Here is the new
article on Associated Press by John Rogers reporting from Los Angeles.
Nice to see that he rightly credits John with essentially creating the
Americana genre in music.
John Stewart, songwriter who wrote
Monkees' hit 'Daydream Believer,' dead at 68
by John
Rogers-Associated Press
John Stewart recorded some of pop
music's most acclaimed solo albums, helping create a style that came to
be called Americana, but he was always best known for writing the
Monkees' enduring hit "Daydream Believer."
Stewart, who came to
prominence in the 1960s as a member of folk music's Kingston Trio, died
Saturday at a San Diego hospital after suffering a brain aneurism. He
was 68.
"He was a lovely man and a very gentle soul and I guess
the only thing you can say today is that the world is less one great
songwriter," the Monkees' Mickey Dolenz told The Associated Press on
Sunday.
Stewart left the Kingston Trio shortly before the
Monkees released "Daydream Believer" in 1967, then went on to record
nearly four dozen solo albums, including the critically acclaimed
"California Bloodlines" and "Bombs Away Dream Babies." The latter
included the hit single "Gold," in which he dueted with Fleetwood Mac's
Stevie Nicks.
Still, as with "Daydream Believer," he was likely
best known for writing songs for others, including Joan Baez, Nanci
Griffith, Roseanne Cash and Anne Murray.
"He was a cult hero, he
never made it super huge," said his manager, Dean Swett. "He was one of
those outlaw rebels, one of the people who refused to conform to what
the record labels expected him to be."
A husky-voiced singer and
accomplished guitarist who delivered his lyrics in a poignant, often
longing voice, his music was hard to classify. It fell somewhere between
rock, country and folk and eventually came to be called Americana.
He wrote "Runaway Train," a country hit for Roseanne Cash, and
"Strange Rivers," which Joan Baez included on her 1992 "Play Me
Backwards" album. Nanci Griffith dueted with him on "Sweet Dreams" and
Murray, like the Monkees before her, had a hit with "Daydream Believer."
"There are certain songs that you just go in humming. It was one
of those," Dolenz said of "Daydream Believer," which also was Stewart's
best-known recording. Although he sang background to Davy Jones' lead on
the Monkees' version, Dolenz performs the song himself at his solo
shows.
"To this day it is one of the biggest songs that I do in
concert," he said.
Stewart joined the Kingston Trio in 1961,
replacing Dave Guard in the group that had helped usher in an American
folk music revival in the late 1950s.
"John truly was the right
fit. A first rate entertainer and gifted songwriter," the group said in
a statement on its Web site.
He recorded more than a dozen
albums with the trio before going on to a solo career in 1967. A year
later he released "California Bloodlines," which included the minor hit
"July You're a Woman." "Bombs Away Dream Babies" came out in 1979.
He eventually recorded more than 40 solo albums. Others included
"The Lonesome Picker Rides Again, "Airdream Believer" and "Rough
Sketches," the latter a collection of songs about the iconic American
highway "Route 66."
Stewart was said to be at work on still
another album at the time of his death.
Stewart's wife, Buffy,
and children were at his side when he died, according to a statement on
the Kingston Trio's Web site. There was no immediate word on funeral
arrangements. |
(oldriley) on 1/20/2008, 6:11 pm
