MUSIC
17
Stewart played his final performance at Pineapple Joe’s in
Fort Pierce. “This was the last time he played public, and as
far as I know the last time he played guitar,” Schwartz said.
They played three or four songs that night.
The late Chet Flippo, former Rolling Stone editor, wrote in
his tribute to Stewart for the country music publication CMT:
“He was simultaneously more country than most country
artists of his time and more of a staunch, down-and-dirty
Southern rocker than almost all of the Southern rockers. I’m
not sure that he ever realized just how good he was.”
Upon hearing of his death, Flippo “lit a candle and played
a song for one of the most soulful country singers I ever met.”
By coincidence, Flippo had been writing a book about country
music legend Hank Williams when he became instant
friends with Stewart at the Lone Star Café in New York.
“Stewart put his heart and soul into his music,” Flippo
wrote, but his drinkin’ songs may have contributed to his
wild intensity on and off stage, leading him “into the old
romantic notion of the outlaw singer …”
But it was his love for Mary Lou that ended it, said his
daughter Shannon Stewart. “I was raised to always know
that when one went the other was going to go,” she said. “I
knew that was the way it was going to be. He was heartbroken
without my mom being here.”
MUSEUM OF SORTS
Shannon has held onto the family home — “Stewart Manor”
— in Fort Pierce, near the county administration building
and old civic center, ever since, turning areas into a shrine.
“After mom and dad died, I renovated it to keep everything
as original as I can with a lot of memories,” she said. “I can
>>
Stewart enjoyed performing and writing songs with wife, Mary Lou.
Stewart was known to make friends wherever he went. This photo was
taken in Arkansas in 1973.
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