Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart: 5 Songs That Influenced Me
Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart recently teamed up with Thomas Lindsey, a Louisiana blues singer he met on Twitter, for the collaborative album Spitballin'. The songwriter and multi-instrumentalist took some time to discuss his formative musical influences with Rolling Stone, weighing in on everything from a Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks classic to a tune from the Oliver! soundtrack that he heard at home growing up.
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From ‘Oliver!’ Soundtrack, “Consider Yourself”
My dad used to play the Oliver! soundtrack on his gramophone record player, and the whole house came alive. This song always cheered me up.
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Bob Dylan, “Tangled Up in Blue”
The bit about abandoning the car out West feels like it comes from a Raymond Chandler novel. And the melody is fantastic.
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R.L. Burnside, “Jumper on the Line”
This just stays on the same blues riff over and over. It shows you don't need complicated lyrics and epic chord changes.
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Tyrannosaurus Rex, “Debora”
I saw Marc Bolan in my hometown of Sunderland when he first started out. About 800 girls were spellbound, and you couldn't get this song out of your head.
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The Rolling Stones, “Love in Vain”
If any other band tried to tackle this sort of blues song, it would lose that voodoo mystery, but the Stones captured it.