John’s last released album was called The Day the River Sang. That wasn’t what it was supposed to be. We were working on an entirely different concept and had raised the money to do it via a crowdfunding program. Many of the Bloodliners and other fans joined in to raise the money for the recording. It happened that at the same time we were doing this John began to write songs. So, rather than go with our original plan and distribute 500 copies to the fans who had underwritten the project, John went to Jim Musselman at Appleseed Music. Jim had released several of John’s cd’s in the past and not incidentally, helped John financially when John needed the help the most. (Just a note: Support Appleseed when you can. They have a great lineup of artists and Jim Musselman is an anomaly in the music biz. He cares about the artist).

There are some great songs on the cd. Jasmine has turned out to be one of John’s most covered songs though still far behind Daydream Believer in sheer numbers. My favorite song on the cd is also one that I love to play. I butcher it and I know John would give me the dog stare and then laugh at me if he could hear it.

Listen to this one.

Broken Roses

 

Steven Donaghey is gone. Some of you knew Steven. For those of you who didn’t know him; I’m sorry for your loss. Steven was one of the most loyal and complicated friends that anyone could ask for. Steven was known to many as a bass player but he was much more than that. He loved cats, he loved to flirt, he loved to drink coffee at bodegas and he loved to smoke unfiltered Camels. Most of all he loved his friends.

Steven was a Detroit boy but he found his home in New York City. He played for many years with Barry Manilow and had four gold records. He played many gigs with John Stewart on the East Coast and in Ireland and Scotland. He was fixture at the Trio Fantasy Camps for many years and was loved by all Bloodliners and Fantasy Campers.  He later played with Jay Black and more recently with the Fred Norris Band. Steven lived in Brooklyn in his last years and he was the guy that the hipsters in Brooklyn wanted to be. Steven played with a lot of the younger artists that were coming through the Brooklyn music scene.

Steven was my friend and I mourn his passing as do the others who knew and loved him.

There aren’t many songs that feature Steven on vocals. Here’s one from the Bloodliner’s Liner Notes cd that was done some years ago.

Steven singing Billy Edd Wheeler’s Coal Tattoo.

 

It’s been seven years since John used his ticket to the stars. His influences are still here, though. Not a day goes by that I’m not reminded of him in one way or another and I know that both Tom DeLisle and Dave Batti share this with me.

It’s been said many times and by many people that John wrote “the soundtrack to our lives”. I’m not sure he was ever comfortable with this comment as he was never comfortable with fans who made too much of his work.

Over the past years I’ve thought quite often about what John wanted out of life and wondered if he ever got it. His talent as a writer was indisputable. His work as a musician was obvious. He was a good visual artist; something that he may have enjoyed even more than music. He loved gadgets. He loved children; and especially HIS children. He loved to travel but he was lazy. He wanted comfort and someone to hang out with. He would talk about music with you but not his own music. He was always fascinated by other people’s lives and could ask questions that most people wouldn’t ask. Not because he was prying but because he was truly interested and the filters that most people have weren’t in his DNA.

He could be very unsuspecting of other people or he could be very wary of them. It depended on the day and the tides. He could be the most loyal friend or he could be like a stone in your sock.

Seven years gone, now, and the music is still piled up and waiting for us to listen to it. Thank you John.

Here’s one that came to my mind this morning.

All The Words Unspoken

Today would have been John’s 75th birthday. I was thinking about him this morning, as I often do when I walk into my office. There’s a lot of his stuff in my office. I’m not sure he would have been much different today than he was in the years before he left us. Yes, he would have declined due to the horrible illness but I won’t let that define him for me. John was the perfect combination of cantankerous and great-hearted. Not knowing which one you were going to get kept you at the top of your game when you worked with him. He loved gadgets. He could be lazy or he could be ready to do things that normal people would avoid if they could. He could laugh with the best of them. His laugh was for the ages.

A movement is afoot to nominate John for the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. It’s a more than worthy endeavor. Here’s where you can help.

