of.” (That appellation alone would make me curious.)
But that’s all they’ll remember. Not the man himself and his music.
Michael, I have four chapters of the first draft of my book about John polished and ready to go. I’m aching to share this great talent, who meant so much to you and me, with your readers.
I know you have room for him in your heart. Do you have room for him on your website?
Michael:
Your comments about John resonated with me.
I had to set aside my book-in-progress about John in March of this year, when my wife lost her job, and I had to devote more time to my freelance venture, Proof Positive (a proofreading and copy-editing outsource) in an attempt to make up the difference in our household income.
My book was approaching 600 pages.
I sincerely think that, if I can get it finished and published, it will stand — for a long time — as the definitive essay on his solo career. (Or until Buffy finishes her book.)
Do you think you’d be interested in putting up parts of it on your site? I could send you my provisional Table of Contents, and you could choose any section that attracts your interest.
I would send it to the keeper of the “A Page in Memory of John Stewart” page, but I can’t find who that is or how to contact him/her.
Title: JOHNNY, THEY HARDLY KNEW YE
Frank W. Kresen
Absolutely…..would be an honor.
Michael:
Your response was very gracious — and humbly appreciated.
I would like to submit my book — in its first-draft form — chapter by chapter to you for display on your site.
I’m not the world’s most computer-savvy person, but I can handle uploading a chapter and sending it to you. I’m not sure I can handle constructing a link.
How, exactly, would I send it to you? What email address would I use? How would your readers access it?
This is a great opportunity for me, seeing as how I can’t afford to have it published — at least right now.
I have worked so hard and so long on this. From your comments about John Stewart, I can tell that you — and, I would hope, your readers — might enjoy this essay.
Thanks for your consideration.
Frank W. Kresen
frankkresen@ hotmail.com
Hi, Michael:
Please accept my belated condolences on the fate of your many friends who happened to be in the path of Typhoon Yolanda.
You have done an excellent job of being the Internet’s point man for some of the most authentic and heart-wrenching reporting I have ever read surrounding a natural disaster such as this.
I have been in touch with several other of my writer friends, and, to a person, they all agree that you have done a yeoman job in using your vast network of contacts in the Philippines to get the facts out.
Another piece that really touched me was the one on your Dad. That was just remarkable. I have bookmarked and archived that one.
Reading that piece was like talking with an old friend. Your life and mine share certain congruencies, and reading your articles comes very naturally to me. I like your style.
I know that you’re terribly busy writing and reporting on Typhoon Yolanda — who wouldn’t be, given your personal connection to the place and the people?
If things ever slow down for you, and if you’re still interested, attached is the first installment of the first draft of my book-in-progress, Johnny, They Hardly Knew Ye, on the life and solo career of John Stewart.
I will send subsequent installments as my schedule permits. Having to make a living just never goes away.
Thanks again for this opportunity, Michael.
Frank
Frank W. Kresen
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Contact:
Frank W. Kresen
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Kimberly Walsh
Artisan Graphic Design
5901 Grand Ave.
Kansas City, MO 64113
816 523-6482/816 444-0476
frankkresen@hotmail.com
http://www.artisankimwalsh.com