Woods, Stu

Bassist and singer-songwriter who was a member of Congregation and The Vagrants and joined forces with Mark “Moogy” Klingman and guitarist Leslie West until Leslie was replaced by Tommy Cosgrove.

One of his earliest recordings was an all-star affair entitled Music from Free Creek: The Long Lost Super Session Album. Recorded in 1969, but not released until 1973, it featured the talents of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Keith Emerson, Mark “Moogy” Klingman, Harvey Mandel, Mitch Mitchel, and Linda Ronstadt. It was re-released as Summit Meeting in 1976. The album included two songs co-written by Stu, “Cherrypicker” and “No One Knows”.

Here are some other albums Stu appeared on in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s: Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis; Easy Does It by Al Kooper; Revenge: The Bigger the Love the Greater the Hate by the Bley-Peacock Synthesizer Show; Self Portrait by Bob Dylan; and, Taking Care of Business by the James Cotton Blues Band.

Klingman co-founded Utopia with Todd Rundgren, and Cosgrove and Woods co-formed their own band, Brethren. Brethren released a self-titled album in 1970 and Moment of Truth in 1971.

In 1972, Stu appeared on the albums, I’m the One by Annette Peacock and Something/Anything? by Todd Rundgren. He performed on eponymous debuts albums by Barry Manilow, Bette Midler and Stu Nunnery and I Got a Name by Jim Croce in 1973. Midler’s album fared very well, reaching #6 on the Billboard album chart.

In 1974, Stu played bass on Dawn featuring Tony Orlando, The Second Coming by Jerry LaCroix, and Second-String Songman by Tim McMullen. He reunited with Jim Croce on his album, The Faces I’ve Been, and Al Kooper on his double album, Al’s Big Deal/Unclaimed Freight, in 1975. In 1976, he appeared on Janis Ian’s Aftertones, Ryo Kawasaki’s Juice, and Vicki Sue Robinson’s Never Gonna Let You Go. He rejoined Ian on Miracle Row in 1977. In 1978, he contributed bass lines to Bill LaBounty’s This Night Won’t Last Forever and The Manhattan Transfer’s Pastiche. He hooked up with Annette Peacock again on X-Dreams and accompanied Lewis Furey on The Sky is Falling in 1979.

In 1980, he helped out Peter Criss on his solo album, Out of Control. He was a member of a trio with Chris Cochrane and Doug Henderson in 1982. In 1987, he was in the orchestra pit for a Broadway production of Roza. He appeared on Natasha’s self-titled album in 1990 and Janis Ian’s Up ‘til Now in 1991. In 1992, he made the cut on Jim Croce’s 50th Anniversary Collection and one of Stu’s songs, “Only the Blues Will Do”, made the cut on the soundtrack of the Alec Baldwin/Meg Ryan film, Prelude to a Kiss.

He performed live at Zanzibar in The Big Apple, with The Nuff Brothers, a collective of New York session musicians, on 21^st October 1993.

In the 1990s and 2000s, he appeared on several CDs: Here Comes Shuggie Otis; Kooper Session: Super Session, Vol. 2; My Mama Never Taught Me How to Cook… (The Aura Years 1978-1982) by Annette Peacock; Rare & Well Done: The Greatest and the Most Obscure Recordings by Al Kooper; Souvenirs: Best of Janis Ian 1972-1981; Tails of the City by Murray Weinstock; and, The Very Best of Todd Rundgren.

In 2005, Stu reunited with Tommy Cosgrove and Mark “Moogy” Klingman for a live set at The Cutting Room in New York. Stu, Tommy, and Denny McDermott also did a show at the A&M Road House.

In later years he has been a member of the Avi Maza Orchestra.

He performs here…

Sources:

Woods, Stu

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