Arthur Smith

Genres:	Country & Bluegrass • Instrumental
Descriptive "tags":	rockabilly • boogie woogie • easy listening • rock 'n' roll • country • fiddle • hillbilly boogie
Decades Active:	1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s

Biography

1 April 1921, Clinton, South Carolina, USA. After the Smith family moved to Kershaw when Arthur was four years old, his father ran the town band and his son played trumpet with it. A few years later, by now playing guitar, mandolin and banjo, he formed a country band with two of his brothers. He graduated with honours in the late 30s but turned down lucrative employment, deciding instead to form a dixieland jazz band, the Crackerjacks, which played on WSPA Spartanburg. After his brothers were drafted, he worked on WBT Charlotte before joining the navy in 1944. He played in the navy band, wrote songs and on his return to civilian life, organized variety shows featuring country and gospel music on WBT and WBT-TV; in 1947, he also gave bible classes. In 1948, he achieved Top 10 US country chart success with his MGM Records recordings of ‘Guitar Boogie’ and ‘Banjo Boogie’, with the former crossing over to the US pop chart, introducing many people to...

Read the Full Biography of Arthur Smith