Blues Stories Ep. 5: Big Bad Smitty (Graphic Language)
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- Опубліковано 16 жов 2024
- Episode 4. of Blues Stories attempts to remember almost as tastefully as possible just a few of my times with the great Big Bad Smitty R.I.P. (John Smith February 11, 1940-April 3, 2002) . Smitty was a gruff old goat and meaner than his name most the time. This one gets quite unexpectedly emotional and I cry because I love him and kind of forgot how much he meant to me until half way through this quite candid episode. Photo of Smitty with the St Louis Skyline by: Photo of Big Bad Smitty and St. Louis skyline - Gail Mooney (Shot for the National Geographic Traveler) Photo of Big Bad Smitty and St. Louis skyline - ©
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FROM WIKI:
John Henry Smith, better known as Big Bad Smitty (February 11, 1940 - April 3, 2002) was an American blues guitar player and singer. Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States, he started learning guitar at the age of ten. He would play his older brother Nelson's guitar when nobody was around.
When he was in his 20s he worked as a truck driver. Johnny Vincent of Ace Records had recorded him and two of his songs, "Smokestack Lightnin'" and "How Many More Years" appeared on the Genuine Mississippi Blues anthology on the Ace label in 1970.
He recorded the Mean Disposition album in 1991, which was released on the Black Magic label in Europe and the GENES label in the United States.He recorded three albums and appeared at European blues festivals, performing for large crowds. In 1993, Smitty was affected by a stroke.
He died in Jackson, Mississippi on April 3, 2002, as a result of diabetes. His funeral was held on April 13 at the Alpha Omega Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi.
A benefit concert was held for the family of Big Bad Smitty at BB's in St Louis.
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Thank you!!!
Jason Ricci
These personal anecdotes are the best part of your channel. Thanks, Jason.
Superb 👌🏼🇬🇧👌🏼
Man I used to hang out with you at Fields Cafe! Smitty was a bad man.
Thanks for a great story!
Wow! I posted the laughter emoji until the obituary. Took it down. Some awesome stories. ❤
❤️ 💙 💜
Big bad smmity is great...tnx for your story...
It's beautiful Jason.
thank you
Bless you Jason! You really did care for Old Smitty! I admire you for trying to help him out! You did more than anyone else I’m sure! You are a great person Jason and you do so much for others🤘❤️
Telling stories like this is how you keep someone alive for forever. Thanks for sharing with us.
Hi Jason. I've never heard of Big Bad Smitty before, but I've ordered a CD ("Mean Disposition") the day i watched this video. Today the CD arrived. And you know what, this stuff is really really cool. Pure Blues. I love it. Thank you for sharing your stories with us.
Thank you Jason , love you man
Jason I love these Blues stories! Man you have to get all these in a book with photos etc! Put me down for a copy👌🤘be a best seller for sure
It`s a hard and great story.Thanks Jason.
Thanks Ted. Smitty was a complicated guy. Miss him.
Great storytelling Jason.....made me laugh so much!....and I felt your pain too!!
thank you, jason. an incredible tribute to a true blues legend.
Thank for giving us something that can only help us to grow in our understanding of the blues. 'The blues' isn't just about the music, it's about the people who made it happen. Thank you Jason for letting us into the world that they inhabited.
How beautifully put!
Jason Ricci i need to talk with u have some stories
great stuff, we want more blues stories.. :)
Thanks for putting this up.
Jason that was Real Deep. Just like the tales I've read in Living Blues magazine! FYI got a copy of that issue anytime you please.
Thank you for sharing. I lost a friend and mentor last winter. It can still affect me. He was an ass. Hey was friend to only those who would put up with his shit. he still showed me a lot. We had our fights and troubles but in the end I am a better harp player and person. Thank you for all that you do Jason. I am who I am, musically, in part because of you and a very short list of people.
