|
|
| Mikey |
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/05/24/DDGMJ6P1L01.DTL&type=music
One of the founding members of the Rolling Stones, Ian Stewart lost his place in the lineup after the band's manager determined that Stewart, with his pronounced jaw line and thick, brushed-back hair, didn't look the part. But he stayed with the band for the rest of his life as road manager and occasional boogie-woogie pianist. It was always his band, even before he persuaded the fledgling group to hire Charlie Watts as drummer.
"This is probably how I can illustrate, more than anything about the Rolling Stones, that Stu is absolute numero uno, that it's his band," writes Keith Richards in a new book about Stewart, "because he angled for Charlie Watts."
Stewart, who died from a heart attack at age 47 in 1985, is remembered in a lavish, expensive volume simply titled "Stu" that is more a privately published, family keepsake than just another rock coffee-table book for the shelves of Borders. About 1,000 copies are for sale at a cost of around $1, 000 apiece (www.out-take.co.uk).
In page after page of previously unseen photographs, the book brings to life one of the great unsung heroes of rock 'n' roll, the sixth Rolling Stone, a man who lived his life just out of the frame. From the band's earliest days on the London nightclub circuit to worldwide tours in football stadiums, Stewart is caught in the middle of the Rolling Stones circus, an island of calm amid the chaos, playing piano off the side of the stage, fixing some piece of equipment or leading the band to the stage, with the inevitable remark "Come on now, my three-chord wonders."
"We never went onstage until Stu told us," former Stones bassist Bill Wyman told "Stu" author/publisher Will Nash.
In a sign of the regard in which the gruff, no-nonsense Stewart is unanimously held by his associates, every current and former living member of the Stones contributed detailed oral histories to the deluxe volume, which comes in a leather-bound edition with a hand-signed and numbered print from guitarist Ronnie Wood.
"Whenever I'd spoken to people about Stu, instantly the first thing someone would do was smile, which is a great reaction," says author Nash. "Then would come the impersonations, followed by an anecdote. Occasionally, I'd get all three.''
He never used drugs. Golf, steam trains and boogie-woogie piano were his passions. He used to book the Rolling Stones' hotels on tour based on their proximity not to the gigs, but to championship golf courses. He was an enthusiastic amateur photographer and took many fine shots of the Stones through the years, but not as many as he did of British train engines.
"I think Stu looked on us as overpaid and overindulged, and I suppose he was right, really," says drummer Watts.
All through the drug-crazed madness and jet-set globe-trotting, Stewart remained entirely himself. He was a married man whose son, Giles, was 14 years old when his father died. Stu dismissed much of the Stones' music as "Chinese, " although he never wavered in his love and dedication to the group. Even his clothing remained steadfast over the years.
"I've never known anyone that stuck with a look and stayed with it like Stu did," says Watts. "His Lacoste shirts became very fashionable, certainly an enduring look, and the shape of his jeans went in and out of fashion about twice during his lifetime."
A case of measles drained his jawbone of calcium when he was 8, and the bone grew deformed. He underwent a rather drastic surgical procedure at age 18 to shave down some of his oversized jaw, but Stewart never looked like pop star material. When hip, young, publicist-about-town Andrew Loog Oldham assumed direction of the nascent Stones' career, he told the band six names were too many for fans to remember and that Stewart didn't fit.
"Mick and Keith had nothing to do with originating the idea," Oldham told Nash.
Stewart immediately went to work as the band's road manager, a position he would hold for the rest of his life, playing piano for the group on recording sessions and in the shadows at concerts.
"So you come to one of the most amazing parts about Ian Stewart," says guitarist Richards. "All he did was turn round and say 'I understand that.' He just sort of took a gentleman's step back. ... That's the heart of a lion man to be able to do that."
Throughout the band's career, Stewart added an undercurrent of barrelhouse piano that gave the Stones a distinctive sound, on records and in concert. He never played on songs he didn't like. "Stu would decide what songs he wanted to play on and what he didn't, and there was nobody in the band to say 'yea' or 'nay,' " says Richards.
