Bob Stewart on Embassy and Metro

Vocalist Bob Stewart appeared seemingly out of nowhere about 25 years ago, billed as one of the last of the great saloon singers. The first time I saw one of his CDs, I remember thinking to myself, "Bob WHO?"

It turns out that Stewart did have an earlier career, although it was an obscure one - and he really was quite a good singer.

This post brings together what are probably his two earliest recordings, both from 78s in my collection.

I believe the earlier of the two recordings, on the Metro label, dates from 1948. On it, Stewart is backed by a vocal group called the Victorians. The idea here was apparently to combine a singer who sounded a lot like Sinatra with a group that sounded just like the Mills Brothers. It all works surprisingly well, and the two innocuous songs are most pleasant - assuming you can tolerate the heavy surfaces on my well-worn copy.

I have not been able to find a date for the other record, which is on the Embassy label. The cover above may fool you into thinking the Embassy recording is an LP - it is not, and I was deceived myself when I picked it up years ago. It is a promo 78 sent to disk jockeys with a cardboard sleeve detailing Stewart's career, which to that point had entailed several big band stints and service as a plumber.

While the Embassy folks claim that their single was Stewart's first, I believe this record postdates the Metro 78 by a few years. On Embassy, the singer (to my ears) betrays the influence of Eddie Fisher, who did not become popular until 1950. However, I will admit that it is possible that the Embassy release comes from as early as 1948 - I found evidence of a record company by that name being founded in that year.

M-G-M promo

Whatever the dating, again this is a fine record, this time with pristine surfaces. The songs again are generic efforts, but Stewart and a backing group do well by them. One of the songs, "If I Had My Way," is basically "You Tell Me Your Dream, I'll Tell You Mine," an 1899 song that had been revived in 1939.

Now, because the singing styles on the two records are different, it is possible that there were two different crooning Bob Stewarts, although I think that is unlikely.

Stewart went on to tape a dozen or so songs for M-G-M in 1954, and had a least one single on Dot in 1957. But his most notable recording was a very good 1956 LP on Dawn with Mat Mathews, which has been reissued. After those efforts, nothing until his reemergence in about 1990.

This post is the result of a request from some time ago - sorry about the delay!