We know it’s only rock’n’roll but we loved him: The Rolling Stones salute founding member Ian Stewart before awards honour

Author: Billy Sloan, 28 November 2017


Ian Stewart (top) follows the band off a flight on the Stones' 1965 US tour

The Rolling Stones have paid a moving tribute to the Scot who set them on the road to superstardom.

The rockers took time to film a personal video tribute before piano player Ian Stewart is honoured at a prestigious music awards ceremony this week.

Guitarist Keith Richards said the debt the band owed Stewart – known as Stu – was immeasurable.

He said: “We are only here because of Ian Stewart. Without him, the band would never have existed.

“He hooked with Brian and then Mick and I sort of waltzed in and it became The Rolling Stones.”

Sadly Ian, who came from Pitten-weem in Fife, passed away in 1985 aged 47, but will receive a special hall of fame award at the SSE Scottish Music Awards on Saturday.

Presented by music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins (Scotland), the award will be accepted by his wife, Cynthia and son, Giles at the star-studded ceremony at Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket. And the Stones – Mick Jagger, Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts – will be there in spirit – and on video.

They will recall their days on the road and in the studio with the supremely talented musician, who insisted he was the lost Laird of Pittenweem.

[www.sundaypost.com]

Thanks for the info.ian is still being missed by fans and band alike.
Jeroen

thanks for sharing.

excuse me but imo this is very important..the origin of the Stones...and no, not to diminish Brian's efforts..

I realize its common knowledge here but its worth emphasis/ repeating..

Keith ( from 'Life' ):

“I went to the Bricklayers Arms, a seedy pub in Soho, for the first time for the first rehearsal for what turned out to be the Stones.

“I think it was May of ‘62, a summer evening. Just off Wardour Street. I get there, I’ve got my guitar with me.

“And as I get there, the pub’s just opened. Typical brassy blond old barmaid, not many customers, stale beer. She sees the guitar and says, “Upstairs.” And I can hear this boogie-woogie piano, this unbelievable Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons stuff.

“I’m suddenly transported in a way. I feel like a musician and I haven’t even got there! I could have been in the middle of Chicago, in the middle of the Mississippi. I’ve got to go up there and meet this man who’s playing this, and I’ve got to play with him. And if I don’t measure up, it’s over. That was my feeling as I walk up those stairs, creak, creak, creak. In a way I walk up those stairs and come down a different person.

“Ian Stewart was the only one in the room, with this horsehair sofa that was split, horsehairs hanging out. He’s got on a pair of Tyrolean leather shorts. He’s playing an upright piano and he’s got his back to me because he’s looking out of the window where he’s got his bike chained to a meter. All the while this Leroy Carr stuff is rumbling off his fingers…

“Ian Stewart, I’m still working for him. To me, the Rolling Stones is his band.”

Great piece on the great man.

"Nice bit of silk, Em."

Hopefully they get a video tribute from Bill, too.

Thanks for posting!

Excellent article by Scottish music journslist Billy Sloan. He’s been around for decades and says he goes to several gigs every week. Nice to see Stu honoured in his (and my) home country.

And once again another excellent find by Cristiano. His Stones radar picks up absolutely everything in every corner of the World

I can't remember ever seeing any interviews with Ian.
Did he speak with a Scottish accent?

Funny and interesting that even his wife Cynthia still refers to him as Stu, instead of Ian.

I'm sure I read that, as he moved to London at a fairly young age, he did not speak with a Scottish accent. However when they toured in Scotland, his dormant Scottish brogue would come to the fore again.

Sounds feasible, as other actors/musicians/sportsmen have said the same thing about themselves. I doubt Alex Harvey's Glaswegian growl was ever diluted though!

From the Scottish Sunday Mail July 2012







Originally posted by figalcrom in 2012.
[iorr.org]


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-12-04 20:43 by Deltics.

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HonkyTonkJan
I'm sure I read that, as he moved to London at a fairly young age, he did not speak with a Scottish accent. However when they toured in Scotland, his dormant Scottish brogue would come to the fore again.

Sounds feasible, as other actors/musicians/sportsmen have said the same thing about themselves. I doubt Alex Harvey's Glaswegian growl was ever diluted though!

It depends what age you leave at. I believe Ian Stewart was about 4 so I’d imagine it would be English accent out with friends and an at least slightly Scottish accent at home with family.

I left at 14 with family (I’m now 50) but returned North for University in Edinburgh at 18. I’m not from Edinburgh but my original accent from my hometown (Hamilton, near Glasgow) is barely changed. I have 2 younger siblings, whose accents are much more faded. My sister left at 9 and talks English accent with friends and her kids, but the Scottish accent miraculously returns for me and our parents!

