Do You Remember Billy Stewart?

Sittin' in the Park

Yes, I'm sitting right here
Waiting for a-you my dear
Wondering if a-you ever
Gonna show up
(Show up)

I don't know if you gonna show
My darling I got to go
But never-the-less, I said
You got-a me waitin'

(Sittin' in the park waiting for you-hoo-hoo)
(Child, I'm)

Sitting here on the bench
With my back against the fence
Wonderin' if I have any sense
(Child, I'm)

Somethin' tells me I'm a fool
To let you treat me so cruel
But never-the-less, I say again
You got-a me waiting

(Sittin' in the park, waiting for you-hoo-hoo)

Why, oh why, oh why, oh why
Oh why, oh why?
(Tell me why)
Won't you tell me why?
(I wanna know why)
Oh, my darling I said-a right now
Good girl
I wanna know why?
Why?
(Tell him what-a-matter)

(Sitting in the park, waiting for you-hoo-hoo)
(Tell him what-a-matter )

Sitting here on the bench
With my back against the fence
Wondering if I have any sense
(Tell her don't matter)

Somethin' tells me I'm a fool
Let you treat me so cruel
Never-the-less, I said
You got-a me waiting

(Sitting in the park, waiting for you-hoo-hoo)

(Sitting)
Hope I'm not gonna wait
(In the park)
I am tired of waiting
(A fool)
No longer gonna wait, girl
Any longer

(Sitting in the park)
I'm tired of waiting
(In the park)
Oh Lord, I'm not a-gonna wait
No
No longer gonna wait, child
--Billy Stewart

Listen up. The daddy wants to ask you something: Do you remember Billy Stewart? He was a great R&B singer whose talent and influence on the music of the 60's has yet to be fully acknowledged. His songwriting, arrangements and phrasing was copied by many.

But in 1968, his diabetes began to worsen. In 1969, he was in a motorcycle accident. Then on January 17, 1970, he and three of his band members were killed when his car careened off the road and plunged into a river. Soulful listeners lost Billy but, through his albums, they can still return again and again to the sounds of a multi-talented musician (songwriter, pianist, singer) and stylists who captivated audiences with his distinctive voice and sweet, haunting and heartbreaking songs. One reviewer said of him:

"Like Little Willie John and Jesse Belvin before him, Billy Stewart remains a largely unknown and vastly underrated figure in the history of R&B. Billy Stewart was discovered by the legendary Bo Diddley who was so impressed by his ability to play the piano that he asked Billy to join his band back in 1956. Diddley even got Stewart a recording contract with his record label Chess and Billy recorded "Billy's Blues". That one went virtually unnoticed and Billy Stewart would not venture back into the studio for another seven years. "

Stewart took standards and made them his own-- made them sound brand new. Now, the daddy's heard a thousand renditions of "Summertime" but none more unique or more passionate than Stewart's.

Stewart had a number of hits during the sixties: "Summertime," "Fat Boy," "I Do Love You," "Sitting in the Park," and many others. But the daddy's favorite Billy Stewart's song wasn't really a hit but a cut from one of his jazzier and lesser known albums called "Unbelievable." The song was "Time After Time." Okay, you've heard many renditions of it, but just wait til you hear Billy Stewart's. It will make you grab your main squeeze and start dancing in the kitchen and slow drag her all the way out to the porch or patio. It'll make you call up that special someone and say "I miss you. Can we get together soon?"

The daddy says check out Billy Stewart and do some dancing in the kitchen.

Do you remember Billy Stewart?