Songwriter’s Hall of Fame

Back in 1981, John made some demos for CBS. Nothing came of it for many years until the late 90’s when John found the songs and some others and released Wires From the Bunker. On the demo cd was a song that I liked very much. I hope you enjoy it, too. Let’s all listen to a John Stewart song today. And let’s do it again tomorrow and every other day.

Angeles

This year was the 15th edition of the Kingston Trio Fantasy Camp. It didn’t always have that name but the spirit was always that of the Kingston Trio. I’ve been involved in all 15 camps but only attended 12 of them. There have been so many constants at the Camps. Tom DeLisle’s wit, Dave Batti’s smile, the music that means so much to everyone. After this Camp we all agreed that it’s taken on a life of it’s own.

One of my favorite things about Camp is the music that goes along beside the Camper performances. This year was exceptional. I was gifted cd’s from ex-Campers Tom Sanders and Peter Nazaretian and Jeff Fessenden, current Camper Ed Callahan and the Man with the Banjo, Tom Lamb. In addition, my friend and Camper Tom O’Donnell, has a new cd on his website and there are so many great songs that I don’t know where to begin.

Tom Sanders is one of my favorite people. Honestly, I’d forgotten just how good he is at both guitar and vocals. Here he is singing one of the great John Stewart songs, Dreamers On the Rise.

Dreamers On the Rise

And then there was Lamb. The only  person I know who could have thrown John Stewart’s original Kingston Trio banjo into a fountain at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort and turned it into a great and funny story. Lamb’s talent is surpassed only by his wife Sue’s wonderfulness. Seriously, Lamb is only okay but Sue is top notch in every way. Tom can find songs that defy dignity and turn them into something great. Here’s Tom singing the great Alden Sawyer’s song I Like Drinking and Driving.

I Like Drinking and Driving

Peter Nazaretian and Jeff Fessenden have been friends and musical partners for over 50 years. Several of those years were spent wearing nylon jump suits and cavorting around like very strange looking Solid Gold dancers. They still re-live those golden days. Their new cd is called We’ve Fallen…But We Still Get Down. And they do! It was hard to pick one song to post but I finally decided on the great Eric Andersen song Close the Door Lightly When You Go. Peter and Jeff are wonderful singers on their own but something special when they sing together. Jeff is also a talented producer and engineer. He produced both this cd and the one from Ed Callahan.

Close The Door Lightly

Ed Callahan has a new cd called Gentle Nancy. The song was written by Tommy Makem and Tommy titled it Gentle Annie. Ed changed the title to Gentle Nancy to honor his wonderful wife Nancy who is, indeed, gentle as well as funny and warm of heart. We all love her. Here’s Ed.

Gentle Nancy

Tom O’Donnell has been my friend for many years and I am honored to say this. I’ve seen and heard him play at Camp and in pubs in Ireland and his talent and ability to connect with his audience is fantastic to see and hear. Here he is singing one of my favorite Mark Knopfler songs, Sailing to Philadelphia.

Tom’s music is available as a free download at his website:

http://www.folksinger.info/index.php

and here’s Tom:

Sailing to Philadelphia

It was a great year. Can’t wait to see what comes my way in 2015.

 

 

Sharing a stage with John Stewart was not for the weak at heart. John could be generous onstage or he could be cranky. The two people who saw the most of this were Dave Batti and Chuck McDermott.

Yesterday, as I was listening to the two cd set recorded at the Floral Pavillion in Merseyside, England, I found this track that features Chuck on a song called Evangeline. It’s a very nice song and Chuck does a great job on it but the intro by John is Classic Stage Stewart. I think Chuck wrote this song and I don’t know if it was ever released on an album.

Here’s Chuck McDermott singing

Evangeline-Chuck McDermott

While I was researching the song, looking for it’s history, I found another Evangeline. In fact, I found two. Same song but very, very different versions. John loved to tinker with his songs. Sometimes inadvertently but most often because it made them more interesting to him. Some, like Daydream Believer, Pirates and Mother Country, remained intact. Others became fair game for his artistic pleasure.

