By News Staff on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 05:00
  • “A Summer Song”—1964; “Yesterday’s Gone”—1963; And, unfortunately, so is CHAD STUART!
    “A Summer Song”—1964; “Yesterday’s Gone”—1963; And, unfortunately, so is CHAD STUART!
  • “A Summer Song”—1964; “Yesterday’s Gone”—1963; And, unfortunately, so is CHAD STUART!
    “A Summer Song”—1964; “Yesterday’s Gone”—1963; And, unfortunately, so is CHAD STUART!
  • “A Summer Song”—1964; “Yesterday’s Gone”—1963; And, unfortunately, so is CHAD STUART!
    “A Summer Song”—1964; “Yesterday’s Gone”—1963; And, unfortunately, so is CHAD STUART!
  • “A Summer Song”—1964; “Yesterday’s Gone”—1963; And, unfortunately, so is CHAD STUART!
    “A Summer Song”—1964; “Yesterday’s Gone”—1963; And, unfortunately, so is CHAD STUART!

    Although I liked the “Rolling Stones” and the “Kinks,” my taste in music in the 1960s leaned a little more to the “mellow” side—Peter, Paul, and Mary—Simon and Garfunkel—Everly Brothers—Herman’s Hermits. I especially liked a British duo that never reached high fame but did have some large and popular hits here in the States—CHAD & JEREMY, who wrote and sang love songs and songs that tended to be melancholic, nostalgic, and maybe “maudlin,” as my favorite college English Professor (Dr. Barrus) liked to say!

    David Stuart Chadwick met and joined up with a fellow 1960s student, Jeremy Clyde, since both had some interest in acting and singing, and the two of them decided to concentrate on music, performing for little money, if any, in small local clubs, coffee houses, and other not extremely noteworthy venues.

    As time passed, and they were not getting rich, David Stuart Chadwick legally changed his name to “Chad Stuart,” and the two became a singing group (duo), calling themselves “The Jerks.” It began as a ROCK group, which was the most popular at the time, but the two singers soon realized they wanted to do a quieter style of music that my friends and I termed “folk songs.”

    Their career was up-and-down, with hits that most often were “big hits” in the United States rather than in Britain—“The Way You Look Tonight,” “Yesterday’s Gone,” “Before and After,” “A Summer Song,” “Willow Weep for Me,” “September in the Rain,” and other regional favorites.

    One special thing I remember is that “Chad and Jeremy” were big favorites with the high school aged “women” and were often seen on sit-coms and teen music shows, such as American Bandstand, Shindig, and even as guest stars on Batman. And, they were featured in several advertisements.

    When their career as a duo came pretty much to an end, “Clyde” returned to his homeland, while Stuart stayed on in the States.

    I remember, though, that the two of them agreed to be part of a REUNION CONCERT for PBS Television in the early 2000s and, after being heartily received by the audience, then decided to do some more touring in the United States, which continued for more than 10 years! *I recalled the viewing of that television presentation and wondering why they had ever quit touring, especially since the “female audience” nearly always went “gaga” when the two of them sang softly and prettily and with their romantic good looks!*

    CHAD STUART recently died at age 79 from pneumonia complications, arising from a bad accidental fall. “Chad and Jeremy” had a pretty remarkable and successful run of 50 Years after Beatles Drummer, Ringo Starr, proclaimed their music “too soft” for England— but maybe all right for America!