Gary Ronnie Stewart (May 28, 1944 – December 16, 2003) was a country musician and songwriter known for his distinctive vibrato voice and his southern rock influenced, outlaw country sound. During the peak of his popularity in the mid-1970s, Time magazine described him as the “king of honkytonk.” He is remembered for a series of country chart hits from the mid- to late- 1970s, his biggest hit being “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles),” which topped the U.S. country singles chart in 1975.
- Name: Gary Ronnie Stewart ◦ Birth Date: May 28, 1944
- Instruments: Piano, guitar, bass
- Pace of Birth: Jenkins, KY
- Occupation: Musician, songwriter
- Years Active: 1968–2003
Stewart was dropped from Kapp and then from Decca, but a series of demo tapes, including some countrified Motown tunes, found their way into the hands of producer Roy Dea, who convinced Jerry Bradley to sign Stewart to RCA Records. He returned to Nashville in 1973 and recorded a cover version of “Ramblin’ Man” by the Allman Brothers, both of whom were Stewart’s personal friends. It charted at only #63 on the country chart, but his follow-up, 1974’s “Drinkin’ Thing” became a top ten hit. His album Out of Hand was released in early 1975. “Out of Hand”, the title cut, became a #4 country hit and was followed by the #1 hit “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles)”.
The album Out of Hand, which climbed to #6 on the Billboard country album chart, has since become one of the most critically lauded country albums of the 1970s. Rock critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A- saying that it “was the best regular issue country LP I’ve heard in about five years.” Rolling Stone gave it high praise as well, stating that, “With practitioners like Stewart around, honky-tonk—and rockabilly—may not be dead yet.” Thom Jurek of Allmusic later gave the album five of five stars and stated that a “strong case could be made for Out of Hand as one of the Top 100 country records of all time. It might be in this writer’s Top Ten!” Country music critic Bill Malone called Out of Hand “one of the greatest honky-tonk country albums ever recorded.”
Later in 1975, MCA released Stewart’s old Kapp material scoring a #15 hit with the single “You’re Not the Woman You Use to Be”. For the rest of the 1970s Stewart played the honky tonks with his road band, The Honky Tonk Liberation Army, and recorded similar albums with modest success for RCA: 1976’s Steppin’ Out; 1977’s Your Place or Mine (which featured guest artists Nicolette Larson, Emmylou Harris, and Rodney Crowell); and 1978’s Little Junior. These albums spawned several hit singles, including: “Flat Natural Born Good-Timin’ Man”, “In Some Room Above the Street”, “Single Again”, “Your Place or Mine”, “Quits”, and “Whiskey Trip”. His 1977 ode to marital distress entitled “Ten Years of This”, from the album Your Place or Mine, was a favorite of Bob Dylan and a #16 hit.
Discography
Studio Albums
1973 You’re Not the Woman You Used to Be
1975 Out of Hand
1976 Steppin’ Out
1977 Your Place or Mine
1978 Little Junior
1979 Gary
1980 Cactus and a Rose
1982 Brotherly Love (with Dean Dillon)
1983 Those Were the Days (with Dean Dillon)
1984 20 of The Best (Compilation)
1988 Brand New
1990 Battleground
1993 I’m a Texan
2003 Live at Billy Bob’s
Singles
1973 “Ramblin’ Man” 63
1974 “Drinkin’ Thing”
“Out of Hand”
1975 “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles)”
“You’re Not the Woman You Used to Be”
“Flat Natural Born Good-Timin’ Man”
1976 “Oh, Sweet Temptation”
“In Some Room Above the Street”
“Your Place or Mine”
1977 “Ten Years of This”
“Quits”
1978 “Whiskey Trip”
“Single Again”
“Stone Wall (Around Your Heart)”
1979 “Shady Streets”
“Mazelle”
1980 “Cactus and a Rose”
“Are We Dreamin’ the Same Dream” / “Roarin’”
1981 “Let’s Forget That We’re Married”
“She’s Got a Drinking Problem”
1982 “Brotherly Love” (with Dean Dillon)
“She Sings Amazing Grace”
1983 “Those Were the Days”
(with Dean Dillon)
“Smokin’ in the Rockies”
1984 “Hey, Bottle of Whiskey”
“I Got a Bad Attitude”
1988 “Brand New Whiskey”
1989 “An Empty Glass (That’s the Way the Day Ends)”
“Rainin’, Rainin’, Rainin’”
