Biography
Ocie Lee Smith, 21 June 1932, Mansfield, Louisiana, USA, d. 23 November 2001, Los Angeles, California, USA. O.C. Smith was raised in Los Angeles, where he began singing jazz and standards in clubs at the end of the 40s. After serving five years in the US Air Force, he signed with Cadence Records in 1956, enjoying some success the following year with the sophisticated ‘Lighthouse’. He remained predominantly a club performer until 1961, when he replaced Joe Williams in the Count Basie Band. He resumed his solo career in 1963, finally attaining a commercial breakthrough in 1968 with Dallas Frazier’s unusual story-song, ‘The Son Of Hickory Holler’s Tramp’, recorded at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, and a major hit in Britain. In the USA, this record was overshadowed by his rendition of Bobby Russell’s ‘Little Green Apples’, which outsold a rival hit version by Roger Miller. ‘Daddy’s Little Man’ in 1969...
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