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Not to be confused with the Australian rugby union player Hamish Stewart.

James Hamish Stuart (born 8 October 1949) is a Scottish guitarist, bassist, singer, composer and record producer. He was an original member of the Average White Band.

Biography

Born in 8 October 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland,[1] Stuart was raised in the Muirend section.[2] He attended Queens Park School before leaving to form his first professional band, the Dream Police, in 1964, featuring himself on lead guitar.

The band recorded three singles on Decca Records before Stuart was invited to join the recently formed Average White Band (AWB) in the summer of 1972, replacing guitarist Michael Rosen.[3][1][4]

Remaining with the band until its 1982 breakup,[5] Stuart went on to work with Chaka Khan,[6] George Benson,[7] David Sanborn,[8] and Aretha Franklin.

Stuart also wrote—or co-wrote—vehicles for other artists, such as Atlantic Starr‘s 1986 hit “If Your Heart Isn’t in It”,[9] as well as songs for Jeffrey Osborne,[10] George Benson,[7] Smokey Robinson, and Diana Ross.

Stuart joined Paul McCartney’s band (where he switched between guitar and bass as necessary with McCartney) for McCartney’s 1989 comeback album Flowers in the Dirt and went on to appear on several other albums and McCartney’s world tours of 1989 and 1993.[11]

After collaborating on numerous albums for other artists, he recorded his first solo album, Sooner or Later, in 1999, 17 years after leaving the Average White Band, which he released on his own record label, Sulphuric Records.

Apart from playing with his own group, the Hamish Stuart Band, and with his fellow Glaswegian guitarist and friend Jim Mullen, Stuart has also produced Gordon Haskell and the Swedish singer-songwriter Meja.

In 2006, Stuart toured as the bass player with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. He joined Starr again for a 2008 tour, where he performed “Pick Up The Pieces” and “Work to Do“.[12] He once again toured with Ringo in 2019 playing “Pick Up the Pieces”, “Work to Do”, and “Cut the Cake“. Although the tour paused because of COVID-19 precautions, it resumed in 2022, completing tour dates initially planned for 2020.[13]

In 2007, he produced and appeared as a guest vocalist on the album All About the Music, by The AllStars collective.

In July 2015, Stuart reunited with his AWB bandmates Malcolm “Molly” Duncan and Steve Ferrone to form The 360 Band. This is in essence one third of the original Average White Band. They released an album titled Three Sixty in 2017 and have been performing live together along with supporting musicians.

Since 2019, he has toured as a featured member of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.

He is the curator, along with partner Claire Houlihan and friend Tom Sutton-Roberts, of the annual mOare Music festival, held in the village of Oare, Faversham, Kent.

In recognition of his unique contribution to music, Stuart was awarded with a BASCA Gold Badge award in 2016.[14]

Personal life

Since approximately 1996, Stuart has lived with his partner, New Zealand-born restaurateur Claire Houlihan.[15]

