The STU INDEX of America’s Gift: dedicated to Stu Stewart, the sixth Rolling Stone
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The young Stones with Ian Stewart, left. |
Ian Stewart was thought too ugly to be a Rolling Stone, even though he was founder Brian Jones’ first recruit. With Mick Jagger on vocals, Keith Richards on guitar, Mick Avory (later of the Kinks) on drums, Dick Taylor (later of the Pretty Things on bass) and Stu on piano, they debuted as the Rollin’ Stones at London’s Marquee Club on 12 July in the summer of 1962.
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Albert Ammons – he’s in AMERICA’S Gift |
Ian Stewart was probably Britain’s finest boogie woogie pianist at the time, and greatly admired Chicago’s 1930s keyboard maestro, Albert Ammons.
When Keith Richard first heard Stu play he said, “He blew my head off. I never heard a white piano like that.”
Avory and Taylor, as you may know, were replaced by Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman, and the six-man Stones kept rolling through to May 1963, when manager Andrew Loog Oldham cruelly sacked Stu from the band. Stu was too big, too old, too straight and too ugly (with a chin bigger than Jay Leno’s) to meet Oldham’s idea of a pop star.
The official reason was that six members were considered by Oldham as too many to be in a band. It didn’t matter that, along with Brian Jones, he was considered the Stones’ best musician in the early days.
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Stu at the piano |
But Stu took it on his giant chin, loyally staying with the Stones as their tour manager, driving their van, playing on their records and acting as the band’s musical conscience. That’s Ian Stewart’s piano you can hear playing on songs like Let It Bleed, Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar and It’s Only Rock And Roll (But I Like it).
Stewart, who died aged 47, from a heart attack in 1985, featured on every
Stones album bar one from 1964 to 1986.
“He was the glue that held the whole thing together,” said Keith.
In 1971, as manager of the Stones’ mobile recording studio, Stewart was looking after Led Zeppelin and ended up jamming with them on an ‘unplayable’ piano. The result was the track Boogie With Stu that ended up on Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti album in 1975.
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2011 poster promoting a special tribute album Boogie 4 Stu |
Said Jimmy Page: “Some of the things that happened there, like ‘Boogie with Stu’ where Stu turns up and plays a piano that’s totally unplayable, were incredible.
That was too good to miss because Stu wouldn’t record, he wouldn’t do solo stuff. All of these things wouldn’t end up on albums as far as other people were concerned, but they did with us.”
It’s said the Jimmy played a mandolin on Boogie With Stu with Robert Plant on guitar.
Unfortunately, Stu doesn’t appear in AMERICA’S Gift, the untold story of how blues evolved, but the Stones do: on 12 pages. As do Mick and Keith. But they’re in other parts of the index.
The AMERICA’S Gift Index – S, T & U.
Some names you’ll know, some you may not
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Carlos Santana’s in because his father–in–law was blues legend Saunders King |
Sad and Lonely Blues: 239.
Sahara/Saharan/Sub-Saharan: 19-20, 22, 159.
Sallis, James: 225, 255, 330-331, 333, 335.
Sam Jones Blues: 207.
San Diego: 49, 353.
Sands Great American Circus Company: 45.
Sane, Dan: 266.
San Francisco: 104, 264, 298, 322, 350.
San José State University, California: 183.
San Juan Bautista (ship): 17.
Santa Ana, California: 286.
Santana, Carlos: 351.
Satanic Blues: 207.
Saturday Evening Post: 327.
Sao Paulo de Loanda, Angola: 17-18.
Saunders Blues (song): 350.
Savoy Blues: 330.
Sayles, Irving: 109.
Scarborough and
Gulledge: 137.
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Saunders King – first King of the Blues Guitar |
Scarborough, Dorothy: 137, 139-140, 182.
Sea shanties: 7, 26, 94-96, 98, 238, 361.
Second Great Awakening: 69.
Scandinavia: 69, 107.
Schaap, Phil: 294.
Schoenberg, Loren: 294.
Schuller, Gunther: 117.
