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Billy Stewart - Wikipedia Jump to content

Billy Stewart

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named Billy Stewart, see Billy Stewart (disambiguation).
Billy Stewart
Background information
Birth nameWilliam Larry Stewart II
Born(1937-03-24)March 24, 1937
Washington, D.C., U.S.
DiedJanuary 17, 1970(1970-01-17) (aged 32)
Smithfield, North Carolina, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer, musicians
Instrument(s)Vocals, piano, drums
Years active1955–1970
Labels

William Larry Stewart II (March 24, 1937 – January 17, 1970) was an American R&B singer and pianist popular during the 1960s.[1]

Career

[edit]

Stewart was 12 when he began singing with his younger brothers Johnny, James, and Frank as the Four Stewart Brothers. They later had their own radio show every Sunday for five years at WUST in Washington, D.C.[2] He was a graduate of Armstrong High School, now Friendship Armstrong Academy in the city.[3]

Billy Stewart made the transition to secular music by filling in occasionally for the Rainbows, a Washington D.C. area vocal group led by the future soul star, Don Covay. Through the Rainbows that Stewart met Marvin Gaye, an aspiring singer. Rock and roller Bo Diddley is credited with discovering Stewart playing piano in D.C., and inviting him to be one of his backup musicians.[4] By 1955, Stewart had 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 magazine. Stewart switched to Okeh Records and recorded "Billy's Heartache", backed by the Marquees, a D.C. area group which featured Marvin Gaye.[4]

Back at Chess in the early 1960s, Stewart began working with A&R man Billy Davis. He recorded a song called "Fat Boy" and then had additional success with his recordings of "Reap What You Sow" and "Strange Feeling", both making the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 30 on the R&B charts.[5] Major chart success was not far away and in 1965, Stewart recorded two self-written songs, "I Do Love You" (No. 6 R&B, No. 26 pop), which featured his brother Johnny Stewart as one of the backing vocalists with his partner James English, and "Sitting in the Park" (No. 4 R&B, No. 24 pop). Billy Stewart's idiosyncratic improvisational technique of doubling-up, scatting his words and trilling using his lips made his style unique in the 1960s.[4]

In 1966, Stewart recorded the LP Unbelievable. The first single released from the album was Stewart's radical interpretation of the George Gershwin song, "Summertime", a Top 10 hit on both the pop and R&B charts.[4] The next single was Stewart's cover version of Doris Day's hit "Secret Love", which reached the pop Top 30 and just missed the Top 10 on the R&B chart. He recorded throughout the remainder of the 1960s on Chess without major success. A weight problem worsened and he developed diabetes. Stewart suffered minor injuries in a motorcycle accident in 1969.[4]

Later life

[edit]

Stewart's weight caused him several health problems, culminating in diabetes, a condition which may have contributed to his automobile accident in 1969.[6] He died in a broad-daylight car accident in January 1970, at age 32. Stewart was driving a Ford Thunderbird and approached a bridge across the Neuse River near Smithfield, North Carolina (presumably on US 301, since I-95 had not yet been completed in the area at that time. I-95 terminated in Rocky Mount, North Carolina prior to 1973. His car left the highway, ran along the median strip at a slight angle to the highway, struck the bridge abutment, and plunged into the river instantly killing Stewart and three passengers. The other victims were in Stewart's band: Norman P. Rich, 39, of Washington, D.C.; William Cathey, 32 from Charlotte; and Rico Hightower, 22 of Newark, New Jersey. The four musicians were driving to a nightclub show in Columbia, South Carolina at the time and the car had been purchased only 12 days. It had been driven only 1,400 miles before the accident occurred.[3]

Stewart was buried in National Harmony Memorial Park in Landover, Maryland.[7]

Lawsuit

[edit]

Sarah Stewart, the executrix of his estate, sued Ford Motor Company on behalf of his estate, claiming that mechanical failure was the cause of the accident. Ford prevailed in the first trial, but on appeal the court ruled that the trial court's refusal to give the requested jury instructions was in error and ordered the case reversed and remanded.[8] The case was then settled out of court.[9]

Musical legacy

[edit]

