Sunday Songs: Gratitude to the Gods, Musical and Otherwise

Although there is a serious raison d’etre for this three day weekend, it is the unofficial commencement of summer and for that reason are posted a trio of songs from the uniquely talented Billy Stewart who passed away just two months shy of his thirty-third birthday, placing him in a pantheon of young rock'n'roll geniuses who left the world much too soon.

Edited From Soul-Patrol.com:

In December 1964, Billy recorded and released a masterpiece titled, "I Do Love You." The song hit both the R&B and Pop charts and stayed on the charts for 21 weeks. The next release was "Sitting In The Park." It hit Top Ten R&B and Top Twenty pop. Billy was in popular demand.

His extensive touring made it impossible for him to get back in the studio to record, because, as Billy put it, touring paid more of the bills than receiving record royalties. Finally, in the summer of 1966, Billy wanted to try something new and different. Trying to reach more into the pop stream, Billy Davis suggested that he try recording an album of standards, which would broaden his audience.



Billy went back to a song that won him a local talent show as teenager with "Summertime." The recording took place on October 6, 1965 and featured the regular Chess session musicians including Pete Cosey on guitar, Louis Satterfield on the electric bass, Sonny Thompson on piano and a young drummer, (who would go on to have a major influence in the 70's later with his group Earth, Wind & Fire) Maurice White. Maurice White played session drums for all of the hit records at Chess. With Billy's trademark of doubling words and his new nickname being "Motormouth," this was Billy at his best.



It paid off, making "Summertime" his first crossover top ten hit on the Pop charts and hitting #7 on the R&B charts.




In honour of the oncoming season, here are some pics of a young man in Timoteo swimwear. If it’s good enough for DNA, it’s good enough for Column of Life. There’s nothing like a young god in a bathing suit.




Timothy [and Timoteo] etymology
masc. proper name, from Fr. Timothée, from L. Timotheus, from Gk. Timotheos, lit. "honoring God," from time "honor, respect" + theos "god."