Beverly Lindsay-Johnson was 12 years old and living in the Bronx when she first heard a song called “I Do Love You” by a singer from D.C. named Billy Stewart . It was 1965 and her radio was always tuned to an R&B station.
That 12-year-old girl became a documentary filmmaker, and at 9 p.m. on Monday, Lindsay-Johnson’s “Fat Boy: The Billy Stewart Story” will be broadcast on WHUT-TV. It’s a loving look at an artist whose hits included “I Do Love You,” “Sitting in the Park” and a mind-blowing version of “Summertime” from “Porgy and Bess.”
Stewart’s career could have equaled that of another native son of D.C., Marvin Gaye, but his life was cut short in 1970.
In the 1950s, regional doo-wop groups such as the Clovers and Sonny Til and the Orioles were perfecting their close-harmony singing.
“D.C. was a music town,” said 67-year-old Lindsay-Johnson, who lives in Fort Washington, Md. “Kids in D.C., they sang. They played instruments. They were very talented, because you had music curriculums in all of the schools. So much talent was coming out of D.C. because a lot of these kids were trained in music.”
Stewart went to Armstrong High School, but he had learned to play the piano at home, thanks to his mother. With other relatives, he was in the Stewart Family, a gospel group that often performed on WUST radio.
Stewart was discovered by Bo Diddley. From about 1958 to 1966, the guitarist lived in Washington, touring the East Coast, scouting talent for Chess Records and recording acts in the basement of his home on Rhode Island Avenue NE.
“People who were very serious about wanting to be in the music business would meet over at Bo Diddley’s house,” said Lindsay-Johnson.
Stewart played piano in Bo Diddley’s band, then struck out on his own. He looked impressive — his “Fat Boy” nickname was not ironic — and sounded impressive, with a distinctive vocal style he based on his love of Caribbean music.
“That’s what he told Dick Clark,” Lindsay-Johnson said.
You hear it best on his version of the Gershwin song “Summertime,” in which Stewart trills and scats to a horn-driven background. Quentin Tarantino included the song on the soundtrack to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
To record his songs, Stewart traveled to Chicago, the home of Chess Records, but he always lived in Washington.
“Billy was a native Washingtonian to his heart,” Lindsay-Johnson said.
The documentary grew out of a program Lindsay-Johnson co-hosted in 2016 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. It explored the careers of Stewart and another musical Washingtonian, Van McCoy. With funding from HumanitiesDC, she started work on Stewart’s story in 2019, interviewing relatives, musicians he worked with at Chess and one he shared a bus with in a Dick Clark Caravan of Stars tour: Jerome Anthony “Little Anthony” Gourdine of Little Anthony and the Imperials.
She also found amazing home movies of the singer, shot by a family member on 16-millimeter film. They’re a highlight of the documentary.
On Jan. 17, 1970, the brand-new Ford Thunderbird Stewart was driving between gigs veered off Interstate 95 and plunged into the Neuse River in North Carolina. Killed along with Stewart, 32, were bandmates Norman P. Rich of Washington, William Cathey of North Carolina, and Rico Hightower of New Jersey. Stewart had purchased the car just 12 days earlier. (Nine years later, Ford Motor Co. paid $500,000 to settle a suit filed by survivors.)
“I truly believe that if Billy had lived longer, he may have had the opportunity to continue to grow,” said Lindsay-Johnson.
Even 50 years after his death, Stewart continues to find a new audience, including among artists you might not peg as obvious fans. They include Trish Toledo, a young Latina singer from Southern California, and Alex Stassi, a Greek Cypriot who lives in London.
“That’s the impact that Billy Stewart has on young people,” said Lindsay-Johnson. “What they all agreed on is it is not easy to cover Billy Stewart’s music, because he has such a unique sound. Nobody can do it like he does.”
In addition to Monday’s 9 p.m. broadcast, WHUT will show “Fat Boy: The Billy Stewart Story” at 1 a.m. on Tuesday. It’s scheduled to air on PBS stations in February. For information on dates and times, visit kendallproductionsllc.com.
In an earlier version of this column, Stewart’s nickname was incorrectly referred to as “Fat Man,” not “Fat Boy.” The column has been corrected.
Twitter: @johnkelly
For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/john-kelly.