With Eternal Gratitude,
Adam West
Thanks for doing this one mate. I've been entranced by the name Big Bad Smitty since he played Bluesfest here in the early 90s. Maybe the 2nd or third festival to be outdoors with an amazing lineup of blues artists. The organisers were very hip with great contacts and it was the major influence for me in my early yrs playing blues on the radio. I watched Smitty do his soundcheck/rehearsal with a local band of great players and it was as you described with plenty of advice for the harp player and plenty of language enough to make an australian audience go "woh". He was in bad shape and it was relayed to me that he'd either been hit by a car or been in an accident and booked himself out of hospital to make his flight to Australia. He was quite obviously banged up, needing some assistance to and from his chair. Sang and played great though out front of a very freaked out looking band of locals hehe who played their butts off. A lasting memory I have of Smitty, before leaving the stage, after an encore, was directing a roadie to pick up all the joints and buds that had accumulated on the stage in front of him as he talked about the crash. It was a long time ago and some of the details are sketchy but I'll remember those gigs for ever. Played and sang like a man getting it done!
I neglected to add that Byron Bay circa was a beachside heaven on earth at the time and the festival was overrun by beautiful white women of all ages hehe
Man. Thank you Shakey. That's an incredible and undoubtedly true account of the man I knew. I really appreciate you watching this and commenting that. I wish I could go to Australia. Thank you so much.
@@jasonricci keep up the good work brother
Amazing story Jason. Thanks man for sharing.
Sorry about your place getting robbed, hope you guys are able to get some of your stuff back.
Namaste .. Great Heart Warming Story .. Mahalo/ Thanks for Sharing ..b Safe " Peace " Om tat sat
I appreciate this man...
Interesting story indeed.
😆 🤣 😂
Very moving Jason, thank you for sharing. If there is some way he's watching, your fond reminiscences would make even Big Bad Smitty smile :)
Thank you big bro!
VERY NICE THANKS JASON
Hey Jason. So glad you put it up. Hilarious and stirring at the same time. Keep em coming buddy. Left me thinking about how many intimidating places and situations you've been in over your career such as in St. Louis. will definitely look up big bad smitty
Thanks Karl! Indeed places to dark to describe
That was great. Thanks Jason!
Thanks man. Much appreciated ツ.
Thanks Jason. Sounds like a great cat.
Thanks Jason. Appreciate it! -Rich
thank you for this!
Thank you!
Thanks for that Jason,as a long time fan of traditional blues I'm surprised I haven't heard of him but I'll check him out.Bummer about the break in hope they didn't take any of your harps or those beautiful nationals I keep seeing in the background.
They got the Nationals!
That's just fucked!
I hope the crow won't rip them eyeballs...because I don't want to and never would do that...
Isn’t it whack that some ornery character can get under your skin like that ? It’s our humanity that connects us.
By the way say hello to your friend...
Showw me that buglers i will get them...I am already ...like...
Alguém legenda pra pt/br eu quero saber, não falo inglês
Gabriel Carvalho puedo hablar español y entener algo Portuguese y frances. Do me si puedo audar!
Adam West faria em espanhol? Me ajudaria muito
Hey Jason, You used one of my images of Big Bad Smitty that is copyrighted and you never asked permission. The photo is the image at the end of your video of Smitty and the St. Louis skyline at dusk. I'm in a good mood today so I won't ask UA-cam to make you remove it from your video but I will ask you to respect others' intellectual property and you can also personally thank me and give me a credit on this page. Photo of Big Bad Smitty and St. Louis skyline - ©Gail Mooney (Shot for the National Geographic Traveler)
Thank you very much Gail I got it off what I thought was a public google image search for Smitty. I apologize very much and thanks for letting it slide I will put your credits in the notes now! I know Smitty would be happy we don't have to take this video down! Thank you again for understanding!-J
Jason Ricci unfortunately it happens all the time when people see images on Google image. It’s an issue for many photographers. I really only pursue folks who take my photos for commercial purposes or worse yet websites out of the country put my images on their sites and allow downloads. I’m guessing they are clickbait sites to get eyeballs so they can get more advertisers. All that gives me the blues. Nice to meet someone else who knows/knew Smitty and loves the blues. Gail
@@familybiographyvideos4463 Thank you again for being so cool and AGAIN very sorry I try to never let this happen, I will try harder in the future for sure! Thank you!
@@jasonricci I have a lot of professional photos of some of these old blues cats. Let me know if you are looking for images of some of them - in particular Sam Carr, Big Bad Johnson, Robert Lockwood Jr., Magic Slim, Budd Guy and lots of stage shots of many more musicians.