Customer Reviews

Essential Gary Stewart

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Gary Stewart was one of those artists who seemed stranded between rock & roll and country. Shooting himself after the death of his wife of 40+ years was a great musical loss in 2003. This 1997 anthology opens with a Wayne Carson song. Carson will be remembered for writing the classic "The Letter" as well as "Neon Rainbow" & "Soul Deep" that were hits for the pop band The Box Tops in the 60s. Appropriately, "Drinkin' Thing" is a last call anthem filled with pedal steel teardrops, "It's a lonely thing, but it's the only thing to keep a foolish man in love hanging on." Stewart's big seller "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)" is another Wayne Carson song filled with heartbreak, "My heart is breaking like the tiny bubbles." Michael Murphy's song "Backsliders' Wine" that was also recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker highlights Stewart's excellent way of filling the lyric with emotion, "Fight for your rights, but don't just fight for right." Gary's own song "Single Again" is another hardluck romantic weeper with Gary's great snarl, "Last I heard a little while back, you were cruising town in his Cadillac." On Danny O'Keefe's "Quits," Stewart's voice has a vibrato that makes him sound like a man on the edge. On Wayne Carson's "Oh, Sweet Temptation" Stewart's voice trembles, "I look into your bedroom eyes & Lord, I want to stay." Gary's voice bursts with lustful emotion on the crowd pleaser "Your Place or Mine." Stewart mines Carson's catalog again on "Whiskey Trip," "Lovin' her with every sip, I'm just like a sailing ship." On of my favorite tracks is the rocking "Mazelle," "Who's going to star in your movie, Mazelle, who'll play the big shot in your scene? Will it be him or me on your silver screen?" "Cactus & a Rose" was my first Gary Stewart album. The title track from that set still sounds good these many years later. Stewart's country twang is accented on Carson's "I See the Want in Your Eyes." Listening back on this collection, I'm impressed by Stewart's passion, his clarity of his voice and the raw emotion that he wears with pride on his sleeve. "The Essential Gary Stewart" is a good collection to discover this classic country artist. Enjoy!

Although he'd not been recording since the time he was on Hightone, the material he recorded for RCA, such as the stuff collected on here, is the prime stuff and is the material that holds the legacy of his career. Gary unfortunately didn't have that many huge hits that charted in the top 10, only 3 of his 13 top 40 hits peaked in the top 10, "Drinkin' Thing" (#10 in 1974), "Out of Hand" (#4 in 1974), and his only #1 hit from 1975, "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)." Although not all of his charted hits are on here, the majority of his hits are on this 20 song disc and among the other major hits on this package include "Quits," "Ten Years of This," "Your Place Or Mine," "Single Again," "Whiskey Trip," "Oh Sweet Temptation," all of this stuff is classic and as all great music does, it stands the test of time and the stuff that didn't chart is classic material and is equally as good as the hits. Unfortunately Gary committed suicide a few hours ago at his home in Florida, but if you don't have at least this CD which contains a great selection of his best work, pick it up right now.

Nothing short of perfect, Gary Stewart gave us EXCELLENT music in his time. The crud today can't even come close...

Gary will make you cry, make you feel pain, make you feel so many emotions, it's as powerful as music can get. Get this and see what all the buzz is about...

The "essential" Gary Stewart is basically EVERYTHING he recorded for RCA under the guidance of Roy Dea. This album gives a reasonable overview of Gary's stint with RCA but leaves out so much excellent material that one could be forgiven for feeling a little short-changed with this album. Stewart is THE greatest honky-tonk singer of all time and if the reader hasn't yet discovered his full repetoire go directly to the CD store and get all you can afford. Start with the two-fer "Out Of Hand"/"Your Place Or Mine". The former is the best honky-tonk album ever released and the latter is one of the best rock & roll/country albums out there. The other two-fer, "Steppin' Out"/"Little Junior" is maybe a little inferior to the "Hand" one but still head and shoulders above any competition. His other RCA albums ("Gary" and "Cactus and a Rose") are available on a harder-to-find two-fer but are well worth seeking out. Get these six albums and THEN you have the "Essential" Gary Stewart. His Hightone albums are good but not really in the same class as the RCA stuff so start with the RCA material and then alight the staircase to honky-tonk heaven.

