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John Stewart
Singer songwriter in the US folk tradition who scored a hit with Daydream Believer and the album California Bloodlines
John Stewart tasted pop success when his best-known composition, Daydream Believer, was taken to the top of the charts by the Monkees in 1967. The song was later covered by everyone from Boyzone to U2, yet Stewart always regarded it as an unexpected blip in his long career, and it was as a thoughtful, sensitive performer steeped in the American folk tradition that he made his most enduring mark.
He established himself in the early 1960s as a member of the wholesomely clean-cut folk revival outfit the Kingston Trio, and although it sold only modestly his classic 1969 solo debut California Bloodlines is today credited with helping to launch the era of the sensitive singer-songwriter.
He had another big commercial success when he teamed up with Stevie Nicks, of Fleetwood Mac, on the hit single Gold, which made the US top five in 1979. Then he swiftly returned to what he did best, which was to write moving, vernacular songs about a lost America that drew deep on his folk and country roots.
Stewart recorded more than 40 albums, earning a cult following that spawned a magazine, Omaha Rainbow, after one of his most potent songs. His compositions were covered by Joan Baez, Nanci Griffith, Rosanne Cash and Mary Chapin Carpenter among others.
Born John Coburn Stewart in San Diego in 1939, the son of a Roman Catholic horse trainer from Kentucky, he grew up in the southern Californian cities of Pomona and Pasadena. As a child he often travelled to the race tracks with his father but from an early age his real love was music. By 10 he was playing the guitar and the banjo and had written his first song. Influenced by the early rock’n’roll records of Elvis Presley, he formed his first band, Johnny Stewart and the Furies, while still at school and released a single, Rockin’ Anna, on a tiny local label.
As rock’n’roll lost its initial energy and excitement, Stewart became caught up in the folk boom and in 1958 he formed the Cumberland Three with Gil Robbins (the father of the actor Tim Robbins) and John Montgomery. Heavily influenced by the Kingston Trio, at the time the best-selling US folk group, they recorded three albums before Stewart left in 1960 to join the Kingston Trio.
He replaced Dave Guard, a founder member, and he spent seven years with Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane, during which they made a dozen albums. But by the mid-1960s the trio’s preppy image and sanitised take on folk music was sounding hopelessly anachronistic at a time when performers such as Bob Dylan and the Byrds were busy creating a new and radical fusion of folk and rock.
After the Kingston Trio split up in 1967, Stewart discussed forming a duo with John Denver, who had just left the Mitchell Trio for the same reasons. Instead, he opted to record an album with his wife, Buffy Ford, Signals Through the Glass. In the same year the Monkees had a global smash with his Daydream Believer.
Cushioned by the royalties, Stewart launched his solo career in 1969 with California Bloodlines. Recorded in Nashville in the same week that Bob Dylan was in town cutting Nashville Skyline, the album is now regarded, alongside Dylan’s, as a seminal release in the development of the roots-based genre today known as Americana. Songs such as the title track, the much-covered July You’re a Woman and The Pirates of Stone County Road have stood the test of time wonderfully well and several decades later Rolling Stone magazine voted it among the best 200 albums of all time.
Yet despite his obvious talent and a devoted coterie of hardcore fans, Stewart’s records sold frustratingly poorly. That in the space of three years in the early 1970s he was signed successively by Capitol, Warner Brothers and RCA, three of the biggest players in the American record market, tells its own tale: all could see his talent but none could work out how to sell him to a mass audience. Arguably he fell between two stools: he lacked the hip angst of Jackson Browne or the outlaw chic of the Eagles, but at the same time he was still too quirkily maverick for the mainstream pop audience that his friend John Denver had found.
Albums such as Willard (1970), The Lonesome Picker Rides Again (1971), Sunstorm (1972), Cannons in the Rain (1973) and Wingless Angels (1975) were packed with good songs and caused a bunch of British fans to start the magazine Omaha Rainbow in his honour, but it was to little commercial effect. Moving to RSO Records and under pressure to deliver a hit, Stewart made a play for the kind of audience that was buying Eagles and Fleetwood Mac records by the million, upping the electricity on the 1977 album Fire in the Wind and touring with a group he dubbed “the loudest folk band in America”.
