Walter Smith (musician)

Walter "Kid" Smith (born August 12, 1895 in Carroll County , Virginia , † September 5, 1977 ) was an American old-time musician .

Life

Childhood and youth

Walter Smith was born in Carroll County, Virginia in 1895, but spent most of his childhood and adolescence in Greenbrier County , Virginia. There he learned to play the guitar , but never got beyond basic knowledge. Smith was primarily a singer. He later began to work as a singer, among other things.

Career

In the mid-1920s, Smith moved to Rockingham County , North Carolina , where he worked in spray in various textile mills. Around the same time, he began playing with other musicians such as Posey Rorer , Will Woodlieff, Lewis McDaniel, and Buster Carter. Due to the success of Charlie Pooles , who enjoyed great success with his records, other musicians from the area came to record records. By the late 1920s, some of Smith's friends had also made a few records, and it was through these contacts that Smith had his first opportunity to record his pieces. On March 20, 1929, Smith made his first recordings for the Starr Piano Company in their studio in Richmond , Indiana , with Posey Rorer ( fiddle ) and Norman Woodlieff ( guitar ). Of the 14 recorded pieces, twelve were released on the various Starr-Piano Company labels, including Gennett Records and Champion Records .

This was followed by numerous other recordings for Columbia Records and the American Record Corporation (ARC). He was always accompanied by various musicians from his circle of friends, including Lewis McDaniel. In 1931 he composed The Life and Death of Charlie Poole , dedicated to his friend Charlie Poole, who died in March 1931 because of his fast-paced lifestyle. Another song from 1931 was Otto Wood the Bandit , which dealt with the criminal Otto Wood from North Carolina. In the 1930s he worked as a professional musician, making a living for his family. During these years he was often accompanied by his daughters on guitar, ukulele or mandolin . Together they appeared on radio and publicly in North Carolina and Virginia and played on medicine shows . In 1936, Smith and his family made some recordings for ARC. It was the last pictures Smith took.

After World War II , Smith continued to tour tent shows and be heard on the radio. During this time he intensified his tour activities and came to Montana or Texas . In 1966 Smith had a radio show on the WPHL in Winchester , Virginia, but retired from the music business with his wife three years later. They settled in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Walter Smith died in September 1977.

Discography

Discography is not exhaustive. Rigid piano recordings have also been released on Supertone Records , Challenge Records, and Conqueror Records . ARC recordings have also been released on Oriole Records , Banner Records , Romeo Records and Conqueror Records (in addition to Perfect Records and Jewel Records ) .

year	title	#	Remarks
Published titles
Gennett Records
1929	The Old School House Play Ground / It's Sad to Leave You Sweetheart	6809
	I Fell in Love with a Married Man / Brace Up and Be a Man She Said	6824
	Old Johnny Bucker Won't Do / The Cat's Got the Measles, the Dog's Got the Whoopin 'Cough	6825
	It Won't Be Long Until My Grave Is Made / I'd Rather Be with Rosy Nell	6858
	The Bald-Headed End of a Broom /?	6887	B-side by Carson Robison
Champion Records
	I'll Remember You Love In My Prayers / I Ain't Gonna Grieve My Lord Anymore	15812
Columbia Records
1930	Murder of the Lawson Family / In a Cottage By the Sea	15537-D	as Carolina Buddies
	The Story the Crow Told Me / My Sweetheart Is a Sly Little Miss	15641-D	as Carolina Buddies
1931	Broken Hearted Lover / Otto Wood the Bandit	15652-D	as Carolina Buddies
	Work Don't Bother Me / He Went In Like a Lion	15663-D
	Mistreated Blues /?	15770-D
Perfect Records
	Sandy River Belle /?	142	as Kid Williams
	Green Mountain Polka /?	143	as Dixie Ramblers
	North Carolina Blues / Down Among the Budding Roses	144	as Roy Martin
	My Happy Home I Left in Carolina / I Know I'll Meet Mother After All	145	as Kid Williams
	Aggravating Mother-in-Law / Love Is a Funny Thing	146	as Kid Williams
	Please Daddy Come Home / I Want to Be Called Pet and Sweetheart	152	as Kid Williams
	Birmingham Jail /?	160
Jewel Records
	Mother Kiss Your Darling /?	20017
	The Prisoner and the Rose / Birmingham Jail	20020
	When He Died He Got a Home In Hell / I'm Glad I Counted the Cost	20028
Other recordings
1929	Brace Up and Be a Man She Said (old version) I long to kiss you all the time Why Did You Prove Untrue	Gennett	unpublished
1930	The Hard Luck Soldier Don't Be Angry with Me Sweetheart Old Virginia Breakdown Swinging in the Lane with Nell The Drunkard's Child Behind the Hen House Whisper your mother's name Desert blues	ARC	unpublished

literature

• Kip Lornell: Virginia's Blues, Country & Gospel Records, 1902–1943: An Annotated Discography. University Press of Kentucky, 1989, ISBN 0-8131-1658-9 , pp. 170-173.
• Patrick Huber: Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South. University of North Carolina Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8078-3225-7 , pp. 156, 286.

Web links

• Walter Smith (musician) on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)
• Otto Wood the Bandit