GARY STEWART IS ONE OF THE MOST DYNAMIC VOICES THAT COUNTRY MUSIC HAS EVER KNOWN. HAVING FOLLOWED HIS MUSIC FOR YEARS, THIS ALBUM IS A COMPILATION OF THE BEST OF ALL HIS WORK. I HAD THE PLEASURE AS A COUNTRY ENTERTAINER MYSELF TO WORK WITH GARY A COUPLE OF TIMES. THIS ALBUM TRULY DISPLAYS THE SAME GREATNESS,THE ONE OF A KIND VOICE, AND THE SOUL FELT VOCALS THAT I HAD HEARD WHEN I SHARED THE STAGE WITH HIM IN NASHVILLE. GARY IS GONE NOW...BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. HE WAS THE GREATEST!

I first became aquainted with Gary Stewart's music while a boy in the late 70's and early 80', as my father was a big fan. While I enjoyed all types of music, Stewart's voice and the way he expressed himself through song was something special. It reached out and grabbed me. Many people (including myself) feel that "Out of Hand" - Stewart's 1975 classic is one of the top ten albums of any genre ever made. Whether listening to the catchy "She's Acting Single" or the haunting ballad of marital misery "Ten Years of This" Stewart makes you feel like he has lived each and every song. A side note: Listen to songs like "Whiskey Trip" and "Drinking Thing" in moderation and while isolated from alcohol. If anyone played this album at an AA meeting, the program's success rate would plummet. This album, along with The Essential Keith Whitley are musts for any country music collection. Now if someone would reissue such Gary Stewart classic songs like "Case of the Blue Ribbon Blues", "I Had To Get Drunk Last Night" and "Leah" a fan could have a true Gary Stewart collection (I have the others on LP). I wish I knew what Gary was up to nowadays.

For those who think they're up on their 'outlaw country' just because they saw the CMT special, click 'order' now and get ready for the real deal, because each and every one of these Gary Stewart songs is a gem, guaranteed to put a lump in your throat and a tear in your beer every time. Hearing him wrap that voice (that voice!) around those lyrics - both steeped in the emotional anguish of the ages - will do your head and heart in, and you'll come running back for more, and before you know it, you'll have worn out your CD. Worth the price alone for "Single Again" and "Ten Years of This," rumored to be a favorite of Bob Dylan's according to writer Jimmy McDonough. May Gary Stewart rest in peace, and may he also one day get the credit he deserves for making the art of nakedly poignant country song-craft so great...

I first heard Gary Stewart's music on country radio stations in Ohio while barely out of my teens.
His voice, his sincere sound had a way of reaching out of the radio and grabbing you by the throat.
Since his tragic end, some of the demons that were troubling him have been written about in detail. But Gary Stewart was no different from some other famous people in many fields who gave much of themselves away.
Those of us with less talent cannot possibly know the pressures of such talented people. Expectations are high. One hit is never enough....give us more and please us even more.
Gary Stewart had a unique sound and he seemed to live his music, which may not be something to always celebrate.
Some parts of his life were tragic; many things and events seemed to control him instead of the other way around. People close to him left him in shocking ways.
I will forever be thankful to Mr. Stewart for what he left
behind. He may be gone now to find the peace that eluded him in life, but his music will be played decades from now, and that lonely, calling voice will find new fans who have not
yet been born.
Thank you, Gary, for what you gave.

If you have nothing else by Gary Stewart, start here. You can't go wrong with this one. A lot of his greatest music has been collected for you to sample. But I suspect if you're reading this review, you already know how great Gary is. I only wish he was putting out music again. He's been "off record" these past few years, since Hightone. No one else ever sounded so wild on record. Gary Stewart is in a class by himself. He sounds lonesome like Hank Sr., and wild and crazed like Jerry Lee Lewis, all at the same time. Or maybe "wild and blue" is a better description of the sound. Some of his best numbers are the ones Gary wrote himself, like "Flat Natural Born Good Timin' Man," "Little Junior," "Single Again" and "Ten More Years of This." But the songs written by Wayne Carson really show Gary at his greatest too. Who could ever forget the first time they heard "Drinkin' Thing" or the classic "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)"? In all the years since I first heard Gary Stewart (about 1975) there hasn't been a country music singer yet who surpasses him. I doubt there ever will be. Gary, where are you? Please give us some more music!

Stewart had the most amazing, most soulful voice I've ever heard
and the man could rock like no other. As the old blues line goes
"my heart struck sorrow" when I read of his death this morning.
I've been a fan since I first heard That Voice roaring out of the
radio some 35 years ago. Thank God for the recordings...he must have been awesome in person. That unquiet spirit rocks on forever.