Gary Stewart – One Track Mind
These are archival recordings of the late Kentucky son Gary Stewart (1944-2003), mostly pre-RCA & basically demos, & home studio work tapes. They’re unpolished, narrative-oriented songs with blemishes intact. It’ll appeal to the Gary Stewart fan base & completists & be a curiosity to listeners who appreciate the legendary honky-tonk/country man Gary Stewart.
Stewart’s career spanned 1968-2003 on a variety of labels & was known for his distinctive vibrato voice. His career peaked in 1970 & had charted many times with his repertoire. This showcase includes some Motown songs (Four Tops, Stevie Wonder) that Stewart was asked to “countrify.” The label was trying to persuade country artists to visit their neighborhood.
This 16-cut showcase with 4 bonus cuts becomes One Track Mind (Drops July 17/Delmore Recording Society/56:02) recorded between 1967 through 1970. Produced for re-release by Mark Linn, it begins with the lively title track “One Track Mind” that in its infancy still sounds like a finished piece with all the capacity to be a country hit. A little more ballad-twangy with steel guitar & is “Kings & Queens.” Clever lyrics & a good Stewart vocal. Despite the twang of guitar, Gary sings it straight & his vocal timbre keeps the song delightful.
What I find are similarities in Gary, somewhat equivalent to folk singer-songwriters Steve Goodman & Townes van Zandt. Evident in songs like “Woman Will Tear the Heart Right Out of a Man.” Heavy. Then his sights turn toward the Woody Guthrie-type energetic shouter “Big Bad Train.”
Some songs are typically country, a bit novelty-oriented but not corny, with a good sense of humor but otherwise just filler. The Steve Goodman themes are rendered well in songs like Gary’s “Her Apple Pie.” Both would’ve been good on stage with Gary. Whereas “My Mind Is On You” has a humorous, clever, twisted Townes van Zandt manner & would put Stewart in good company.
Sounding like Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Gary pounds out “The Bottom of the Pile,” & with the deep dive into C&W “There’s a Whole Lot About a Woman (A Man Don’t Know),” Gary may have been appealing to vocalists like George Jones. “You Can’t Housebreak a Tomcat” is a good swipe at Roger Miller. “The Snuff Queen” & “Morbid the Great” are different in a Steve Earle-David Allan Coe darker way. Interesting. However,…
The Motown tunes are…missteps, in my opinion. Not going to improve on Levi Stubbs & the Four Tops. It’s not country music, Motown.
Highlights – “One Track Mind,” “Kings & Queens,” “Woman Will Tear the Heart Right Out of a Man,” “Big Bad Train,” “Her Apple Pie,” “My Mind Is On You,” “Iron Bar Motel,” “You Can’t Housebreak a Tomcat,” “The Snuff Queen,” “Williamson County,” & “Morbid the Great.”
Musicians – Cuts 18- 20 were produced in Nashville by Henry Hurt. David Briggs (piano), Norbert Putnam (bass), Jerry Carrigan (drums), Billy Sanford & Chip Young (guitars).
An 8pp stitched insert is included. Front cover photo by Gina Stewart. CD @ Bandcamp & Apple + https://www.facebook.com/delmorerecordings