A singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist, he was born in the Letcher County, Kentucky town of Jenkins, the son of a coal miner. In 1958 his father sustained an injury while working in the mines, and shortly after the family moved to Fort Pierce, a city on Florida's Atlantic coast.
Stewart began recording at twelve, moved on to songwriting, and married Mary Lou Taylor when he was eighteen. While playing a Honky-Tonk club in Okeechobee, Florida, known as the Wagon Wheel, 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 country charts.
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." Through this time during the seventies and into the eighties, Gary played with a group named Aberdeen Rockfish Railroad, or as Gary called them the Honky Tonk Liberation Army. This band which consisted of Donnie Coleman, Chris Casses, Bob Melton, Darrell Dawson, Howie Folcarelli, and Ralph Profetta travelled and played with him. They also sang backup on several of Stewart's RCA releases, including "Easy People", "Can't You See", "Pretend I Never Happened", and played behind him on several unreleased songs recorded at Bradley's Barn. They were nominated for Instrumental Group of The Year by Country Music Magazine and were the driving force behind Stewart's signature raucous live sound. 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.
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.
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.
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 years.
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 thus: "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."
It's True
Gary Stewart Lyrics
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Word's all over town, my baby let me down
And there's nothing I can do
It's no lie
I didn't mean to take you by surprise
But the song for myself
You were there with someone else
And Lord I broke down and cried
Oh it's a shame, but it's true
We went for us to me and you
Oh but honey I'm still hung up on you
It's such a shame who's to blame
Oh baby, it's true
And it's so sad to say goodbye to all we ever had
But you'll never let me know
How much you wanted to go
And I never hurt so bad, it's sad
But it's true
Oh it's a shame, but it's true...
The lyrics to Gary Stewart's song "It's True" tell a story of heartbreak and betrayal. The singer has been hearing rumors about his lover's infidelity, and when he sees her with someone else, he breaks down in tears. He acknowledges that it's a shame that their relationship has ended, and that he's still hung up on her, but he knows that it's true that she let him down.
The lyrics capture the feelings of confusion, hurt, and acceptance that come with the end of a relationship. The singer is grappling with the reality that his lover has moved on, and that he was the last to know. He's also dealing with the pain of losing something that was once so important to him.
The song's simple melody and straightforward lyrics make it a classic country ballad. It's a testament to Gary Stewart's ability to tell a story through his music, and it's a favorite among fans of traditional country music.
Line by Line Meaning
It's true everything I've been hearing about you
I have heard a lot of negative things about you, and unfortunately, they are all true.
Word's all over town, my baby let me down
The word around town is that my loved one has betrayed me and it's really disappointing.
And there's nothing I can do
It's no lie
I'm aware that this news is true and I feel helpless about it.
I didn't mean to take you by surprise
But the song for myself
You were there with someone else
And Lord I broke down and cried
It's no lie, it's true
I didn't intend to let you know, but while I was singing to myself, I observed that you were with someone else, and it made me really upset. It's not a lie, it's the truth.
We went for us to me and you
Oh but honey I'm still hung up on you
It's such a shame who's to blame
Oh baby, it's true
We belonged to each other in the past, but now we have separated. However, I am still attached to you, and it's really unfortunate. The split is beyond our control and nobody is at fault. That's the truth.
And it's so sad to say goodbye to all we ever had
But you'll never let me know
How much you wanted to go
And I never hurt so bad, it's sad
But it's true
It's very disheartening to say farewell to all that we shared, but you never expressed your desire to leave, making it even more unbearable. I am deeply hurt, and the fact is that it's true.
Oh it's a shame, but it's true...
It's a shame, but the reality cannot be changed, and that's the truth.
Contributed by John H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.