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Why don't more people know about
Alice Stuart? It's a legitimate question, considering the fact that she's one of the very first women of rock. She was one of the first women to do it all: guitar player, leader of her own band, and performer on international rock tours. And she can rock with the best of them. In years past,
Stuart toured Great Britain with
Van Morrison. She performed with
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention.
Bonnie Raitt has cited the California-based guitarist as one of her influences.
Originally from Chelan, WA,
Stuart headed for Seattle when her high school days were over. She got her start in a folk hangout called the Pamir House, then held a weekly gig on Hootenanny, a television program that aired weekly in the Seattle area. In addition,
Stuart performed at the World's Fair in 1961. When she discovered the music of
Furry Lewis,
Blind Willie McTell, and
Bessie Smith, she knew the blues was the kind of music she wanted play. She played the stage of the Berkeley Folk Festival in 1964, where she formed a friendship with
Mississippi John Hurt. She made another appearance at the festival in 1966, and again four years later. In the following years, she performed with such artists as
Hurt,
Rosalie Sorrells,
Jack Elliott,
Doc Watson,
Jerry Ricks,
Phil Ochs, and
Joan Baez.
Stuart eventually settled down in Berkeley, where she established a band in 1968, and frequently performed with a list of blues artists that included
Hurt,
Jesse Fuller, and
Lightnin' Hopkins. During the
Mothers of Invention's early days,
Stuart threw her lot in with
Zappa both musically and personally. The two met in California and began a love affair. Their musical styles, however, were radically different, and
Stuart and
Zappa parted ways. When things fell apart,
Stuart dropped out of sight and settled down in Virginia City, NV. Several years later, back in Berkeley again, she began performing with a guitarist named John Shine. Her songwriting blossomed during this period and she submitted a demo to Fantasy. Soon
Stuart established her band Snake with bassist
Karl Sevareid and drummer Bob Jones. Her groundbreaking steps helped blaze a path for female musicians such as
Raitt,
Joan Jett,
Melissa Etheridge, and
Chrissie Hynde, among others. Artists who have recorded Stuart's songs include Kate Wolf,
Irma Thomas, and
Jackie DeShannon. ~ Linda Seida