Scotland: 17, 46, 260, 362.
Scott, Bud: 160.
Scott, Professor Derek: 30.
Scott, Joseph: 244.
Seals, H. Franklin ‘Baby’ F: 176, 193-198, 207.
Seals & Fisher: 195.
Sears Roebuck: 135.
See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (song): 265.
Seroff, Doug: 175-176, 184, 186, 197.
Sevastopol/Sebastopol, Ukraine: 236.
Seymour, Nelse: 78.
Shaftel, Matthew: 68.
Shake, Rattle & Roll: 207.
Shakespeare, William/Shakespearian: 11, 27, 35, 37, 39, 79, 278.
Shanties From Seven Seas: 96.
Sharpley, Sam: 78.
Shaw, Artie: 294.
Shaw, George
Bernard: 67, 87-88.
Shapiro, Robert J: 240.
Sharlot Hall Museum: 103.
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Johnny Shines tells how Robert Johnson pretended to be related to Lonnie Johnson. It’s all in AMERICA’S Gift
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She’s Only A Woman: 334.
Shine On Harvest Moon: 206.
Shines, Johnny: 281, 334.
Shirley, Jimmy: 345.
Shiveree: 240.
Sholes, Steve: 360.
Short’nin’ Bread: 244.
Shreveport, Louisiana: 168.
Siegal, Joe: 288, 293-294.
Sierra Leone: 20.
Sinatra, Frank: 343.
Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: 21.
Singin’ the Blues: 258.
Sing On, 239.
Sitting On Top Of The World: 268.
S.K. Blues (song): 351.
Skelley, Joseph Paul: 107.
Skiffle: 53, 333, 336, 361-362.
Skiffle party: 269.
Slave Coast: 20.
Slave trade: 15, 18-20, 32, 50.
Sloan, Henry: 133, 142, 149, 161-165, 173, 180, 267-268, 278.
Slovakia/Slovak: 285-286.
Sluiter, Prof. Engel: 16-18.
Smith, Arthur: 365.
Smith, Bessie: 119, 172, 207, 224-224, 226, 228, 233-234, 241, 255, 258, 327, 330-331.
Smith, Charles Leroy: 191.
Smith, Chris: 191.
Smith, Clara: 248, 279.
Smith, Clarence Pinetop: 269, 348.
Smith, Floyd: 293-294, 344.
Smith, Ivy: 309.
Smith, Laura and the Wild Cats: 197.
Smith, Leroy: 191.
Smith, Mamie: 205, 209, 211-215, 217-218, 228, 241, 243, 247, 287.
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Mamie Smith’s touted as first African American to record a blues. AMERICA’S Gift shows she wasn’t |
Smith, Mike: 302-303.
Smith, N. Clark: 227.
Smith, Trixie: 227, 357.
Smithville, Georgia: 316.
Smith, Walter: 211.
Smith, Will: 81.
Smith, Willie ‘The Lion’: 241.
Smoketown Strut: 252.
Smooth, J. B: 81.
Sousa, John Phillip: 92, 118, 186.
So Glad You’re Mine: 360.
Somebody’s Been
Using That Thing: 291.
Son House: 162, 263, 278.
Sousa, John Phillip: 92, 118, 187.
South Africa: 57, 87.
South America(n): 16, 357.
South Carolina: 24, 115, 165, 233.
South Rampart
Street, New Orleans: 133.
South-West Africa: 17.
Spain/Spanish: 16-18, 26, 29, 106, 202, 254, 292-293, 329.
Spanish Flu: 254, 329.
Spanish Netherlands: 17.
Spanish Tinge (the): 202, 325.
Spann, Otis: 336.
Spencer Davis Group: 277.
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Victoria Spivey with Lonnie Johnson. Both are in AMERICA’S Gift. Lonnie gets a whole chapter |
Spivey, Victoria: 255, 336.
Spoonful: 252, 270, 307.
Staples, Pop: 162.
Star of the West Plantation, Mississippi: 282.
Staulz, Lorenzo: 160.
Stearns, Marshall and Jean: 184.
