Billy Stewart – “Summertime” (1966)

Billy Stewart (March 24, 1937 January 17, 1970) was an American musical artist, with a highly distinctive scat-singing style, who enjoyed popularity in the 1960s. Stewart was 12 years old when he began singing with his brothers Johnny 11, James 9 and Frank 4 as the 4 Stewart Brothers, and later went on to get their own radio show every Sunday for five years at WUST radio station in Washington, DC After that, he joined his mother’s group, the Stewart Gospel Singers, as a teenager. He made the transition to secular music by filling in occasionally for The Rainbows, a DC area vocal group led by the future soul star, Don Covay. It was also through The Rainbows that Stewart met another aspiring singer, Marvin Gaye. Seminal rock and roller Bo Diddley has been credited with discovering Stewart playing piano in Washington, DC in 1956 and inviting him to be one of his backup musicians. This led to a recording contract with Diddley’s label, Chess Records and Diddley played guitar on Stewart’s 1956 recording of “Billy’s Blues”. A strong seller in Los Angeles, “Billy’s Blues” reached the sales top 25 in Variety magazine. Stewart then moved to Okeh Records and recorded “Billy’s Heartache”, backed by the Marquees, another DC area group which featured Marvin Gaye. Back at Chess in the early 1960s, Stewart began working with A&R man Billy Davis. He recorded a song called “Fat Boy” and then had additional success with his recordings of “Reap What You Sow” and “Strange Feeling”, both …