Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith

Arthur Smith was born in 1921 in Clinton, South Carolina, the son of Clayton Seymour Smith, a cotton mill worker, and his wife. His father was also a music teacher, and led a brass band in Kershaw, South Carolina. The boy's first instrument was the cornet. Arthur, along with his brothers Ralph and Sonny, formed a Dixieland combo, the Carolina Crackerjacks, who appeared briefly on radio in Spartanburg, South Carolina. They had limited success with their jazz format, and became more popular as a country music group. Arthur Smith moved to Charlotte, North Carolina to join the cast of the WBT Carolina Barndance, a live show and radio program. Before World War II, he was an occasional member of the WBT Briarhoppers band. ==Post-World War II career==

After wartime service in the US Navy, Smith returned to Charlotte. He was joined in his recording career by his brothers, wife Dorothy and vocalist Roy Lear. He also started his own radio show, Carolina Calling, on WBT. Smith emceed part of the first live television program broadcast in 1951 by the new television station, WBTV, in Charlotte. In Charlotte, the show ran on WBTV until April 1, 1971, when it moved to WSOC-TV, with the radio show moving from WBT to WSOC. His band, renamed Arthur Smith & His Crackerjacks, became an institution in the Southeast area through the new medium. They had a daily early-morning variety program, Carolina Calling, which was carried on the CBS-TV network as a summer-replacement during the 1950s. This increased Smith's national visibility. Unusually for a country music band, his band relied on tight arrangements with written "charts" for most of their music. "He was a good neighbor on radio and TV to so many people," said Tom Hanchett, historian at the Levine Museum of the New South. "He was somebody who came to you every day in your living room or kitchen and felt like a member of the family in a way hard to imagine today. He was from the same mold as Doc Watson and Andy Griffith. He enjoyed the genial tradition of being a Southern gentleman. He relished that." the Stamps, the Statler Brothers, Ricky Van Shelton and many more. A portion of his Crackerjacks group sang and recorded gospel music under the moniker the Crossroads Quartet. Among the members throughout the years were Smith, Tommy Faile, Ray Atkins, Lois Atkins, brother Ralph Smith, and Wayne Haas. In Charlotte, Smith founded in 1957 the first commercial recording studio in the Southeast. The younger Smith, a noted recording artist, ran Johnny Cash's businesses in the late 1970s. He returned to his family business with his father in 1982. Clay Smith is also an award-winning network television producer and record producer. Arthur and Clay Smith collaborated on 12 major motion picture soundtracks, including Dark Sunday, Death Driver and Living Legend. ==Death==

Smith died at his home on April 3, 2014, two days after his 93rd birthday. ==Recognition==

Awards that Smith received as songwriter and producer: • BMI Song of the Year Award 1973 • Grammy - Dueling Banjos (1973) (original writer) • Council on International Nontheatrical Events - Golden Eagle Award (1980) • The Gold Squirrel Award (Grand Prize – First Prize) Festival International Film & Adventura, Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy (1981) • International Real Life Adventure Film Festival, 1st Place Award (1981) • State of North Carolina Order of The Long Leaf Pine (1984) • Southeast Tourism Society Award (1985) • American Advertising Federation Silver Medal Award (1986) • Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) Special Citation of Achievement (over 1 million broadcast performances of original compositions) • The Broadcasters Hall of Fame – North Carolina Association of Broadcasters (1990) • South Carolina Hall of Fame (1998) • North Carolina Folk Heritage Award (1998) • North Carolina Award (2001) • Legends Award – Western Film Festival (2003) • Lifetime Achievement Award - South Carolina Broadcasters Association (2006) • BMI Legendary Songwriter Award (2006) • North Carolina Music Hall of Fame (2010) ==Discography==

Albums • Specials 1955 (MGM) • Fingers on Fire 1957 (MGM) • Arthur Smith and the Crossroads Quartet 1962 (Starday) • Mister Guitar 1962 (Starday) • Arthur Smith: In Person 1963 (Starday SLP 241) • Goes to Town 1963 (Starday) • Arthur Smith and Voices 1963 (ABC Paramount) • ''Old Timers of the Grand Ol' Opry'' 1964 (MGM) • Original Guitar Boogie 1964 (Starday) • Down Home 1964 (Starday) • The Arthur Smith Show 1964 (Dot) • Great Country and Western Hits 1965 (Dot) • Singing on the Mountain 1965 (Dot) • A Tribute to Jim Reeves 1966 (Dot) • Guitar Boogie 1968 (MGM) • The Guitar of Arthur Smith 1968 (Starday) • Arthur Smith 1970 (Monument) • Battling Banjos 1973 (Monument) • The Road That Jesus Walked 1974 (Lamb & Lion) • Guitars Galore 1975 (Monument) • Smith & Son 1975 (Monument MC 6643) - with Clay Smith • ''Jumpin' Guitar'' 1985 (MGM) • Arthur Smith, Vol. 1 (Polydor) • The Original Dueling Banjos (CBS/Monument) • Plays Bach, Bacharach, Bluegrass & Boogie (CBS/Monument) Singles ==References==