The ploy eventually paid off when Stevie Nicks added harmony vocals to several tracks on his 1979 album Bombs Away Dream Babies, including the top five single Gold. To the horror of many of his long-term fans, he even appeared miming the song on American television accompanied by the scantily clad Solid Gold Dancers writhing in the background.
Midnight Wind and Lost Her in the Sun, a couple of similarly Fleetwood Mac-influenced singles taken from Bombs Away, were minor hits, but the follow-up album, Dream Babies Go Hollywood (1980), flopped, and Stewart dropped off the commercial radar once more.
Rosanne Cash had a big hit in 1988 with his Runaway Train, but Stewart had no more hits. He continued to tour and record prolifically, self-releasing his albums or putting them out on small specialist folk labels such as Shanachie and Appleseed.
When his wife contracted a brain tumour in the 1990s, he endured a period of writer’s block. Happily, the dam was broken when she recovered, and a fresh set of fine compositions flowed out of him. His most recent album was The Day the River Sang (2006), and one of his final songs, I Don’t Drive Anymore, was written on hearing the news in 2007 that he was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Stewart is survived by his wife, Buffy Ford, and four children.
John Stewart, folk singer, was born on September 5, 1939. He died of a brain haemorrhage on January 19, 2008, aged 68
I have lost one of the most important people in my life - someone who has been with me for 40 years. During that time most of the things that have happened to me or things, things I have seen and things happening in the world could usually been summed up in a John Stewart song. But I am not alone in feeling this way - John's songs resonate with everyone. He never lost his integrity and rather than being forgotten I believe John will be more widely recognized after his life than he was during it. I saw him at the Roundhouse at that first gig and I saw him in Scotland at his last gig at The Turf; I was hoping to see him again but it was not to be. Thanks John, for everything.
Viv Burton, Halesworth, Suffolk
John Stewart was an absolute American original, a gem or a songwriter and a formidable singer to our times.
Don Bayles, Flagstaff, AZ
Was privileged to see John at the Roundhouse in London
supporting Mike Nesmith in the seventies ... maybe his first gig in Britain ??
Also the last time was at Union Chapel ( 1996 ) in London
where he created a fabulous atmosphere and a truly memorable gig !!
I always hoped to see him one more time and often thought of
trying to track him down when i was in LA .. wish i had now.
This truly was the last campaign
Dave Shaw, Eastbourne, East Sussex
How sad to think that John Stewart is no longer with us and that we will have no more opportunities to see him perform. My husband and I went to as many shows as we could whenever he appeared in Santa Cruz or San Francisco in the 70's and 80's. My daughter pestered me to go see him in Nacasio last fall. Now that this has slipped through my fingers, I will try not to "wait until later" on so many things. We always think there will be another time.
John Stewart's music will make you laugh and then make you cry. He conveys so much meaning in a simple turn of a phrase. And when the words only echo in your mind, your soul will blossom with the beauty of each guitar note.
Thanks, John, for your gift to the world.
Marsha Jenkins, Dallas, Texas
I was pulled by force to a small club in Scottsdale AZ by my girlfriend to see some guy named John Stewart in I believe was 1972 or 73.
It was a hole in a wall, I didn't drink but to keep social peace in our relationship I went.
He began to sing what turned out to be some of the most interesting lyrics by one of the smoothest voices I've ever heard. To this day when I listen to his music it's still as fresh as the first time I heard him. I will miss his presents in our world.
John Stewart was and is a moment I will remember with great joy for the rest of my life.
Have you wondered where we were before we were born
Rollin' 'round the heavens like a song
I know it's then I saw the big Sierras
Saw a California sunrise comin' on.
Thanks John!
Charles Pyle, Phoenix AZ,
When I heard of John's passing the first thing I did was to play "California Bloodlines" again. One of the greatest albums ever. John may have gone but his music will live on .
