Artist:John Stewart f/Stevie Nicks
Song:Gold
Album:Sounds of the Seventies: The Late 70s
Gold was a top five hit in 1979. It was the only big hit for singer songwriter John Stewart. Though this song is perceived as a one hit wonder, a couple of other singles from his 1979 album Bombs Away Dream Babies charted so technically he is not a one hit wonder. Besides, Stewart had a long career as a folk music pioneer and a songwriter. He was born Sept. 5, 1939 in San Diego but he grew up in the Los Angeles area. He wrote his first song at age ten. Stewart said in a 1971 interview that he bought a ukulele after listening to Tex Ritter and The Sons of the Pioneers. While in high school, he led the Rock 'n' Roll band Johnny Stewart and the Furies. They released one 1957 single before splitting up. He then got into folk music first with The Woodsmen and then with The Cumberland Three with Gil Robbins and John Montgomery. They released a couple of albums. But when Dave Guard left the popular Kingston Trio in 1961, Stewart replaced him. When folk music started to fade in the mid 60s after The British Invasion, The Kingston Trio split up in 1967. Stewart signed with Capitol Records. He recorded three albums there. But he had his greatest career success when Stewart's song Daydream Believer topped the charts for The Monkees. That one song probably made Stewart more money than anything he ever did. Stewart also recorded for Warner Bros. and RCA with little success. But then he signed with RSO Records owned by Robert Stigwood. He started out as The Bee Gees' manager, produced the musical Jesus Christ Superstar and then got into the record business and had success with The Bee Gees and Eric Clapton. It could be that Clapton asked Stigwood to sign Stewart. Stewart's 1977 album Fire in the Wind was produced in Nashville by Mentor Williams (Dobie Gray's Drift Away). For the 1979 album Bombs Away Dream Babies, Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac wanted to help Stewart. So Buckingham produced and Stevie contributed backup vocals on Gold. It reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. You have to remember how popular Fleetwood Mac and especially Stevie Nicks was in those days. She doesn't even appear in the video. But Gold does appear on one of her comps. You can get Gold on this various artists comp. Stewart left RSO in 1982 and recorded for his own label for the rest of his career. He continued to have success as a songwriter especially Rosanne Cash's 1988 #1 Country hit Runaway Train. Stewart teamed up with former Kingston Trio member Nick Reynolds to offer a Trio Fantasy Camp. Stewart continued to record and tour until he died on Jan. 19, 2008 at age 68. Here's the video for Gold by John Stewart featuring Stevie Nicks.
Loved that song. Had a hell of a time tracking it down and then buying it off of Amazon. I wondered who his female singer was. I thought she sounded a lot like Stevie Nicks. Thank-you for telling me it was her, Frank. Thanks again sir. David.
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