Steel Guitar Rag: 235.
Stinnette Chappelle, Juanita: 227.
St. Charles Theatre, New Orleans: 65.
St. Louis: 102, 104, 131, 140, 182, 191, 198-199, 202, 207, 209-211, 217, 227, 233, 247, 253, 255, 263, 277, 291, 294, 300, 311, 321, 325-329.
St. Louis Blues: 140, 198-199, 202, 207, 209-211, 215, 217, 247, 291, 294, 321, 325-328.
Stokes, Frank: 265-266.
Stone, Peter: 357, 361.
Stone The Crows (band): 282.
Stooges, The: 282.
Stories of Freedom in Black New York: 39.
Stories of Freedom in Black New York: 39.
Storyville, New Orleans: 158, 314.
Stovepipe, Daddy: 169, 238, 248-249, 250-251, 270.
Stovepipe No.1: 251.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher: 58.
Strange Things Happen Every Day: 351-352, 364,
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This was the first gospel blues to top the Harlem Hit Parade in 1944. The same strange day Hitler suicided. |
Strausbaugh, John: 54.
Streisand, Barbra: 343.
String band/bands: 120, 131, 134, 149, 153-154, 172, 209-210, 217, 351.
Sugar Babe: 122.
Summertime (song): 151.
Supertramp (band): 167.
Sundown Blues: 248-250.
Sun Records: 335, 360.
Sun Studios: 363.
Surles, Elizabeth K: 218.
Swahili: 20.
Swannee River: 82.
Swannee River Boogie: 348.
Sweeney, Joel: 44-46, 73, 77.
Sweet Papa Stovepipe: 251.
Sweet Thing: 121-122.
Sykes, Roosevelt: 255, 298, 300, 315, 353.
Taint A Doggone Thing But The Blues: 239.
T’ain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do: 241.
Taj Mahal (blues performer): 171.
Tallmadge, Professor William H: 120-122.
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Tampa Red painting by Gregory Stone. Tampa’s in the book big time. |
Tambo, Brudder: 79.
Tampa Blue Jazz Band: 227.
Tampa, Florida: 316.
Tampa Kid: 268.
Tampa Red: 255-266, 268, 271, 285, 297, 299,301, 308-309, 311, 316-317.
Tango: 183, 189, 199, 202.
Tatler magazine (UK): 210.
Taylor, Eva: 227, 241-243.
Taylor Greenfield, Elizabeth ‘The Black Swan’: 219.
Teagarden, Jack: 290.
Teller, Henry: 327.
Terraplane Blues: 275-276.
Terry, Sonny: 358.
Texan/Texas: 13, 77, 91, 98, 102, 104, 119, 145, 170-172, 183, 193-194, 197, 228, 248, 251, 264,-265, 271, 275, 281, 285-286, 309, 321, 335, 339, 350-351, 355-366.
Texas Tommy: 309.
Thain, Gary: 283.
Tharpe, Sister
Rosetta: 298, 351-353, 358, 364.
Thatcher, George: 78.
That Crazy American Music: 102.
That’s All Right (Mama): 253.
That Southern Rag: 201.
The Alabama Blues: 191.
The Arabic Roots of Jazz and Blues: 20.
The Art of Sound website: 342.
The Battle of New Orleans, song: 53.
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Naturally this gets a mention in AMERICA’S Gift |
The Battle of Plattsburg: 32.
The Black Patti: 111, 171.
The Black Swan: 219.
The Blues Had A Baby And They Named It Rock And Roll: 359-361.
The Blues Trail (formerly The Blues Farm): 250-251.
The Colored American newspaper: 112.
The Country Blues: 189.
The Cradle of Jazz Project, Landrum, South Carolina: 24.
The Dandy Coon’s Parade: 107.
The Darned Blues: 227.
The Disappointment (ballad opera): 105.
The Doll of Memphis: 194.
The Doors: 282.
The Dixie Nightingale: 227.
The Eighth of January: 53.
The Guardian newspaper (UK): 76, 358, 362.
The George Barnes Legacy Collection: 341.