Here is Evangeline from the Rough Sketches album, recorded in 1995:

EVANGELINE

and here’s the same song from the Bandera album. I believe that the Bandera album featured a group of Scottish musicians who called themselves Lies, Damned Lies. John met them through his great friend Andy Fergus who brought about the recording of Bandera, recorded in 1997:

Evangeline

 

One of the great things about seeing and hearing John onstage and live was that you couldn’t always be certain what he was going to do or how he was going to do it. Just ask Dave Batti the next time you see him.

In just a few weeks it will be time to start the drive west to the 15th annual Kingston Trio Fantasy Camp. It wasn’t always called the Kingston Trio Fantasy Camp. The first nine years we were just the Trio Fantasy Camp. Bob Shane owned the Kingston Trio name and he preferred (and rightly so) that we not use the group’s name.

John loved the days that we spent at the Camp. He loved Arizona and he particularly loved Phoenix.

And one of the highlights of Camp is to be able to hear the John Stewart Band play. This year they’ll be back for the umpteenth time. Dave Batti, Chuck McDermott, John Hoke, Dennis Kenmore, Dave Crossland and the great Bob Hawkins.

Here’s John and Chuck from a 1984, concert in Merseyside, England. It’s a long one, 9:38, and a great medley of California Bloodlines, Armstrong and Cheyenne. John and Chuck. Ringing guitars and great harmony.

If you can make it to Scottsdale for the gig I can guarantee a mighty time.

Click the link to hear the song.

John and chuck

My previous post featured the set by John Stewart and the World’s Largest Folk Band. On Friday night, during the Tribute to John, the Kingston Trio consisting of Bob Shane, George Grove and Bobby Haworth performed. I’ve said it before; I was never a fan of the Kingston Trio. I didn’t know the music and it had little appeal to me. That night the Trio did Hard Ain’t It Hard and one of my all-time favorite songs- Chilly Winds. Bob’s voice was terrific and George’s playing was stellar.

Here they are- The Kingston Trio singing Chilly Winds.

chilly winds

Every year on this date I listen to some of the live recordings that I have of John Stewart. Some of the recordings are solo and some are with Dave Batti. Others are with Buffy and a few are with Henry Diltz or Tom DeLisle.

I usually wind up feeling pretty morose and missing John even more by the end of the evening.

This year I decided to turn it around 180 degrees. Let a little joy into the room.

In the spring of 2001, the World Folk Music Association honored John with a Lifetime Achievement Award. On Friday night he was honored with performances by Rosanne Cash, Nancy Griffith, Noel Paul Stookey, The Kingston Trio and many others including his band mates from the ‘world’s loudest folk band’ era. It was a great evening.

On Saturday night Dick Cerri asked John if he and the band wanted to do a few songs. Big mistake. John gathered up Buffy,  Pete and Maura Kennedy, Dave Batti, John Hoke, Chuck McDermott, Dennis Kenmore, Henry Diltz and Dave Crossland. What followed was a 25 minute jam session that, as John said to me as he was leaving the stage ‘left ’em bleeding from the ears’.

This puppy is 25 minutes long and it might take a short time to load but it’s well worth hearing.

John- we’re still running with this thing you started and we still remember you.

Johnny Stew

You’ve been on my mind all day. DeLisle, Dave and I miss you. I know that Chuck does, too. And Buffy and all of the kids, of course. You were the topic of alot of stories last week at Camp. DeLisle told most of them and I’d have given alot to hear your laugh.

 

I think this might have been the last song that I emailed you. It was recorded at the Floral Pavillion in Merseyside, England in 1984.  You and ‘the young lad’ Chuck McDermott. I think Buffy was on the tour, too, but this song is just you and Chuck. It’s a song that I’ve always loved but not one that everyone knows.

 

Hey Stewart? Happy Birthday.

rybolt

The Raven

click the blue link to hear the song