Chris Lowe, Swindon, U.K.
It is an interesting aspect of music from the `60's and '70's that the songs were so personal, the fans feel like they know the songwriter as a friend. When John Stewart died, I felt like I'd lost a friend, even though I never met him. There are incidents in my life that cannot be recalled unless accompanied by one of his songs. I saw John for the last time on the final night of his tour with Country Joe MacDonald at the Aladdin Theatre in Portland, Or., and I'm so glad I went. Wasn't it great that he shared his music with the world?
DAVID GROOM, portland, oR
John was generous enough to do one of his great paintings dedicated to my wife Maggie, only last year, and I had no idea at that stage he was unwell. He is unquestionably one of the finest songwriters and chroniclers of American life to have emerged in the 20th century. 'Bloodlines' one of the great albums of all time. Amongst many great albums he made. A great guy and a huge loss... I never did get to that Trio Fantasy Camp. Goodbye, John, and go steady ' out where them chilly winds don't blow'...
Garry Stewart, Dunfermline, Fife, UK
my favorite song of all time is john's simple tale of "ove lost...........
"lost her in the sun"
michael, vancouver, canada
John Stewart's song go straighter and deeper onto the heart than those of anyone else I've ever heard. If you never listened, do it now.
Alistair Adam, Nairn , UK
The world is less of a place without you, John, and will be harder to live in.
Owen Davis, Bournemouth , dorset, england
This person is an American legend to us who in our sixties. His true artistry and talents will be recognized in later years when the history of American music is told, as his music is a history of the greatness of America and its people.
I saw John with the KT in Detroit in 1966. I have never seen three men who were so at home and relaxed with an audience, as they were. There was no one leader...........just three close friends and a base player. As the last 42 years have passed, I have seen so many entertainers from all parts of the world, but the summer night in 1966 in Detroit is still the best show I have ever seen.
John...........may you now entertain your greatest audience, and I look forward to seeing you seeing sometime in eternity.
Your Pal,
George Roberge
george roberge, southington, ct, usa
"Gold" is one of the most unforgettable songs I've ever heard.
William Feingold, Dobbs Ferry, NY
Thankyou for the wonderful tribute to a great songwriter.
The first song I ever heard was `july...` played by DLT[ an otherwise appalling DJ] As a result i was soon listening to California Bloodlines,Cannons Willard ect - all brilliant albums
- it was a privilege to listen to you John and thanks
Rod Lyons, Rochdale,
This is the best obituary I have seen on John Stewart. Thank you. I grew up listening to John Stewart and have always been a big fan of his. I own everyone of his CDs and collect his records, as I can find them. In recent years, I even had the amazing opportunity to talk with John multiple times, and felt as though I could call him a friend. We even discussed guitar strings and various musical instruments! I was due to interview John for the magazine I write for, and we were planning a time when he passed away. I have been deeply affected by his death, and have shed tears over it. I deeply cared for him - such an amazing musician and gift. He will be missed.
Robbie Wright, Columbus, Georgia, USA
Thank you for the best write up I have seen on the passing of John Stewart. He was always so under appreciated in his own country.
I first knew of John in his Kingston Trio days and when California Bloodlines came out it just floored me. I became a fanatic.
John was a songwriter of the top order, a great, unique singer and guitarist and ab absolutely fabulous live act. Even as his voice aged he kept reinventing the songs and always had the audience institches with his stories or ad libbed comments.
I was set to see him again, it might have been the two dozenth time, this April in Philadelphia. It was not to be. I guess I will spend that evening with my guitar, singing and remembering.
Farewell, lonesome picker.
Steve LaSala, Manahawkin, NJ, USA
I saw Stewart perform at the legendary Hollywood club the Troubadour in 1970 - or was it 1971? I had been introduced to his album "California Bloodlines" by my then-girlfriend Susan Maynard. I had been hooked by the first line of the first cut, and I was never going back. His live show was wonderful, and it was the only time I ever saw him in live performance. There was a performance he had here in the Seattle area last year that I hoped to catch--but I had to be out of town that weekend... Now he's out of town...