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Billy Stewart's music was popular among Latino, specifically Chicano youth on the West Coast .[10] He was inducted into the Washington D.C. Area Music Association Hall of Fame in 2002.[11] His version of "Summertime" was one of the songs featured on Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour show.[12] He was one of the few artists to which Dylan actually referenced during his mainly fictitious email responses to listener questions in a Q&A. His version of "Summertime" was also featured in the last scene and on the soundtrack of Stuck on You (2003).[13] His musical legacy is kept alive by several talented family members in his hometown of Washington D.C. Cousins Grace Ruffin, who is a member of the '60s group The Four Jewels, and singer-musician Calvin C. Ruffin Jr., as well as D.C., independent recording artist Dane Riley, perform several of his hits during their concerts.

NRBQ has performed "Sitting in the Park" as a fluctuating part of their set list since 1970. Three versions have been released by NRBQ on CD. In Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Stewart's "Summertime" is featured in a scene where Brad Pitt's character, Cliff Booth, leaves his home and drives erratically into the twilight. Stewart was inducted as part of the class of 2021 into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.

Discography

[edit]

Studio albums

[edit]
Year Title Peak chart positions Record label
US
[14] 		US R&B
[14]
1965 I Do Love You 97 2 Chess Records
1966 Unbelievable 138 7
1967 Billy Stewart Teaches Old Standards New Tricks — —
1974 Cross My Heart (posthumous release) — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

[15]

Compilation albums

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  • Remembered (Chess, 1970)
  • The Greatest Sides (Chess/Checker Records, 1982)
  • Greatest Hits (Evergreen, 1988)
  • One More Time – The Chess Years (Chess, 1990)
  • The Collection (Connoisseur Collection, 2001)

Singles

[edit]
Year Title Peak chart positions Album
US
[14] 		US R&B
[14] 		UK
[16]
1956 "Billy's Blues" — — — Non-album singles
1957 "Strange Feeling" — — —
1962 "Reap What You Sow" 79 18 — I Do Love You
1963 "Strange Feeling" 70 25 —
1965 "I Do Love You" 26 6 ―
"Sitting in the Park" 24 4 —
"How Nice It Is" 97 ― — Cross My Heart
1966 "Mountain of Love" 100 — — Non-album singles
"Because I Love You" 96 ― ―
"Love Me" — 38 ―
"Summertime" 10 7 39 Unbelievable
"Secret Love" 29 11 ― Billy Stewart Teaches Old Standards New Tricks
1967 "Every Day I Have the Blues" 74 41 ―
"Why (Do I Love You So)" — 49 ― Cross My Heart
1968 "Cross My Heart" 86 34 ―
"Tell Me the Truth" ― 48 ―
1969 "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" ― ― ―
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 96. ISBN 978-0313344237.
  2. ^ Alexander, Otis (June 16, 2021). "Billy Stewart II (1937-1970) •". Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. February 5, 1970. p. 54. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Billy Stewart | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  5. ^ "Billy Stewart". Billboard. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  6. ^ Simmons, Rick (2018). Carolina Beach Music Encyclopedia. McFarland. p. 256. ISBN 978-1476667676.
  7. ^ Eagle, Bob L.; LeBlanc, Eric S. (May 1, 2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. ABC-CLIO. p. 96. ISBN 9780313344244. Retrieved May 8, 2021 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. (February 9, 1977). "553 F. 2d 130 - Stewart v. Ford Motor Company". openjurist.com. p. 130.
  9. ^ "Settlement". Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars. Chicago Review Press. 2008. ISBN 9781556527548.
  10. ^ "Notas". Billboard. February 21, 1998. p. 40.
  11. ^ "Washington Area Music Association (WAMA): Hall of Fame". cph4.safe-order.net. Archived from the original on December 17, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  12. ^ "Episode 10: Summer". Theme Time Radio Hour Archive. Archived from the original on December 17, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  13. ^ "Music from Stuck On You (2003)". Tunefind. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  14. ^ a b c d "Billy Stewart - Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  15. ^ "Billy Stewart | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  16. ^ "BILLY STEWART - full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
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