The Last Campaign - John Stewart

Sometimes the best place to listen, I mean really listen to music is in a pickup truck. In the side door pocket of mine, tucked out of sight was The Last Campaign by John Stewart. I hadn't listened to it since I had found the rare out-of-print vinyl album on e-bay not long ago. The CD re-issue is however totally reworked material, and it struck me how timeless these accounts of Bobby Kennedy's run for the presidency truly are.

Coincidentally friend Henriksen and I had a recently had a conversation that touched on "assassination". Not a topic one can discuss lightly. But if you are going to talk about it, well then do it with a true historian. Gene is all of that.

On the album sleeve John Stewart says:

"I first met Robert Kennedy when he was Attorney General and I was a member of the Kingston Trio. We stayed in contact over the years and I was proud to be one of those who campaigned with him when he ran for President in 1968. Buffy and I traveled with the campaign and sang on the backs of trains, flat-bed trucks, town squares and high school auditoriums. I wrote songs as we went and the images of the people who loved him and believed in what he told them has been the inspiration for other songs, years after it was over..."

The Laser-Light CD features Lindsey Buckingham, Dave Batti and Dennis Kenmore. and Buffy Ford Stewart.  Stewart's fans are familiar with these songs, but the versions on this CD are enriched.

The songs:

1. Clack Clack / Oldest Living Son

2. You Can't Go Back to Kansas

3. The Pirates of Stone County Road

4. Dreamers on the Rise
5. Cody

6. Spirit / Survivors Medley
7. Hearts and Dreams on the Line

8. Crying in the Storm

9. Last Campaign (Reprise)

So if you don't have a truck, it's OK. This is a special CD anyone "With Hearts and Dreams On the Line" can find inspiration from.