Gary Stewart (May 28, 1945 - December 16, 2003). a country musician known for his drinking songs, was one of the first so-called "outlaw" country performers of the 1970s. A singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist, he was born in the Letcher County, Kentucky town of Jenkins, the son of a coal miner. His father sustained in 1958 an injury while working in the mines, and shortly after the family moved to Fort Pierce, a city on Florida's Atlantic coast. May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Country music, once known as country and western music, is a popular musical form developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues. ... Ethyl alcohol, also known as ethanol or grain alcohol, is a flammable, colorless chemical compound, one of the alcohols that is most often found in alcoholic beverages. ... Letcher County is a county located in the state of Kentucky. ... Jenkins is a city located in Letcher County, Kentucky. ... Wyoming coal mine The most economical method of coal extraction from coal seams depends on the depth and quality of the seams, and also the geology and environmental factors of the area being mined. ...

Stewart began recording at twelve, moved on to songwriting, and married Mary Lou Taylor when he was eighteen. While playing a club in Okeechobee, Florida, he met country singer Mel Tillis, who advised Stewart to travel to Nashville to pitch his songs. He recorded songs for the small Cory label in 1964. In Nashville, Jerry Bradley, the son of record-producer Owen Bradley, worked with Stewart and collaborator Bill Eldridge to refine their songs, and in 1965 Stonewall Jackson's recording of their "Poor Red Georgia Dirt" made the the country charts. Mel Tillis (born Lonnie Melvin Tillis on August 8th, 1932 in Tampa, Florida) is a country music singer/songwriter, and actor. ... For other cities named Nashville, see Nashville (disambiguation). ... Stonewall Jackson For the 1960s country music artist, see Stonewall Jackson (musician); for the submarine, see USS Stonewall Jackson (SSBN-634). ...

Signed to the Kapp label in 1968, Stewart made several unsuccessful recordings. But Carl Smith, Billy Walker and Nat Stuckey had hits with Stewart's songs. Dropped from Kapp and then from Decca, Stewart made a series of demo tapes that found their way into the hands of producer Roy Dea, who signed Stewart to RCA Records. Their collaboration produced the hits "Drinkin' Thing," "Out of Hand" and "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)," the latter which was his only number-one song. Other hits from this most commercially successful period of Stewart's career (1974-1977) include "Flat Born Natural Good Timin' Man," "In Some Room Above the Street" and "Your Place or Mine." Stewart's recordings are characterized by his barely controlled vocals, rock-and-roll-like instrumentation, and a classicism that recalls both the country music and the rockabilly of the 1950s. Note: This article is about a musician. ... Sony BMG Music Entertainment is the result of a 50/50 joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment (part of Sony) and BMG Entertainment (part of Bertelsmann AG) completed in August 2004. ... Rockabilly is the earliest form of rock and roll as a distinct style of music. ...

By the late 1970s Stewart no longer sold records in the quantities of a few years before, but many critics rank recordings from this era, such as "Single Again," as among his best work. He recorded an album with producer Chips Moman in 1980, Cactus and a Rose, and left RCA for the Hightone label, where he recorded Brand New in 1988. Drug and alcohol problems plagued him in the '80s, and his son, Gary Joseph Stewart, committed suicide late in the decade. Lincoln Wayne Chips Moman is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter, born 1936 in La Grange, Georgia. ...

Despite these hardships, Stewart and his wife continued to tour the honky tonk circuit through the 1990s, playing venues such as Fort Worth's Billy Bob's Texas several times a year. Honky tonk was originally the name of a type of bar common throughout the southern United States, also Honkatonk or Honkey-tonk. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... Fort Worth is the sixth-largest city in the state of Texas, located about 30 miles west of Dallas on the West Fork Trinity River. ...

In 2003, Stewart released a live album, Live at Billy Bob's Texas. But on November 26, the day before Thanksgiving, his wife died of pneumonia. They had been married forty-three years. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The First Thanksgiving, after the painting by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris (1863-1930) Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in much of North America, generally observed as an expression of gratitude, usually to God. ... Pneumonia (the ancient Greek word for lungs) is defined as an inflamation, usually caused by infection, involving the alveoli of the lungs. ...

Stewart, who had been scheduled to play Billy Bob's three days later, cancelled his concert appearances. His friends later told reporters that he was extremely despondent after Mary Lou's death. On December 16, his daughter's boyfriend and Stewart's very close friend Bill Hardman visited Stewart's Fort Pierce, Florida home to check on his welfare. Gary Stewart was dead, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the neck.

Writer Jim Lewis summed up Stewart thusly: "Stewart really didn't fit in anywhere. He wasn't Southern rock, and he wasn't Nashville country." Still, Stewart's work has gained in critical esteem since the '70s. As music critic Robert Christgau wrote, "...he's the equal of any postoutlaw you care to name except maybe John Anderson."

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY

• Out of Hand (1975)

• You're Not the Woman You Used to Be (1975)

• Steppin' Out (1976)

• Your Place or Mine (1977)

• Little Junior (1978)

• Gary (1979)

• Cactus and a Rose (1980)

• Brand New (1988)

• Battleground (1990)

• The Essential Gary Stewart (1997)

Sources

• Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12/17/2003

• Palm Beach Post, 12/17/2003

• Los Angeles Times, 1/4/2004

• Christgau, Robert (1990). Rock Albums of the '70s: A Critical Guide. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80409-3.

• Christgau, Robert (2000). Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-24560-2.

• McDonough, Jimmy (2004). Little Junior, King of the Honky-Tonks: The Life and Death of Gary Stewart. Perfect Sound Forever. http://www.furious.com/perfect/garystewart.html

• Jessen, Wade. Liner notes for The Essential Gary Stewart. RCA Records (1997).