SMOKEY SMOTHERS

 

OTIS SMOKEY SMOTHERS

 

           

Il y a eu deux frères bluesmen chez les Smothers, nés à 10 ans d'intervalle. "Big" Smokey Smothers et "Little" Smokey Smothers. Aujourd'hui, on parle de l'aîné Otis "Big" Smokey Smothers.

            Smokey est né à Lexington, MS. le 21 mars 1929. Il joue de la guitare grâce à une tante qui habite Tchula qui lui aurait aussi donné le surnom de "Smokey" à cause de sa manière d'articuler et son débit quand il parlait et chantait.

            C'est à l'âge de 17 ans que Smokey gagne Chicago et joue assez rapidement dans les clubs locaux auprès de Hound Dog Taylor, Joe Carter et Johnny Williams qu'il crédite comme son principal mentor. Cela lui permet de participer en tant que sideman à plusieurs séances d'enregistrement de Howlin' Wolf (sur She asked for water), Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Freddy King. C'est grâce à Freddy King qu'il réussit à enregistrer un album entier sous son nom pour le label Federal de Syd Nathan en 1960-62. L'album est une réussite musicale mais un flop commercial et Smokey reste essentiellement un accompagnateur, jouant dans les clubs avec Good Rockin' Charles ou Big Walter Horton. Malgré encore un excellent 45t en 1968, Smokey Smothers abandonne progressivement la musique pour gagner sa vie autrement.

            C'est dans les années 1980 le regain d'intérêt international pour le Chicago blues et l'ouverture de clubs dans le North Side, un quartier fréquenté par les étudiants, qui ramène Smothers sur scène. Il fonde avec le DJ Steve Cushing un groupe de Chicago blues traditionnel les Ice Cream Men avec lequel il enregistre un nouvel album en 1985 I got my eyes on you. Les années suivantes, Smokey Smothers joue régulièrement dans les clubs et les festivals et participe à une tournée en Europe en 1984. Mais sa santé se détériore et son dernier album, enregistré quelques mois avant son décès le présente substantiellement diminué.

Sa dernière apparition publique a lieu au club B.L.U.E.S. en compagnie de Willie Kent le 17 juillet 1993. Il décède le 23 juillet 1993 à Chicago!

            Son œuvre enregistrée représente certains des meilleurs moments du style de Chicago blues de l'après guerre.

            Cet article s'est fortement inspiré de l'article de Steve Wisner et des interviews de Otis Smothers parus dans Living Blues n°37 ainsi que celui de Dave Whiteis dans Juke Blues n°30.

                            Gérard HERZHAFT

 

 

There were two bluesman brothers in the Smothers family, born 10 years apart: “Big” Smokey Smothers and ‘Little’ Smokey Smothers. Today, we're talking about the elder brother, Otis “Big” Smokey Smothers.

Smokey was born in Lexington, Mississippi, on March 21, 1929. He learned to play guitar thanks to an aunt who lived in Tchula, who also gave him the nickname “Smokey” because of the way he articulated and spoke and sang.

At the age of 17, Smokey moved to Chicago and quickly began playing in local clubs with Hound Dog Taylor, Joe Carter, and Johnny Williams, whom he credited as his main mentor. This allowed him to participate as a sideman in several recording sessions with Howlin' Wolf (on She Asked for Water), Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, and Freddy King. It was thanks to Freddy King that he managed to record an entire album under his own name for Syd Nathan's Federal label in 1960-62. The album was a musical success but a commercial flop, and Smokey remained mainly a sideman, playing in clubs with Good Rockin' Charles and Big Walter Horton. Despite another excellent single in 1968, Smokey Smothers gradually gave up music to earn a living in other ways.

It was in the 1980s, with the resurgence of international interest in Chicago blues and the opening of clubs on the North Side, a neighborhood frequented by students, that Smothers returned to the stage. Together with DJ Steve Cushing, he founded a traditional Chicago blues band called The Ice Cream Men, with whom he recorded a new album in 1985, I Got My Eyes on You. In the years that followed, Smokey Smothers played regularly in clubs and at festivals and took part in a European tour in 1984. However, his health deteriorated and his last album, recorded a few months before his death, showed him to be substantially diminished.

His last public appearance was at the B.L.U.E.S. club with Willie Kent on July 17, 1993. He died on July 23, 1993, in Chicago.

            His recorded work represents some of the best moments of thye traditional post-war Chicago blues.

This article was heavily inspired by Steve Wisner's article and interviews with Otis Smothers published in Living Blues No. 37, as well as Dave Whiteis' article in Juke Blues No. 30.

                                                           Gérard HERZHAFT