John Stewart has died at 68. The singer-songwriter was best known for his song “Daydream Believer,” which was a big hit for The Monkees, but he put out 45 albums of his own after leaving The Kingston Trio, the popular folk group he joined in 1961.
The Kingston Trio (Stewart on right)
I was reading just the other day that Monkees singer Davy Jones wasn’t too thrilled about singing “Daydream Believer,” which he didn’t really get. The same article credited Peter Tork with the piano figure that opens the Monkees version of the song. I always kinda liked the record–one of my guilty pleasures.
Hearing about John Stewart’s death reminded me of the biggest John Stewart fan I ever met, Showbiz Moore. Showbiz and I were in a traveling band for awhile. He played guitar and banjo and had a pleasant baritone voice. I remember that he often wore an Army-green sleeveless vest over a plaid shirt, and was unfailingly kind, even though he talked of recurrent violent nightmares of his time in Viet Nam.
The band played six nights a week, and during our month-plus-long stints in Lubbock Showbiz would play the seventh night as a solo. And what did the rest of the band do? Why, we came and watched Showbiz Moore.
That’s when I discovered John Stewart, because Showbiz did lots of his songs. There are two I particularly remember: “July, You’re a Woman” and “The Last Hurrah,” which I believe was about the passing of the Kennedy era after Bobby was shot. I liked the songs, but somehow never picked up any John Stewart albums.
Maybe I’ll try to track one down at Half Price Books, and I’ll drink a toast to John Stewart and to Showbiz Moore, wherever he is. And to Suzanne Pleshette, who also just died. I was just watching an episode of The Bob Newhart Show earlier today–the one where she fixes up Carol with a blind date who winds up marrying her (Carol) days later.
Running/Breathing 
I remember watching Showbiz Moore singing “Daydream Believer” in a Steak & Ale, but at the time didn’t realize the guy who wrote it also sang “Eating Goober Peas” on a Kingston Trio album we had when I was a kid. I really did like that album…
I was looking at an article about The Kingston Trio that said that Dave Guard, The Kingston Trio member that John Stewart replaced, was always credited with writing the big hit “Scotch and Soda.” That reminded me that about ten years ago, after I’d sung “Scotch and Soda” in a coffee house (which is like singing “Java Jive” in a bar, I guess), a guy came up and thanked me for singing it, claiming he was the writer. The guy was not Dave Guard.