Frank Gutch Jr: A Short Word About John Stewart; When a Label’s a Label, When a Label Is Not a Label, and When Labels Suck the Life Right Out of Music; a Research Turtles/Flamethrowers Update— Plus Notes…..

I remember it like it was yesterday, hearing that John Stewart had left us.  My heart sank and all that was good seemed to disappear.  John and I had been acquaintances, of a sort.  We had met when a salesman working for a distributor handling Stewart’s own label, Neon Dreams, brought him into the dungeon at Peaches Records in Seattle for a visit.  We were introduced and I liked him from the first handshake.  I at first felt intimidated, of course.  How could you not be when you considered his background— the Kingston Trio albums and before that, The Cumberland Three, and after that, the incredibly huge string of solo albums.