Billy Stewart began singing publicly with his mother's group, the Stewart Gospel Singers, as a teenager. He made the transition to secular music by filling in occasionally for the Rainbows, a D.C. area vocal group led by future soul star Don Covay. It was also through the Rainbows that Stewart met another aspiring singer, a very young Marvin Gaye. Seminal rock and roller Bo Diddley has been credited with discovering Stewart playing piano in Washington, D.C. in 1956 and inviting him to be one of his backup musicians. This led to a recording contract with Diddley's label, Chess Records, and Diddley played guitar on Stewart's 1956 recording of "Billy's Blues". A strong seller in Los Angeles, "Billy's Blues" reached the sales top 25 in Variety. Stewart then moved to Okeh Records and recorded "Billy's Heartache" backed by the Marquees, another D.C. area group which was now featuring Marvin Gaye.
Back at Chess in the early 1960s, Stewart began working with A&R man Billy Davis. He cut a song called "Fat Boy" and then showed additional promise with his recordings of "Reap What You Sow" and "Strange Feeling", both making the Billboard pop Top 100 and the R&B Top 30. Major chart success was not far away and in 1965, Stewart recorded two self-written songs now regarded as soul classics, “I Do Love You” (#6 R&B, #26 Pop) which featured his brother Johnny Stewart's voice as one of the background singers, and “Sitting in the Park" (#4 R&B, #24 Pop). His idiosyncratic improvisational technique of doubling-up, scatting his words and trilling his lips made his style unique in the 1960s.
In 1966, wishing to appeal to a wider audience, Stewart recorded the LP Billy Stewart Teaches Old Standards New Tricks. The first single released from that album was Stewart's radical stand-out interpretation of the George Gershwin classic "Summertime", a top ten hit on both the pop and R&B charts. The follow-up single was Stewart's cover version of the Doris Day hit "Secret Love", which reached the pop Top 30 and just missed the top 10 on the R&B chart.
While Stewart continued to record throughout the remainder of the 1960s on Chess without major success, his weight problem worsened and he developed diabetes. He also suffered minor injuries in a motorcycle accident in 1969. His life was tragically cut short on January 17, 1970, just two months prior to his 33rd birthday, when the car he was driving plunged into the Neuse River in Selma, North Carolina, killing him and three members of his band.
Back at Chess in the early 1960s, Stewart began working with A&R man Billy Davis. He cut a song called "Fat Boy" and then showed additional promise with his recordings of "Reap What You Sow" and "Strange Feeling", both making the Billboard pop Top 100 and the R&B Top 30. Major chart success was not far away and in 1965, Stewart recorded two self-written songs now regarded as soul classics, “I Do Love You” (#6 R&B, #26 Pop) which featured his brother Johnny Stewart's voice as one of the background singers, and “Sitting in the Park" (#4 R&B, #24 Pop). His idiosyncratic improvisational technique of doubling-up, scatting his words and trilling his lips made his style unique in the 1960s.
In 1966, wishing to appeal to a wider audience, Stewart recorded the LP Billy Stewart Teaches Old Standards New Tricks. The first single released from that album was Stewart's radical stand-out interpretation of the George Gershwin classic "Summertime", a top ten hit on both the pop and R&B charts. The follow-up single was Stewart's cover version of the Doris Day hit "Secret Love", which reached the pop Top 30 and just missed the top 10 on the R&B chart.
While Stewart continued to record throughout the remainder of the 1960s on Chess without major success, his weight problem worsened and he developed diabetes. He also suffered minor injuries in a motorcycle accident in 1969. His life was tragically cut short on January 17, 1970, just two months prior to his 33rd birthday, when the car he was driving plunged into the Neuse River in Selma, North Carolina, killing him and three members of his band.
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Just found this great blog today, and heard Billy Stewart's "Count Me Out" - had to go and order a CD right away.
ReplyDeleteFollowing this blog may leave me cash poor but music rich!
Thanx 4 visiting ANONYMOUS....maybe I can get some more BILLY STEWART up 4 ya in the future.
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