Bennie Smith - The Urban Soul Of Bennie Smith

 

Bitrate:320K/s
Year:1993/2009
Time:68:48 
Size:160,2 MB 
Label:Blues Highway Music/AAM Recordings 
Styles:Blues 
Art:Front 

Tracks Listing:
 1. Last Night - 4:45
 2. Got My Mojo Working - 5:19
 3. Shook Up Over You - 4:11
 4. Penrose After Hours - 4:33
 5. Mystery Train - 3:59
 6. Things I Used To Do - 3:14
 7. Wish Me Well - 2:36
 8. Steel Guitar Rag - 3:19
 9. Boogie Chillun' - 3:58
10. Sweet Little Angel - 3:28
11. After Hours - 5:37
12. Wishing Well - 3:05
13. Ookie Dokie Stomp - 4:27
14. Stagger Lee - 4:27
15. Things I Used To Do - 4:22
16. Mess Around - 4:42
17. Theme From Shaft - 2:40

Musicians:
Bennie Smith - Guitar, Vocals;
Rayburn Hayes - Vocals (tr.16);
Durious Montgomery - Bass;
Screamin' Joe Neal - Organ (tr.4,8,16);
Drums - Charles Rogers (tr.1,3,7,17), Ray Hayes (tr.2).

Bennie Smith (October 5, 1933 in St. Louis, Missouri – September 10, 2006 in St. Louis, Missouri) was an American, St. Louis blues guitarist, considered to be one of the city's patriarchs of electric blues.  His sound was emblematic of a St. Louis blues music that he helped define in over half a century practicing his trade. His contributions to the genre in that city, from the early 1950s and almost until the day of his death, included mentor, performer, and recording artist. Due to his significant contribution to blues music in St. Louis, in October 2003 he received a proclamation from mayor Francis Slay marking October 5, 2003 as 'Bennie Smith Day' in that city. The board of aldermen similarly honored Smith, recognizing him as the "Dean of St. Louis Electric Guitarists". During the 2006 Big Muddy Blues Festival in St. Louis, Mayor Slay honored Bennie once again on September 2 of that year, declaring that day also be known as 'Bennie Smith Day' in St. Louis.
Smith worked as a session musician on many recordings over the years, and has three original albums to his name: The Urban Soul Of Bennie Smith (Blues Highway – 1993), Shook Up (Fedora Records – 2001), and The Bennie Smith All Star Session (2006). In a notable 1958 session, Smith was invited to contribute on what would be Tina Turner's first recording, "Boxtop". The song featured Ike Turner with 'Little Ann' on backing vocals, and Smith on guitar. In addition, he has played with such guitar players as Hubert Sumlin, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, B.B. King and Grant Green.  Smith named Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Matt "Guitar" Murphy as his two greatest influences on the guitar.
As a complication to lung cancer, Smith suffered from a heart attack and died on September 10, 2006. In 2014 the Killer Blues Headstone Project placed a headstone for Bennie Smith at Laurel Hill Cemetery in St. Louis. 

The Urban Soul Of Bennie Smith