His playing dots all the Stones' recordings. He added piano to the band's original, "Tell Me," and organ on the early hit "It's All Over Now." He cut "2120 South Michigan Avenue," essentially an organ instrumental, with the band during its first U.S. tour at the Chess Records studio in Chicago. His piano can barely be heard on "Brown Sugar," but his keyboard ripples on "Let It Bleed" drive the song through the verses. He played on "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" and the Chuck Berry takeoff, "Star Star," from the "Goats Head Soup" album.
He ran the Rolling Stones mobile studio for years and wound up sitting in with other British rock aristocracy, including some Ronnie Lane sessions and a memorable occasion with Led Zeppelin -- he overdubbed the piano on "Rock and Roll" -- commemorated by the track "Boogie With Stu." In 1981, he produced (and played a little piano on) a live record by Rocket 88, a celebration of authentic jump band boogie-woogie, largely a showcase for pianist Bob Hall and saxophonist Hal "Cornbread" Singer, that undoubtedly reflected his own musical sensibilities more completely than any of the Stones albums ever did.
But Stewart's lasting legacy to the Stones runs much deeper than his musical contributions. He was the conscience of the Stones, the only person who could always talk to everyone and a lasting reminder of the band's essential values. His funeral was said to be the first public occasion where Mick Jagger cried.
"I can't imagine the Rolling Stones without Stu," says former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor.
"The Rolling Stones are Ian Stewart's band," Richards says.
|
|
|
| jb |
Old news... |
|
|
| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
jb wrote:
Old news...
Well maybe someone missed it. Some things bear repeating.  |
|
|
| jb |
quote:
Ten Thousand Motels wrote:
Well maybe someone missed it. Some things bear repeating.
Maybe he will report me to SS or gazza.... |
|
|
| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
jb wrote:
Maybe he will report me to SS or gazza....
He doesn't have to. I already did. That'll teach you to dis Sting. |
|
|
| jb |
quote:
Ten Thousand Motels wrote:
He doesn't have to. I already did. That'll teach you to dis Sting.
Where did Joey go? |
|
|
| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
jb wrote:
Where did Joey go?
Maybe that "Asian lady" reported him to his boss???? |
|
|
| jb |
Maybe Gypsy went to Omaha!!! |
|
|
| VoodooChileInWOnderl |
Thanks Mikey! Probably old news, I think Sue posted this the very first day it came out, but that is something worth posting, a valuable reading
That's a real collector's item, unfortunately it is very expensive... wait not expensive but a high prize item |
|
|
| gypsy |
Gypsy's right here! No Omaha for me. Where is Joey? Hope he's donning his helmet.
jb, buy us the Stu book...or better yet, the Exile book. Please. |
|
|
| BILL PERKS |
ANYTHING ABOUT STU IS WORTH REPORTING..ANYONE KNOW WHAT BECAME OF GILES? |
|
|
| sammy davis jr. |
Ian Stewart was a Rolling Stone and a badass one at that....If you listen close up under the mix, his piano is what makes the many of the songs come alive. That jump and swing. He didn't wear gay football pants and eyeliner either. |
|
|
| beer |
quote:
sammy davis jr. wrote:
Ian Stewart was a Rolling Stone and a badass one at that....If you listen close up under the mix, his piano is what makes the many of the songs come alive. That jump and swing. He didn't wear gay football pants and eyeliner either.
i couldn't agree more. listen to the song let it bleed, or silver train, or stop breakin down, or countless tracks from the earlier lp's. fuckin brilliant he was. |
|
|
| F505 |
The best part on Dirty Work is the "Thank You Stu"-thing at the end... Sad that they had to dedicate such a poor album to him......
|
|
|
| IanBillen |
quote:
jb wrote:
Old news...
Come on Guy |
|
CHAT
ROOM aka THE FUN HOUSE] [
RESTROOMS]