Still, thirty-five-plus years after the Troubadour experience, I continue to listen to him nearly every day (he's on the iPod now!), and continue to love his music.
I cried when I heard the news this morning. And I felt not so bad, knowing that he dodged the consequences of the Alzheimer's bullet, that Buffy and his children were with him at the end, that he suffered no pain. And that his music continues.
Joel Davis, Bellevue, WA, USA
I've been a Stewart fan since about 1972 when some of his songs were played on BBC radio 1, mainly by Noel Edmonds, also a Stewart fan. As someone whose musical tastes have, in the main, been less than commercial, I can still remember the thrill I got from hearing Armstrong while sat at the breakfast table before school. I first saw him live in 1974, on my 18th birthday. I last saw him last time he was in London, a couple of years ago. If anyone asks me who my all-time favourite musician is I'd always say the one whose music, more than anyone else's, has been a soundtrack to my life: John Stewart. I feel like I've lost a relative.
Neil Procter, Dursley, Glos
I was a huge John Stewart fan, and am very saddened today to hear of his passing. He performed in Nicasio, Ca. maybe a month or so ago and I remember telling my son, how I would have liked to go, but the only person I knew who liked John as much as I did was my ex-husband, and that probably just wasn't going to happen. Now I wish I had asked him to go with me. We had spent many hours listening to John's songs, had all his albums, in fact we had doubles because we were both fans seperately when we met! I remember going to see him several times at the Great American Music Hall in SF. And now he is gone. We have lost an American icon. The last time I actually saw John Stewart, he and his wife Buffy Ford were having dinner in a restaurant in Novato, CA. I felt compelled to say Hello, and he and his wife were friendly and cordial and didn't seem bothered at all by my intrusion! I am so sad tonight. My condolences to John't family. M. Cooley, Novato, CA.
Mary Cooley, Novato, CA. USA
I'm a very sad man today. John Stewart died Sunday. He was one of my biggest heros and I'll miss him. I've spent hundreds of hours listening to his music. Many of those hours slightly intoxicated. I was also lucky enough to see him in concert, twice in California and once each in Boston and Hartford. The last time I saw John in person was in August in San Francisco. He appeared at a tribute to the Kingston Trio. It was held at the library and there were perhaps only 40 or so people there. I got to talk to him and Buffy briefly at the end. And now he's gone. I'm a very sad man today.
Wayne, Orlando, FL,
John was to play in phoenix on the 27th,were he had great following.I remember playing my eight track of cannons in the rain over and over when I was only thirteen. I'll always remember his live phoenix concert.He always stop by to say hello to my brother John Tosh who help at his shows when he was in town. My prayers go out to all his family, Phoenix is really going to miss our adoptive son -lonesome picker.
willy wilemon, Mesa, usa / arizona
Thank you for this nicely done piece on Mr. Stewart, who, like so many thoughtful, reflective people, seem to have little place in American culture. Somehow the world seemed a better place when he was around....
C. L. Ross, Pt. Richmond, CA USA
John Stewart, perhaps the greatest singer/songwriter to not be globally acknowledged.
His songs have recorded over half a decade of American history, emotion and tradition; unique lyrics, poignant insight and a beautiful way of writing. His gentle voice just brings them to life. Listen to a John Stewart album, and you end up feeling as if you've gained a friend, singing your soul through your speakers.
I started as a reluctant listener, as my parents perpetually played his records Now, I am proud to call my self a fan, having been fortunate enough to see him on his last British tour, speak with him personally, and go on to write my English Literature dissertation on his music.
A wonderful man, a wonderful music artist, and a true legend. John will be sadly missed by a core of fans, and we'll never forget him.
"And if I'm missing you then soon, I'll be bringing down the moon, turning midnight into noon to keep you here."
Laura Meadowcroft, Nantwich, Cheshire