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Saturday October 11th 2008 |
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Saturday October 11th 2008 |
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January 11 *Pine Top Smith was born on this date in 1904. He was an African-American musician. Clarence Pine Top Smith was from Troy, AL, and was raised in nearby Birmingham. A self-taught player, he began performing at area house parties while in his mid-teens, He worked for some time as an entertainer in Pittsburgh, then toured on the TOBA Vaudeville circuit. After that he accompanied Ma Rainey and Butterbeans & Susie. On the advice of fellow pianist Cow Cow Davenport, Smith relocated to Chicago in 1928. There he lived in the same apartment house as Meade "Lux" Lewis and Albert Ammons, a setting that resulted in frequent all-night jam sessions. While in Chicago he also made a name for himself on the city's house-rent party and club circuits. In 1928 he recorded his influential "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie", one of the first "boogie woogie" style recordings to make a hit, and which cemented the name for the style. In the song, Pine Top talks over the recording, telling how to dance to the number. He said he originated the number at a house-rent party in Saint Louis, Missouri. One of the driving forces behind the advent of boogie-woogie piano, Clarence "Pine Top" Smith ranks among the most influential blues figures of the 1920s. He was scheduled to make another recording session for Vocalion Records, but was killed the night before March 15, 1929. Williams died from a gunshot wound in a dance-hall fight in Chicago. Sources differ as to whether he was the intended recipient of the bullet. Reference:All Media Guide 1168 Oak Valley Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48108 USA
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The African American Registry®, The African American Registry® Copyright 2005, 2006
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