Omaha Rainbow : Issue 8
"Maria Muldaur asked me to join her band, but I'm really glad I didn't do that because I really believe in John. I know that if John makes it, I'll make it. There's a rapport between John and me that doesn't exist in other places, and that's worth a lot of money to me."
You may well recognise that quote from the Arnie Moore interview featured in OR4. And many of you will have seen that ''rapport'' in action at the legendary ZigZag Concert at The Roundhouse. I am sure you will share my sadness, therefore, at the news I got from Arnie over the phone just before Christmas that he and John had split-up in mid-November after 5 years of being on the road together.
A couple of weeks back I got a letter from Arnie, in which he said....."You know what they say about being in the right place at the right time. Well, that old adage worked against me recently, when I found out too late about an opening in Michael Murphey's band. I've been keeping myself alive with a few nice sessions, and a few not-so-nice lounge gigs, but I must say I miss the Picker's tunes. This sort of thing is supposed to build character, but I rather liked my character before !.....I know John will succeed if he keeps hanging in there, and I continue to wish him well.....The five years I spent with John were the best of my musical life, to date, and I made some fantastic friends along the way. By no means do I intend to let these friendships go to the wayside. I'll be keeping in touch".
There are a lot of people over here in the UK who will join me in wishing Arnie well with his future musical career, and though they may have split by mutual agreement, I shall still regard this O'Bsessions column as the appropriate place to keep you up to date on developments. John on stage without 'Wideload' must seem very strange, not least for John himself.
Arnie also mentioned a review by Hardy Price in the January 17 Billboard of John's most recent Phoenix Concert. Not a paper most of you will get, so here is what it said.
Stewart owns Phoenix and his Dec.l9 concert at the Celebrity Theater here firmly re-established that fact. It was his 15th (if you consider a pair of club dates) sellout in the last three years. His 90 minute stint on Celebrity's revolving stage was simply Stewart at his best, despite the fact that he was playing Phoenix for the first time without his long-time friend and bass player, Arnie Moore. Also missing from the stage was Buffy Ford.
But Stewart and his three man band - John Woodhead on guitar, Chris Whaelan on bass and Peter Thomas a/k/a Jacquin Karnell (!) - did not disappoint. This was his last show of the year, but one would have thought Stewart was just starting out.
Stewart's voice, a combination of ice and wind with a dash of fire, is rough-edged in places, but perfect for his constant change between the folk and rock genre to tell his tales of love, horses and people. His guitar does likewise and, as it happened this time around, the banjo did the same on a 'Cripple Creek' breakdown.
Stewart's songs are as familiar in Phoenix as his face and are regarded by his fans as old friends. Many in the audience were quietly singing along as one Stewart standard after another rolled out through the speakers. His opening 'Runaway Fool of Love' picked up the 2700 Stewart loyalists and kept them there through the likes of 'Mazatlan', 'Zapata's Own Comrade' (a new song), 'California Bloodlines', 'Wi1lard', 'Chilly Winds', 'July, You're a Woman' and 'Let the Big Horse Run'. However, when he reached back for 'Mother Country' and 'Survivors', Stewart put the crowd on its feet and kept them there through an encore which included an old Chuck Berry rocker, 'Promised Land'.
Eat your hearts out all you UK Stewart fans. There's still no news on John coming over here again. And to think Nesmith has made it over twice since that ZigZag concert.
"Signals Through the Glass'' has made an appearance, however. It has been re-released by Capitol on their mid-price label in the States, and three people to my knowledge have picked up copies in London. The number is Capitol SM2975, so start hassling your local import shop. ''Picker'' and ''Sunstorm'' have also recently appeared in the deletion racks, though I gather the latter is still pretty difficult to come by. I am talking with Dave Walters at Warner Brothers in the hope they may be persuaded to release those two as part of their oldies double album series. If you think that's a good idea and Would want to buy a copy, write and let me know and I'll pass on the letters to him. Similarly, the new Capitol Vine series would seem to be the obvious outlet for a first time release of ''Signals'' and a re-release of ''Willard''. The more letters I get on that, the better the Chance of it happening.
Recent letters from Bob Westfall in Fairport, New York, have made it obvious that a cornplete US/UK John Stewart discography would be a worthwhhile exercise, so I will aim to have that complete for inclusion in OR9. If you think you can help with this, don't hesitate to send in your lists. I am constantly amazed at what turns up. Is there anyone out there who actually owns a John Stewart cassette that made a brief appeararance in cassette only compilation called ''Armstrong'', in a Schwann Catologue once?
It would also be an interesting exercise to compile a list of John's songs that have not yet appeared on record. I know of a few myself, and Bob Westfall told me of another, a song about his pick-up truck, Bertha, which was expected to come out as a single, but was eventually replaced by 'Wheatfield Lady'.
Moving on to other things, I forgot to mention in this column last time that John's pre-Pete Thomas drummer, Gene Garfin, was among the backing musicians on the ''Nashville" soundtrack album. Now I find he is featured as co-composer of 'That's Why I Love You', background vocalist on three tracks and drummer on one more,on Andrew Gold's excellent debut album on Asylum SYL 9028. John's former steel man, Dan Dugmore, is on one track, though this is less surprising as he is a colleague of Gold's in Linda Ronstadt's band.
While in the mood for compiling lists, it would be a lengthy and interesting exercise to chronicle the careers of all the people who have been in John's band at various times. I must confess thnat I had no idea John Ware was one of the many until he told me so during the interview elsewhere in this issue. On second thoughts, I think I'll hand over this one to Pete Frame. He could go quietly berserk trying to do a family tree.
I'm sorry this O'Bsessions is so lacking in hard news and facts, but getting them right now is proving really difficult. John has recently moved from Mill Valley to Malibu, and I don't yet have his new address. I have written long letters to John's Management and Agency stressing how difficult it is to keep up to date and accurate on what's happening with John. However, so far there's been no response, so I'm left groping in the dark. Maybe things will have improved by the next issue. In fact, I have this very moment received a phone call from Fraser Massey who will be going to Los Angeles for 3 weeks in a week's time, so I've armed him with phone numbers and addresses. I hope his hassling will be better than mine .
Rod Wilson was in Los Angeles not too long ago and came back with
an old John Stewart Capitol single 2605 of 'Armstrong' b/w 'Anna on a Memory'.
The person who sends me the best interpretation of one of John's
songs (the choice is yours) will receive this single with Rod's compliments.
Get writing !