The Gay Negro Boy: 31.
The General Magazine and Historical
Chronicle for all the British Plantations in America: 12.
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Roosevelt Sykes was known as The Honey Dripper. He’s in the book. |
The Honey Dripper: 353, 365.
The Gay Negro Boy (song): 31.
The Guitar Players (book): 230, 233.
The Jazz Archivist (periodical): 168.
The Jazzmen (book): 156.
The King of Jazz (film): 259.
The Jim Jam Blues: 227.
The Kiss (film): 127.
The Laughing Song: 116.
Them (band): 362.
The Laughing Policeman: 116.
The Memphis Blues: 183, 186, 198, 201, 203-205, 239.
The Merchant Vessel: 99.
The Midnight Special: 170.
The New Bully (song): 130.
The Padlock (operatta): 27-29, 31.
The Parlor Songs Academy website: 110.
The Prodigal Son: 263.
The Rambler Trio: 365.
The Rise & Fall of Popular Music: 81, 275.
The Stooges: 282.
The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band: 155.
The Theatre magazine (Australia): 123.
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In 1945/46 Joe Liggins topped chart for 4 months with The Honeydripper. |
The Times newspaper (UK): 56, 78.
The Times’ Whistle Or A Newe Daunce of
Seven Satires, and Other Poems: 11.
Thayer, Stuart LeRoy: 57.
Tommy Johnson (book): 267.
Tonight Show With Johnny Carson: 265.
Tony Donegan Jazz Band: 336, 361.
The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus: 278.
The Whistling Coon: 116.
Thomas, Henry ‘Ragtime Texas’: 119, 171-172, 248.
Thomas, Rufas: 245, 248.
Time Ain’t Gonna Make Me Stay: 236.
Times, The (UK): 56, 78.
Tin Pan Alley: 150-151.
To Do This You Gotta Know How: 256.
Toll, Robert C: 85.
Tomorrow Night: 335, 354.
Tonight Show With Johnny Carson: 265.
Toronto: 260, 336.
Townsend, Pete: 352.
Transatlantic: 358.
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AMERICA’S Gift explains how Sister Rossetta Tharpe was doing windmill shapes on her guitar long before Pete Townsend was born |
Treasurer (ship): 16, 18.
Tremeloes, Brian Poole and the: 302.
Tremont Serenaders: 77.
Tributaries: the Journal of the
Alabama Folk life Association: 184
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Trinidad: 44.
Trouble in Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Crow: 139.
Truckin’ Little Woman: 364.
Tuareg: 19, 20.
Tucker, Sophie: 167, 209, 211, 228-229.
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The US & UK get lots of mentions but America’s on virtually every page |
Tulane University: 168.
Turner, Big Joe: 137, 350, 352, 364.
Turner, Ike: 355, 363.
Turner, Joe: 137-142, 191, 350.
Turney, Sheriff Joe: 138-140.
Turney, Governor Peter: 138-139.
Tutwiler, Ms: 162, 180, 265.
Tuxedo Brass Band: 160.
Tyler, President John: 74.
Tyus, Effie and Charles: 239.
Twelve-bar/12-bar: 187, 190-191, 201, 350.
Twenty Years Before The Mast: 95.
Tyrolese Minstrels: 73.
UK: 29, 43-44, 52-53, 76-77, 116-117, 135, 210, 215, 254, 308, 318, 361-362.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin: 58.
Underground Railway: 71, 102.
Union Army: 92-93.
Union Navy: 94.
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I sat in on the recording of this album but that’s not why Uriah Heep are in AMERICA’S Gift |
Union Sons Hall: 158.
University of California’s ‘Music & Politics’ journal: 68.
University of South Western Louisiana: 108.
Uriah Heep: 283.
USA: 13, 16, 23-25, 43-47, 57, 61, 67, 69, 72, 76, 82, 97, 118, 135, 167, 179, 215, 219, 240, 258, 270, 287, 330.
US Library of Congress: 14, 69, 91, 70, 115.
U.S. Senate: 180, 266.