Smokey Hogg

Andrew 'Smokey' Hogg (* 27. January 1914 in West Connie, Texas ; † 1. May 1960 in McKinney, Texas) was a country blues - singer and guitarist .

Smokey Hogg was one of the most popular Texas country blues singers / guitarists of the post-war era. He grew up on a farm and received guitar lessons from his father, Frank Hogg. As a teenager he played with slide guitarist and singer BK Turner aka Black Ace and the two toured and played in dance halls around Kilgore, Tyler, Greenville and Palestine in eastern Texas.

In 1937 Smokey and Black Ace had the opportunity to make recordings in Dallas with Decca Records ; this is how Smokey Hogg's first recording ("Family Trouble Blues" / "Kind Hearted Blues") was released under his real name Andrew Hogg. Hogg married in the early 1940s and lived near Dallas, where he soon became known. In 1947 he got the attention of Herb Ritter, the head of the record label Bluebonnet Records in Dallas, who recorded various tracks with him and sent the master tapes to the Modern Records label . This Californian blues label became famous with the recording of Big Bill Broonzy's song "Too Many Drivers". In Los Angeles , Hogg recorded the track "Long Tall Mama" (1948 at # 8 on the R&B jukebox charts ) and another Broonzy track called "Little School Girl" (1950), which went to number 9 on the American rhythm and Conquered blues charts.

Hogg's country blues style, heavily influenced by Big Bill Broonzy, Peetie Wheatstraw and Black Ace, was very popular with record buyers in the southern United States during the 1940s and early 1950s. Hogg recorded records until the late 1950s and died of cancer in 1960.

With titles like Country Gal , Shake A Leg and I Love You Baby , Smokey Hogg made a name for himself in jazz circles .

literature

• John Jörgensen & Erik Wiedemann: Jazz Lexicon . Munich, Mosaik-Verlag, approx. 1960