[thenightwriterblog] The Night Writer: A belated good-bye to the lonesome picker

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Posted by The Night Writer:
A belated good-bye to the lonesome picker
http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/posts/1215663316.shtml


   I think I was 13 years old and just starting to develop some musical
   tastes of my own. I was in a record store in a mall in Indianapolis,
   flipping through the "S" selections, probably looking for a Rod
   Stewart album, when I suddenly saw something that froze me in my
   tracks.

   It was stunning to see my name on something other than my football
   helmet or a gym bag, let alone an [1]album cover. Wow! Somebody with
   my name had recorded an album! Little did I know that he had actually
   recorded several albums by that time, and would release more than 40
   in his career.
   I was almost as shocked this evening when I went on YouTube to see if
   there were any John Stewart videos and read that he had passed away
   back on January 19 as the result of a massive stroke at age 68. I
   couldn't believe that I hadn't heard or read that news when it
   happened.
   I didn't buy California Bloodlines that first day in the record store.
   The guy in the store said it was folk/country and that was the last
   thing I wanted as I tried to distance myself from my parents' Glenn
   Campbell and Bobby Goldsboro records. Ironically, I didn't realize
   that I'd already heard this guy on some of those old Kingston Trio
   albums my folks had. Nevertheless I would often check on the album
   when I was in the store, getting a little thrill each time I read the
   name. When I got to college I got a lot smarter and widened my musical
   interests and eventually bought my own vinyl version of the album that
   Rolling Stone would later rank as one of the top 100 albums of the
   rock era.
   Stewart (and it feels strange to type that), through his work with the
   Cumberland Trio and Kingston Trio, had been a pioneer in the folk
   music scene of the early 60s, opening the door for people such as Bob
   Dylan. In fact, Bloodlines was Stewart's first solo album and it was
   recorded directly across the hall from where Dylan was recording
   Nashville Skyline. (Stewart also wrote "Daydream Believer" which was a
   hit for the Monkees and Anne Murray.) Once I finally owned Bloodlines
   I just about wore it out, playing it regularly along with an album by
   Gamble Rogers that featured a cover of one of Stewart's classics,
   "July, You're a Woman". When I spent a semester in England before
   graduating from the University of Missouri (my family had moved back
   to my parents' home town my junior year in high school) I often
   thought of the lines from the song "Missouri Birds" as I tramped
   around London:

     Missouri Birds flying over old St. Louis
     Hear that song they're singing to me
     Go into the world, while you're young

   I graduated from college in '79 and moved to Phoenix, AZ for my first
   job, driving across the country in my Pinto while Top 40 radio played
   "Gold" from Stewart's latest album, Bombs Away Dream Babies.with
   Stevie Nicks "ooh-oohing" on the background vocals. It was a catchy
   tune, but I liked the other songs on the album as well, and listened
   to it nearly as much as I had to Bloodlines. In fact, it was a lyric
   from one of those songs -- "Midnight Wind" -- that came to my mind two
   weeks ago when a friend of mine died in a motorcycle crash. The tune
   has been rattling around between my ears since then, and it was
   probably what led me to go to YouTube tonight, only to find that there
   was one less John Stewart in the world.
   I had been fortunate to see him perform in Phoenix while I lived
   there; he was a local favorite and a loved Phoenix in return, even
   recording a live album there at one point. I'd like to say that I was
   at the concert that was recorded, but that would be too much
   serendipity. In the last couple of years I'd tried to replace
   California Bloodlines and Bombs Away but most of his music is out of
   print or available only as an import. Some of his later work is
   available on iTunes, but his voice -- never a particularly strong one
   -- had gotten reed thin and breathy and made me kind of sad.
   I was eventually able to get the song "Gold" on iTunes by downloading
   the soundtrack album for the movie "The Groomsmen" but his older stuff
   is still elusive. Tonight I went to Amazon, however, and ordered an
   imported version of Bloodlines before this, too, disappeared. I look
   forward to re-grooving these songs into my memory banks. Among the
   many on-line tributes I came across this evening was an especially apt
   tribute in his own words, taken from "Hand Your Heart to the Wind"
   from Bombs Away and "Some Lonesome Picker" from Bloodlines.

     There's always one more river the sea can carry.
     There's always one more soul that heaven can hold
     There's always one more star the sky can hang on to
     So hand your heart to the wind, let it carry you home.
     There's always one more song to sing for the lonely
     There's always one more dream to carry you along
     There's always one more eagle come flying in the morning
     So hand your heart to the wind let it carry you home.
     ...
     And I'm believing, believing,
     Believing that even when I'm gone
     Maybe some lonesome picker will find some healing in this song

   I did strike "Gold" on YouTube tonight as well, but rather than link
   to that hit (which Stewart reportedly actually hated) I'll post a
   video of him doing a medley of "Missouri Birds", "Cowboy in the
   Distance" and "If You Should Remember Me."
   Goodnight, John.
   [EMBED]

References

   1. http://www.amazon.com/California-Bloodlines-John-Stewart/dp/B000RMIYHC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1215660710&sr=1-1