Ian Stewart (musician)
Ian Andrew Robert Stewart (18 July 1938 – 12 December 1985) was a British keyboardist and co-founder of the Rolling Stones. He was removed from the lineup in May 1963 at the request of manager Andrew Loog Oldham who felt he did not fit the band's image. He remained as road manager and pianist for over two decades until his death, and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the rest of the band in 1989.
For the singer sometimes known as Ian Stuart, see Ian Stuart Donaldson.
Ian Stewart
Ian Andrew Robert Stewart
18 July 1938
Pittenweem, Fife, Scotland
12 December 1985 (aged 47)
London, England
- Musician
- tour manager
- Keyboards
- piano
1961–1985
Early life[edit]
Stewart was born at his mother's family farm, Kirklatch,[1] at Pittenweem, in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland, and raised in Sutton, son of architect John Stewart and Annie, née Black.[2] He attended Tiffin School, Kingston upon Thames,[3] Greater London. Stewart (often called Stu) started playing piano when he was six. He took up the banjo and played with amateur groups on both instruments.[4]
Career[edit]
Role in The Rolling Stones[edit]
Stewart, who loved rhythm & blues, boogie-woogie, blues and big-band jazz, was working as a shipping clerk at a London chemical company[5] when he was the first to respond to Brian Jones's advertisement in Jazz News of 2 May 1962 seeking musicians to form a rhythm & blues group.[6] Mick Jagger and Keith Richards joined in June, and the group, with Dick Taylor (later of the Pretty Things) on bass and Mick Avory (later of the Kinks) on drums, played their first gig under the name the Rollin' Stones at the Marquee Club on 12 July 1962.[7][8] Richards described meeting Stewart thus: "He used to play boogie-woogie piano in jazz clubs, apart from his regular job. He blew my head off too, when he started to play. I never heard a white piano player play like that before."[9] By December 1962 and January 1963, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts had joined, replacing a series of bassists and drummers.[10]
During this period, Stewart had a job at Imperial Chemical Industries. None of the other band members had a telephone; Stewart said, "[My] desk at ICI was the headquarters of the Stones organisation. My number was advertised in Jazz News and I handled the Stones' bookings at work." He also bought a van to transport the group and their equipment to their gigs.[11]
In early May 1963, the band's manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, said Stewart should no longer be onstage, that six members were too many for a popular group and that the older, burly, and square-jawed Stewart did not fit the image.[12] He said Stewart could stay as road manager and play piano on recordings. Stewart accepted this demotion. Richards said: "[Stu] might have realised that in the way it was going to have to be marketed, he would be out of sync, but that he could still be a vital part. I'd probably have said, 'Well, fuck you', but he said 'OK, I'll just drive you around.' That takes a big heart, but Stu had one of the largest hearts around."[13]
Stewart loaded gear into his van, drove the group to gigs, replaced guitar strings and set up Watts's drums the way he himself would play them. "I never ever swore at him," Watts said of their relationship.[14] He also played piano and occasionally organ on most of the band's albums in the first decades, as well as providing criticism. Shortly after Stewart's death Mick Jagger said: "He really helped this band swing, on numbers like 'Honky Tonk Women' and loads of others. Stu was the one guy we tried to please. We wanted his approval when we were writing or rehearsing a song. We'd want him to like it."[15]