John Stewart - Bombs Away Dream Babies

In an earlier post I talked about how my son introduced me to the music of John Stewart. He was quite excited when I came home a couple weeks ago with a few more Stewart albums. It was clear he was very proud of himself, especially knowing how much music means to his father.

Most of the other records I bought by Stewart are in a similar vein to Willard--the kind of slightly folky, slightly countrified rock that would later come to be known as Americana--and all of them are quite good. But Bombs Away Dream Babies was a totally different story. This sounded like Fleetwood Mac circa Rumours with John Stewart as lead singer. There was a very good reason for this, Lindsey Buckingham--a huge Stewart fan--had produced the album, and he and Stevie Nicks make numerous guest appearances.

The first notes of the lead-off track "Gold" brought back a flood of memories. This is very much the sound of late 70s California rock (I suspect if you listen closely you might be able to hear the engineers doing lines in the control room). An angry rant against the music industry by someone who had already been dropped by three labels, "Gold" ironically became a top 5 hit in 1979.

There is an inherent tension throughout the album between Buckingham's slick pop instincts and the rough-hewn honesty of Stewart's voice (at times he sounds a little like Johnny Cash in his later years). It's a productive tension that results in not only the most popular, but also some of the best music of Stewart's long career.

As popular as this album was, it has somehow fallen out of print. If prices on Amazon's Marketplace are any indication, copies of the long out of print CD reissue on Razor & Tie are going for around $100. This album badly needs to be reissued.

And is it just me, or does Stewart look a lot like Gary Shandling on this album cover?

R.I.P. John Stewart

John Stewart, probably best known as the author of the Monkees' "Daydream Believer," died on Saturday at the age of 68. Stewart traveled with RFK during his ill-fated 1968 campaign, and was also a member of the Kingston Trio (he replaced Dave Guard in 1961). But what Stewart should be most remembered for is the string of very interesting solo albums he released in the late 60s and early 70s. Not quite folk music, not quite Country, and not quite rock, Stewart was a pioneer of what eventually would become known as "Americana." Artists like Peter Case, Lucinda Williams, Wilco and The Jayhawks owe him a huge debt.

I only recently discovered Stewart's music myself--almost by accident. Before Christmas my 5-year-old son asked me to take him to our local record store so he could pick out a present for me (he knows what Dad likes). He didn't want any help from me picking something out--that would spoil the surprise. So he chose a record that looked interesting to him with no input from me. I figured this would mean I was going to end up with a copy of Boston's Don't Look Back, or something else with a spaceship on the cover, but I was pleasantly surprised when I unwrapped a copy of John Stewart's 1970 LP Willard on Christmas morning. The surprise was even more pleasant when I put it on the turntable and discovered it was actually quite good. As he later explained to me, "I figured since the cover looked so plain, the music on it must be fancy." I've been enjoying the music ever since, and plan to track down some of Stewart's other albums.

Stewart is survived by his wife, Buffy, and his children, Mikael, Jeremy, Amy and Luke. Here's hoping his music gets rediscovered now--it should have been years ago.

Big Joe [right click to download]