Discography

Albums

List of albums, with selected details
Title Details
Sooner or Later
  • Released: 1999
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Sulphuric Records (SUCCD001)
Let It Snow
  • Released: 2003
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Sulphuric Records (SUCCD005)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Nite, Norm N.; Newman, Ralph N. (1974). Rock On: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock ‘n Roll. HarperCollins. p. 14. ISBN 978-0061816420. “Michael Rosen (guitar)/replaced by Hamish Stewart/born: Oct. 8, 1949/Glasgow, Scotland. Alan Gorrie (bass)/born: July 19, 1946/Perth, Scotland.”
  2. ^ Bruce, Donald (20 May 1970). “The Big Night of Pop; Donald Bruce Introduces Our Stars; Pleased”. Daily Record. p. 15. Retrieved March 30, 2026. “What had pleased the Police—Joe, Hamish Stuart, the lead guitarist, from Muirend, drummer Charlie Smith, from Kirkintilloch, and Matt Irving, the pianist, from Mount Florida–has been the help they’ve been getting from the Scots who made it big down there.”
  3. ^ Brod, Doug (2020). They Just Seem a Little Weird: How KISS, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, and Starz Remade Rock and Roll. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 9780306845215. “Considering how knowledgeable Nielsen was of the late-’60s Brit scene, it comes as something of a surprise that the album title doesn’t reference the Scottish band of the same name. Dream Police had three 1970 singles on Decca, shared bills with the Move, and featured singer-guitarist Hamish Stuart, who later played with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Their stirring psych-soul, reminiscent of Nielsen’s beloved Family, would seem to be right up the guitarist’s dark alley. Nielsen claims to have never heard of them.”
  4. ^ Case, Brian; Britt, Stan (1986). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz. London: Salamander Books. p. 20. ISBN 9780861012466. “Formed in Scotland early 1972 as a jazz and soul group, the Average White Band’s […] original members were Alan Gorrie (lead vocals, bass), Onnie Mcintyre (rhythm guitar, vocals), Malcolm ‘Molly’ Duncan (tenor sax), Roger Ball (alto, baritone sax, keyboards), Mike Rosen (trumpet)[sic] and Robbie Mclntosh (drums). Co-lead vocalist/guitarist Hamish Stuart joined six months later, replacing trumpeter[sic] Rosen.”
  5. ^ Madsen, Pete (2006). Funk Guitar & Bass: Know the Players, Play the Music. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 64. ISBN 0-87930-894-X. “The players included Hamish Stuart, Alan Gorrie, Onnie McIntyre, Malcolm Duncan, Roger Ball, and Robbie McIntosh, the latter of whom died of a drug overdose in 1974, being replaced by Steve Ferrone, AFB’s first black member. The band broke up in 1982, with Gorrie going solo, Stuart playing guitar with Paul McCartney in his Flowers in the Dirt band, and Ferrone joining Duran Duran.”
  6. ^ Joyce, Mike (21 January 1983). “High-Energy Chaka Khan”. The Washington Post. p. WK27. ProQuest 138110173. You could easily fault Chaka Khan for pursuing old strategies on her latest solo album. You could, that is, if the results weren’t so lavishly exuberant. The gang’s all here: producer Arif Mardin, the Brecker Brothers, Hamish Stuart of the Average White Band — all of whom helped to guide Khan’s first solo flight after she left Rufus’s platinum roost several years ago.
  7. ^ a b Daly, Mike (23 June 1983). “New Notes: Klugh and Co, three blenders of styles”. The Age. p. 45. ProQuest 2521088595. Al Jarreau, George Benson and Earl Klugh, who each have new albums out this month, occupy that middle ground where jazz, funk and pop music meet. […] Benson opens In Your Eyes (Warner 23744-1) the way he intends to continue, with a funky upbeat version of Feel Like Making Love, on which he takes a brief guitar/vocal scat solo — his trademark. […] ‘Love Will Come Again’ throbs to Will Lee’s bass, and features vocal backing by Chaka Khan and the Average White Band’s Hamish Stuart (the co-writer).
  8. ^ Karlovits, Bob (3 May 1984). “Davis Sanborn’s sound spells success and limitations”. The Pittsburgh Press. p. C1. Retrieved March 30, 2026. “Sanborn will bring his familiar sound to the Stanley Saturday at 7:30 p.m. With him will be bassist Marcus Miller, drummer Buddy Williams, pianist Don Grolnick, guitarist Hiram Bullock and singer Hamish Stuart.”
  9. ^ George, Nelson (14 January 1986). “The Rhythm & The Blues”. The Washington Post. p. 50. ProQuest 1286447794. Ex-Average White Band vocalist Hamish Stewart has written the new Atlantic Starr single, ‘If Your Heart Isn’t In It.’ Stuart previously penned Chaka Khan’s big hit ‘Whatcha Gonna Do for Me’
  10. ^ Joyce, Mike (14 January 1986). “Spotlight: Jeffrey Osborne’s Solo Success”. The Washington Post. p. B7. ProQuest 139004435. Also included will be a new song by the Average White Band’s Hamish Stuart called ‘Soweto,’ a view of the struggle to end apartheid as seen through the eyes of South African children.
  11. ^ “Yamaha artists”. Uk.yamaha.com. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  12. ^ Sarah Rodman, “Ringo and pals deliver genial tour through hits”. The Boston Globe. 26 June 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  13. ^ “RINGO STARR AND HIS ALL STARR BAND ANNOUNCE SECOND LEG OF 2022 TOUR DATES”. ringostarr.com. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  14. ^ Gumble, Daniel (4 October 2016). “BASCA Gold Badge Award winners revealed | Talent”. Music Week. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  15. ^ “Whitstable pearl – Claire Houlihan”. Whitestable Times. 29 October 2014. p. 20. ProQuest 1617998536. Haversham resident Claire, who is originally from New Zealand, has lived in the UK for more than 30 years, and has done stints in the wine trade and the music industry, where she met her partner, The Average White Band’s Hamish Stuart. […] ‘My mum’s English and my whole family ended up moving here. My mum lives in Faversham. My parents moved here just a few years after my sister and I did. My sister lives just up the road in Tankerton. I have two brothers and another sister in London. I’ve been with Hamish for 18 years, and there’s Spike the dog – he’s a half-collie, half-kelpie.’