Dante’s Hifi – Miami – April 20 Do The Knowledge – Billy Stewart
So I woke up today and after breakfast, I put on the iPod shuffle in the house and the first song that started playing was one of my favorites – the Billy Stewart rendition of the George Gershwin classic “Summertime.” I know today is only April 3rd but It put me in such a mood and made me anticipate the wondefrul seasons ahead that I just had to rap about it for a little bit.
The summer of 1999 was a hot one in Philly. It was the first summer that I had spent after being in a pretty horrific car accident, one where I almost didn’t live, and had to learn to walk again, and basically put the pieces of my life together after having it shattered in a thousand tiny bits. It also was the first time ever in my life that I owned a car. It was sold to me by the boyfriend of a friend of my mother. He was moving out of the country and had no use for it so the offer was made to me. Growing up in Philly, one never really needed a car. It was walk, skate, bike or SEPTA anywhere and everywhere. But, because my legs were still weak, and I also thought that it was that time in my life where I stepped up my game, I bought the little gold 1987 Jetta from the guy. Unfortunately, I gave him half the money and he gave me the car, but before I could give him the remainder of the balance he moved to Eastern Europe. The unfortunate thing for me was that he left without giving me the papers, registration, all of that stuff. So here I was with this car that was technically mine but was actually illegal as all hell. Of course with no registration or pink slip I couldn’t get the car insured. Oh, did I mention that I didn’t have a drivers license yet either? That’s just a minor detail that’s in there too.
So here I was driving this little Gold Bug around the city riding so dirty that it’s incredible, but I loved that little car and I didn’t really care. It didn’t have air conditioning, and it sometimes wouldn’t start when it rained. Also, there wasn’t any tape deck so I was forced to listen to Philly radio. Around this time I had really started to have my fill of commercial rap music, which was probably more a change in me as much as it was within the music itself, so I found myself tuned into WOGL “Oldies” 98.1 FM most of the time. I would drive around the city that long, hot summer incessantly, just exploring and taking the vast city in. One day while driving down Germantown Avenue the sounds that came through the tinny-ass speakers was a revelation, this incredibly soulful voice singing in this staccato rapid-fire delivery of scat, launching into this incredibly rich and full orchestrated version of “Summertime.” It was coming through the speakers, going right into my brain, as I was soaking up the summer scenes right in front of me in Funky North Philadelphia. It was like one of those moments where all the planets and stars align and the universe pulls the curtain back to give you a glimpse of a very special and ancient secret. I drove to my mom’s house and immediately asked her about this version, and at first she couldn’t figure out who I was getting at, but as soon as I did for her the “BrrrrrrUP BruP chupdupadup CHUP” she said “Oh, that’s Billy Stewart!” I went out that day and found a copy of his “Unbelievable” LP at Bob Dicky’s 9th Street Records and it was a wrap for me from that moment on.
Billy was kind of a wunderkind, starting his singing career at the age of 12 with his brothers singing gospel tunes on local Washington DC radio. During his teenage years he sung with another musical legend and DC native, Marvin Gaye, and like so many artists of his time, Billy gained great popularity when he made the transition from spirituals to singing secular music. He signed to Chess records and that’s where he put out most of the records in his tragically short career. All his records have a distinct sound to it which may be attributed to being on the Chess imprint but I really think that the key ingredient to the magic of his music is the way that he attacked the song vocally with such a radical and unique approach. His version of “Summertime” is such a departure from any rendition of it before and is so hardbody, he owns that song from now until forever. I said yesterday that his version is more punk rock than most punk rock songs.
And so I’m listening to Billy today. He’s one of those artists that I personally just feel a deep connection to. I don’t think that you can say that he’s under appreciated in any sense – just go to a low rider convention in California and I would bet that 2 out of the 3 cars will be playing his tunes. And he’s obviously not under appreciated in the hip-hop community – just ask Just Blaze, K-Def and Vance Wright. But today I’m very focused on my dude, and I am DEFINITELY playing your music tonight at The Rub. Thanks for making me a little happier today, Billy. And I hope that his music moves my readers a little bit as well. So here’s a few choice pieces from Billy. I’m starting with a record that I posted up last year but became pretty popular again after Just Blaze touched it for Jay Electronica’s “Exhibit C.”
Billy Stewart “Cross My Heart”
Billy Stewart “Sitting In The Park”
Billy Stewart “Every Day I Have The Blues”
Billy Stewart “Tell Me The Truth”
And of course the tune that inspired me to write about this today… Here’s to the upcoming summer!