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grzegorz67

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HonkyTonkJan
I'm sure I read that, as he moved to London at a fairly young age, he did not speak with a Scottish accent. However when they toured in Scotland, his dormant Scottish brogue would come to the fore again.

Sounds feasible, as other actors/musicians/sportsmen have said the same thing about themselves. I doubt Alex Harvey's Glaswegian growl was ever diluted though!

It depends what age you leave at. I believe Ian Stewart was about 4 so I’d imagine it would be English accent out with friends and an at least slightly Scottish accent at home with family.

I left at 14 with family (I’m now 50) but returned North for University in Edinburgh at 18. I’m not from Edinburgh but my original accent from my hometown (Hamilton, near Glasgow) is barely changed. I have 2 younger siblings, whose accents are much more faded. My sister left at 9 and talks English accent with friends and her kids, but the Scottish accent miraculously returns for me and our parents!

Stu talks about Brian Jones and Mick Taylor from "The Rolling Stones Story" broadcast by the BBC in 1973.

[www.youtube.com]






"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

Thanks for posting Cristiano and Deltics!

That pic of him as a little boy in a kilt, with the cat, is probably the most adorable thing I've seen in 2017. Thanks for posting!

Great stuff & some brilliant reading - thanks for sharing

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Deltics
From the Scottish Sunday Mail July 2012

Last picture? 1984? Neither, I'd say

Great article....many thanks.
Some specific points:
1. Not just because of the '1963 decision', Stu clearly had no time for Andrew Oldham. I suspect Mick is of the same view (due to the Klein betrayal) but has not expressed it as such. Keith, more forgiving it seems.
2. I wonder why he wasn't on Beggars Banquet? Was it because of people like Nicky Hopkins being around at the time? I assume he was in the studio however doing whatever was expected of him.
3. His ex wife says they spent very little time together, yet for many periods of time the group were not 'working'.
4.Stu seemed to stay well clear of drugs (and excessive alcohol use). Now if anyone was part of the Inner Circle it was Stu. Proof that with the right sense of balance and strength you could survive, intact.

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Aquamarine
That pic of him as a little boy in a kilt, with the cat, is probably the most adorable thing I've seen in 2017. Thanks for posting!

Yes!

Look at the small photo on the last scan : Stu with the Stones on tour in 1984.

Did we miss a tour ????


[doctorstonesblog.blogspot.com]

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Cristiano Radtke

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Aquamarine
That pic of him as a little boy in a kilt, with the cat, is probably the most adorable thing I've seen in 2017. Thanks for posting!

Yes!

For you to cut out and keep!




"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

[1] ,

My wee sticker tribute.

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cooheid
[1] ,

My wee sticker tribute.

Excellent! I think that’s quite tasteful, cooheid! Discrete, not ‘in your face’ and no harmin’ anyone.

Nice wee side story in the Sunday Mail article sbout Mick heading over the Forth Bridge after the 2003 SECC gigs to pay his own private respects to Stu.

Mick has never been one to show much emotion in public, but I once read that he was very visibly upset at Stu’s funeral back in 1985.

Love the sticker tribute and will look out for it next time I'm passing through.

In the summer I'm a tour guide, and on the day trip from Edinburgh to St Andrews (the home of golf), we pass through Pittenweem. Of course I regale my tourists with Stu's story, and it usually goes down well with middle aged North Americans and Europeans. South Americans too. I'd love to have some Rolingas with me!

I started a thread a couple of years ago asking which songs I should play on the minibus to show off Stu's talents. I normally go with Down the Road Apiece or Little Queenie. Occasionally I throw in Don't Lie to Me for good measure. Keith's quote "I'm still working for him - it's his band", is a nice way to finish the tale before starting the rock n roll, nice and loud. 50% rock, 50% roll, 100% awesome. Sometimes I love my job.

Next time I will point out cooheid's sticker.

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Deltics


For you to cut out and keep!

Thanks, Deltics!

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HonkyTonkJan
I started a thread a couple of years ago asking which songs I should play on the minibus to show off Stu's talents. I normally go with Down the Road Apiece or Little Queenie.

As much I appreciate Stu's playing on many, many songs I always thought that Around and around was a masterpiece because of his driving piano.

Another example is Roll over Beethoven from the 1970 Tour of Europe. It is a tragedy that no official soundboard recording was ever released but even on the scratchy bootlegs you can hear the prominent piano part.