Biographical sources on Al Smith are few—just Mike Rowe's Chicago
Breakdown and Smith's obituary. Albert B. Smith was born in Bolivar
County, Mississippi, on November 23, 1923. His family moved to Pace,
Mississippi, in 1927. He danced with a jug band on the streets of
Rosedale, Mississippi, when he was 7. He learned how to play the
string bass in a school band after hearing Big Joe Williams and other
Delta bluesmen at his mother's barrelhouse.
After shipping out with the Merchant Marine in 1940, he arrived in
Chicago in 1943. In 1945 he started what he referred to as a "bebop"
band. According to Rowe, it had 8 pieces plus blues singer Tiny Topsy
(it is unlikely that Smith was able to carry all 8 pieces on some of
his club engagements, however). Lists of contracts accepted and filed
by Musicians Union Local 208 show that Smith and band were working on
the South Side sporadically; presumably they were outside of Local
208's territory the rest of the time. On August 15, 1946, Al Smith
posted a contract for 2 days at the DuSable Lounge.
On September 5, he posted a contract for a week at the Hurricane
Lounge; on October 17, "Al. B. Smith" filed a contract for 2 weeks at
the Quality Lounge. On March 6, 1947, Smith and band settled into a
steadier gig at the Bonaire Lounge, filing for 8 weeks. On January 22,
1948, "Albert" Smith was at the Tradesmen's Lounge for 3 days; this
led to a rare mention in the the Chicago Defender, whose January 24
issue ran an ad featuring Al Smith's Band during a Grand Opening at
the New Tradesmen's Lounge. Another 3-day contract at the Tradesmen's
was filed on February 5. On July 15, he posted another contract with
the Bonaire Lounge, for 6 nights, and on August 5, he filed another,
covering the nights of July 20 through 26. On October 7, "Albert B.
Smith" posted a contract for 1 week at Club 21. On November 18, he
filed for 3 nights at the Flamingo Lounge.
After that, he dropped off the contract lists for over 6 months,
probably on account of touring. Another rare Defender sighting, on
June 18, 1949, had Al Smith and the Band that Rocks playing at the
Sawdust Trail. It was after the Sawdust Trail gig that Smith latched
onto something steadier. He reappeared on the Local 208 contract list
on July 21, 1949, with an "indefinite" deal with the Apex Club in
Robbins, Illinois. But Smith's finances weren't on the most secure
foundation during this period. On September 1, 1949, the Board of
Local 208 heard King Kolax's claim against Al Smith; Kolax had written
six arrangements for Smith's band, charging $50, of which Smith still
owed $42.
"Member Al Smith appeared a few minues later and admitted owing Kolax
the money, explaining that he told Kolax in the beginningt that he
would pay him if his traveling job was O. K. If not, he would have to
pay him the best he could" (Board meeting minutes, September 1, 1949,
p. 1). Fortunately, his employers were happy; on November 17, Al Smith
filed another indefinite contract with what was now identified as the
Apex Country Club. On December 15, he filed yet another with the Apex
Show Club. On June 1, 1950, he filed still another indefinite contract
with the Apex Country Club. On November 2, he posted a contract for
another 2 weeks there.
In April 1951, Smith was back at the Bonaire Lounge, filing an
"indefinite" contract on April 5. On July 5, he filed for a week at
the Cork Club. On September 6, he posted a contract with El Morocco
Lounge, for 2 weeks; this was followed by a 3-week contract on
September 20, and a 5-week contract accepted and filed on October
4.
There are no known recordings from this period. In fact, Al Smith did
not get on record until April of 1952, when he may have accompanied
Johnny Shines on a famous blues session for JOB. Around that time the
old Al Smith band broke up; in fact, Al Smith did not appear on the
Local 208 list as a leader for 9 months, from December 1951 through
August 1952. (His former vocalist, Tiny Topsy, went on to cut some
singles for King in the mid and late 1950s.) Sensing how the
commercial winds were blowing, Smith formed a smaller ensemble to play
R&B.
From Fall 1952 through Spring 1959, Smith was most successful in the
bandleading business. This was not on account of his instrumental
prowess. Charles Walton said, "He held the bass... OK, he played the
bass—but he didn't tune it first." Red Holloway agreed that Smith held
the bass (in fact, when Al had to play on a record date he would ask
Red to tune the bass for him!). By mid-1958, Smith had phased the
studio bass playing out completely in favor of veteran Chicago
musician Quinn Wilson, who had already appeared in many of his
recording ensembles. Smith did continue to play the bass in bluesman
Jimmy Reed's band through the early 1960s, and again other band
members had to tune it for him.
Smith was well-liked by musicians; Tommy Hunter said that hardly
anyone ever turned down a gig with him. His secret, according to Red,
is that he got the gigs, and they always paid well. Lucius Washington
recalls playing a dance with Al Smith and being told, "If they don't
pay us on the first intermission, we don't play no more." Clearly Al
Smith had little to fear from slow-paying promoters. (To put all of
this in perspective, keep in mind that the fee for sidemen on Al's
recording sessions was straight Union scale. That was $41.25—not
always paid promptly, either.)
Among the better-known Chicago musicians who worked with Al Smith
were Sonny Cohn, Booby Floyd, Red Holloway, Harold Ashby, Johnny
Board, Leon Washington, Eddie Johnson, Lucius Washington (Little
Wash), Von Freeman, Mac Easton, Horace Palm, Norman Simmons, Willie
Jones, Sun Ra, Lefty Bates, Matt Murphy, Quinn Wilson, Vernel
Fournier, Paul Gusman, and Alrock "Al" Duncan.
Between Fall 1952 and Spring 1959, Al Smith had recording sessions
sewed up at four different independent labels in Chicago. He led house
bands at Chance (1952-1954), Parrot/Blue Lake (1953-1955), United and
States (1953-1956), and, most importantly, Vee-Jay (1954-1959). His
primary employment in all cases was backing vocal groups, plus an
occasional solo singer who didn't have a band. Instrumental tracks
(except in the case of his valedictory session in 1959) were done
during the studio time left over from vocal sessions.
Al Smith is a common name. At least two other Al Smiths were active
in the world of R&B during "our" Al Smith's time. Albert Alan
Smith, born May 1936 in Columbus, Ohio, was a soul-blues singer who
cut two LPs for Prestige/Bluesville in 1959 and 1960. Alvin K. Smith
(born August 8, 1926 in Monroe, Louisiana) sang on recordings with
Jack McVea for the Combo and Tag labels in Los Angeles around 1955; he
was responsible for other recordings on the West Coast, including some
under the name Al King. Thanks to Eric LeBlanc for providing data on
the other Als. (Chef D'orchestre a Chicago)
