One of the benefits of getting an iTunes gift certificate is that you can explore options that you probably wouldn’t in seeking older and forgotten artists whose LPs you had, but haven’t been able to find in digital format.

One of the greatest artists of the 1960s through the 80s you’ve never heard of is John Stewart. He should rank up there with other conscience-driven singer-songwriters like Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon for you, but he was categorized soon after the end of the Kingston Trio (which he joined late as a replacement for an original singer) into the nondescript categories of folk, country, and Americana—at a time when most of top 40 radio was headed head over heels into electr(onic) rock. Just try to find his CDs anywhere but Amoeba (Hollywood) or Lou’s Records (Encinitas).

He wrote and performed two of the greatest albums of the post-rock era, Willard and California Bloodlines, writing songs that haunt the American soul and bridge the gap between Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and, well, Pete Seeger, who’s still around. Stewart also wrote “commercial” songs that groups like the Monkees or soloists like Anne Murray recorded (Daydream Believer). His lyrics were always the most compelling part of his music—and rival any contemporary in asking hard questions about why and to where American idealism disappeared. (He was a big supporter of Bobby Kennedy’s 1968 campaign, and, in his disillusions, became a champion of a nostalgic America that staked its ground on an earthy individualism that embraced the responsibilities of freedom, rather than its excesses.)

In the tribute montage assembled below, you see a gravily-voiced, Johnny Cash-like Stewart, his voice worn down from so many live concert dates over 40 years. But his presence is still strong, his guitar still gently weeping like George Harrison’s, and his expressive delivery saturated with melancholy, doubt, and, hope. You don’t get the hope without walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

You will count yourself blessed if you find any of these vintage LPs in your record store: