What a bunch of guys! Over the years, John had some great players in his band. Some of them went on to play with other people but a hard-core crew played with John whenever they could.

After John’s passing a loose group consisting of Dave Batti, Dave Crossland, Bob Hawkins, John Hoke,Dennis Kenmore and Chuck McDermott joined up with Buffy Stewart and special guests Roseanne Cash, Jim Dawson, Pete and Maura Kennedy and John and Buffy’s niece Noelle Boucher to do a special Tribute Concert at the Towne Crier in Pawling, NY. The concert was video taped by the Hudson Valley Music Channel and released as a 70 minute long dvd.

The John Stewart Band plays John’s songs in the style that John liked best. They keep alive his vision of The World’s Loudest Folk Band! Since the guys are scattered across the US they don’t get a chance to play together very often. This year they are joining us in Scottsdale, Az. at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort on August 12th. It’s going to be a great show. Details can be found here:

Homecoming Records

Here is a song from the dvd. The first link is to the audio recording

Never Goin’ Back

and here is the link to the video on my Youtube Channel

Never Goin’ Back Video

The video is 70 minutes of great performance and is available from Dave Batti at Homecoming Records by following the above link.

Hope to see all of you in Scottsdale!

 

I’ve been on a video kick recently. I needed to learn a new program to replace the old video editing program that is no longer supported by my OS.

So I dug out some old tapes and files and posted  four John Stewart songs on Youtube.

The first two are from a VHS tape that Jim Roberts supplied. Jim and his son did this in Seattle in 1985. The video quality isn’t great but the sound and the performace is stellar. With John are Dave Batti on bass, Dennis Kenmore on drums and Thure Gray on keyboards.

John Stewart- Shady Grove and Coal Tattoo

and

You Can’t Go Back to Kansas

In May of 2003, Kris and I joined John for a short tour of Scotland. Our plan was to do three nights of video at the Turf Inn in Dalry, ancestral home of the great pubkeeper, Andy Fergus. We did 12 hours of video, I edited a little of it and we both forgot it existed. The quality is okay. On the dvd the last three songs have some synch issues but overall the performances make it a cool thing to see. Here are two clips:

One Eyed Joe

and

China Skies

Hope you enjoy them!

The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem.  From 1961 to 1969 they brought Irish music to the US and to the rest of the world. They were Irish to their souls and had more fun than anyone should ever be allowed to have. When it came to the party after the gig they were also without compare. The stories are legendary; the night in Chicago when they arrived at the hotel via a firetruck. The Clancys and the Kingston Trio were the best of friends and frequent collaborators in parties.

Tommy Makem was the voice of the Clancys for many years. He had a very distinctive baritone voice and it could give you shivers when he sang some of his own songs. This one, Four Green Fields, was written in 1967, and to the Irish is one of the most stirring songs ever written.

I met Tommy once. It was at the WFMA event at the Birchmere in 2001. He had performed that night, in  fact, this song is from that night, and was at the after show party standing by himself. Tommy was a lifelong teetotaler and was enjoying a glass of soda water. I had the chance to speak with him and I took it. He was a gracious and gentle man and I’m the better for meeting him.

Tommy Maken died of lung cancer in August of 2007.

Four Green Fields

I was never a fan of the Kingston Trio. I knew who they were, of course, but I never owned any of their records or went out of my way to listen to them. Until I left home in the mid-60′s the extent of my music listening was hard-core country. When I did leave home I was more into the emerging groups like Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, Ian and Sylvia and solo acts like Dylan and Lightfoot and Tom Paxton. And, being the mid-60′s, there was also the psychedelics like the Airplane and Hendrix and the bad boys like the Stones. And there was always the Beatles. The Kingston Trio were never on my radar screen.

In July of 1969, I heard my first song by John Stewart. THEN I listened to the Trio to see what I had missed. I still wasn’t convinced. I didn’t know enough about music to know that the harmonies were staggering and I wasn’t quite quick-witted enough to pick up on the humor. (I thought I was but I really wasn’t). But I knew that the music was good and the connection with Stewart made me listen to their old songs. And I found  that I liked it a little more every time I listened.

So, in 2001, January in Alexandria, Virginia, the Birchmere and the WFMA Tribute to John. On stage was the Trio. Bob Shane, the Man of a Million Strums, and twice as many jokes, and a voice that was the best in folk or most other kinds of music. George Grove, a master banjo player and Bobby Haworth who added harmonies to Bob and George’s strong voices.Here they are doing a song written by John Stewart and John Phillips.

The Kingston Trio Sings Chilly Winds

John Stewart was blessed to have many friends who also happened to be great players. Funny how that works out, huh. In January of 2001, the World Folk Music Association presented John with a Lifetime Achievement Award. There were many musical guests; many of them people who were road warriors with John over the years. This song is from Henry Diltz, Chuck McDermott, Dennis Kenmore and Dave Batti. All of these guys played many nights with John and spent many mornings trying to figure out what town they were in. The stories are many and completely secret.

Henry tells the story here of being on the road with John just after the release of the California Bloodlines album.

Here we go, Henry on banjo, Chuck on lead guitar and vocal, The D Man, Dennis Kenmore on drums and  Dave “Dave” Batti on bass.

California Bloodlines