'Daydream Believer' Songwriter, 68, Dies
By JOHN ROGERS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — John Stewart recorded some of pop
music's most acclaimed solo albums, helping create a
style that came to be called Americana, but he was
always best known for writing the Monkees' enduring
hit "Daydream Believer."

Stewart, who came to prominence in the 1960s as a
member of folk music's Kingston Trio, died Saturday at
a San Diego hospital after suffering a brain aneurism.
He was 68.

"He was a lovely man and a very gentle soul and I
guess the only thing you can say today is that the
world is less one great songwriter," the Monkees'
Mickey Dolenz told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Stewart left the Kingston Trio shortly before the
Monkees released "Daydream Believer" in 1967, then
went on to record nearly four dozen solo albums,
including the critically acclaimed "California
Bloodlines" and "Bombs Away Dream Babies." The latter
included the hit single "Gold," in which he dueted
with Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks.

Still, as with "Daydream Believer," he was likely best
known for writing songs for others, including Joan
Baez, Nanci Griffith, Roseanne Cash and Anne Murray.

"He was a cult hero, he never made it super huge,"
said his manager, Dean Swett. "He was one of those
outlaw rebels, one of the people who refused to
conform to what the record labels expected him to be."

A husky-voiced singer and accomplished guitarist who
delivered his lyrics in a poignant, often longing
voice, his music was hard to classify. It fell
somewhere between rock, country and folk and
eventually came to be called Americana.

He wrote "Runaway Train," a country hit for Roseanne
Cash, and "Strange Rivers," which Joan Baez included
on her 1992 "Play Me Backwards" album. Nanci Griffith
dueted with him on "Sweet Dreams" and Murray, like the
Monkees before her, had a hit with "Daydream
Believer."

"There are certain songs that you just go in humming.
It was one of those," Dolenz said of "Daydream
Believer," which also was Stewart's best-known
recording. Although he sang background to Davy Jones'
lead on the Monkees' version, Dolenz performs the song
himself at his solo shows.

"To this day it is one of the biggest songs that I do
in concert," he said.

Stewart joined the Kingston Trio in 1961, replacing
Dave Guard in the group that had helped usher in an
American folk music revival in the late 1950s.

"John truly was the right fit. A first rate
entertainer and gifted songwriter," the group said in
a statement on its Web site.

He recorded more than a dozen albums with the trio
before going on to a solo career in 1967. A year later
he released "California Bloodlines," which included
the minor hit "July You're a Woman." "Bombs Away Dream
Babies" came out in 1979.

He eventually recorded more than 40 solo albums.
Others included "The Lonesome Picker Rides Again,
"Airdream Believer" and "Rough Sketches," the latter a
collection of songs about the iconic American highway
"Route 66."

Stewart was said to be at work on still another album
at the time of his death.

Stewart's wife, Buffy, and children were at his side
when he died, according to a statement on the Kingston
Trio's Web site. There was no immediate word on
funeral arrangements.

On the Net:
Kingston Trio: http://www.kingstontrio.com/
Hosted by Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All
rights reserved.

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