Record collector Pascal Pilote has spent six years obsessively trying to unearth the mystery of an obscure rock musician who released a competent prog rock album in 1979 under the name Stuart Saturn.Saturn recorded a series of trippy-sounding singles and an album with the help of Harmonium producer Peter Burns, who has since died.
His real name is Stuart Rien. Son of Frank Rien (1921-1984) and Ethel Rien.
Saturn, known as The Singing Astrologer spent time in Montreal but was mostly based in Miami and claimed to have worked for 15 years across North America and Europe in the aim of educating the world to astrology through music.
He claimed to be a clairvoyant too.
In one biography he noted that he did astrological readings during his live shows, which supposedly included visits to both Place des Arts and the Montreal Forum.For $4.00 he could send you a personalized astrological chart.
He starred in five dozen radio and TV interviews, according to his claims, but none can be found.
He also wrote that played guitar for the Jackie Gleason Show Orchestra, Bobby Sherman, Sonny and Cher, Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Tony Orlando and Lou Rawls.
He read astrological charts for stars including David Bowie, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.
In spite of the possible exaggerations, Saturn's music is melodic, unpredictable and disarmingly charming.
Please help solve this rock and roll mystery.*
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Stories like this fill the must-read Montreal: 375 Tales of Eating, Drinking, Living and Loving, order your paper copy here now or buy it at Indigo or Paragraph.
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*Robert Ahad wrote:
I worked with Stuart Saturn a short while when I was about 18, that would be about 1974. He picked up our whole band, a young West Island band featuring all original material at the time, Velocett and promising us the opportunity to record with him, convinced us to be his band. Shortly thereafter he convinced most of the band to drop the drummer in favour of a better player whose name evades me at this point. I was the keyboard player (Robert Ahad). Steve Van Stiphout was the bass player. The guitarist in the band, David Foster (not not that one), who was best friends with Gary O'Donnell the old drummer had a crisis of conscience and quit after one overnight recording session with Stuart Saturn at Studio 6. That was the end of Velocett and our involvement with Stuart Saturn. Steve and I called a couple of times after that but Saturn was evasive and we eventually gave up. The song we were working on was "Light Wind", though I don't think it's us on the published track. Stuart Saturn, as I remember him, had a high whiny speaking voice, and was living in a 2nd floor dilapidated flat with his girlfriend of the time. The street was "l'Hotel de Ville" I believe though I could be mistaken. For a West Island boy, it was east end. Anyway, that was the last I heard of Stuart Saturn. He seemed a bit of a weasel.
Stuart and I were friends briefly, having met at the Outremont house of well known Montreal Baha'i Raymond Flournoy. Raymond had a long-standing Friday night open house where spiritual issues were discussed and an inspiring atmosphere prevailed. Scrubby young people like us were lovingly accepted and generously received there and the feeling among all of us was fantastic. Stuart grew up Jewish but used to go every week unless he was performing or practising. I remember he had a gorgeous blonde girlfriend whose name I forget. But, then, she dropped him for some reason and he went back to Florida disappointed with things. He was a very cool dude, confident in his thinking, music, astrology and mysticism. He was highly sensitive. You could see it from those large eyes. He was also very ambitious regarding his musical future and 'good' at self promotion. We kept in touch a bit. He was kind enough to mail me a copy of the album we see in the photo. We visited the one time I was in Florida, sometime in the early 1990s I think, either Miami or Orlando. Unfortunately, he had had a terrible experience there with someone who had been stabbed, a complete stranger, dying in his arms. It was traumatic. He was living with his parents at the time. I also have wondered how he is doing.
ReplyDeleteCorrection: Raymond lived in Montreal, not Outremont. The death he experienced was in LA, not Florida. He returned to Florida afterwards.
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