| "Long Shadows"
Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith I grew up in the periferal reception range of WBT Radio in Charlotte, North Carolina, close enough to listen to Arthur Smith and the Crackerjacks on some but not all days, yet the music and laughter and good will and Sunday School lessons were all worth putting up with a little static. My first guitar hero was Merle Travis, with a subtle undertow of Mama Maybelle. Then there was this whiz kid, Chet Atkins, I heard on the Opry and on some records that Sheriff Ed played, although I'd never seen anyone play fingerstyle like he did and couldn't quite grasp what was going on. About the same time (early '50s), I got the Crackerjacks' afternoon show when school was out and the static laid off. I understood Arthur's flatpicking technique, but couldn't comprehend anyone playing that fast -- I stood in front of the bathroom mirror and played air guitar, hearing "Under The Double Eagle" in my head and imagining Arthur, Brother Ralph, Sonny, Tommy, Don, and all the guys cheering out, "Mighty Fine! Mighty Fine!!" Within a couple of years I really did learn "Under The Double Eagle." He didn't hear me play it, although I saw Arthur and the Corner Store gang on stage at Greenwood High School, incidentally, before I saw them on TV -- they were already doing TV (and radio), but my family didn't have a set. That concert was memorable. Not only did they do "Izzat You, Myrtle" and any number of other examples of melodic virtuosity, but Arthur Smith and Tommy Faile played matching white solid body Fenders, guitar and bass respectively -- the first such instruments I ever saw. Over the ensuing dozen or more years that I lived in South Carolina, Arthur was involved in many firsts and entreprenural pioneering ventures. His sponsors were mostly national products -- new blue Cheer is hard to forget -- and he took on the new challenge of TV with an exhuberance; there was even a joke that video tape was invented for the purpose of Arthur Smith being on TV all over the Carolinas. Maybe not, but he was on in a bunch of places. There is a strong argument for his role in the development of music videos. Anyone on the show would dress up or do whatever it took to "act out" any number of recordings -- pop, rock, country or whatever; the key is "whatever it took" and these productions often took on personalities of their own. So far as I know, Arthur Smith never searched for his fortunes any further from his hometown of Kershaw, South Carolina, than Charlotte, a short drive; he obviously had little need to. It's easy to joke about being a big frog in a little pond as opposed to being a little frog in a big pond, but my impression, from listening to the Crackerjacks over a good many years, is that Arthur liked being that close to the homefolks, and liked being in control of his career. Besides, the only folks who would call Charlotte a "little pond," then or now, have never been there. The small and medium markets across the upper half of South Carolina and the lower half of North Carolina combine into a serious media situation. And Ole Arthur has been in the midst of Carolina TV since the first coaxial cable came down the coast. The whole context of a long shadow lies in influence and impact. Here's a list that will be incomplete by the very manifestation of Arthur Smith's personality: The radio and television shows are the cornerstone, both of which continued long beyond such local ventures ceased in most other parts of the country, continuing obviously because the community and market support continued. His hit record list is dominated by the namesake "Guitar Boogie," a highwater mark for droves of young guitar players to strive toward. The gospel quartet standard, "The Fourth Man," done wonderfully by the Statler Brothers on their Holy Bible project, is an Arthur Smith composition. He also wrote and recorded (with Don Reno) the tune later known as "Dueling Banjos." Despite what you may have read elsewhere, Arthur played a tenor banjo -- not a guitar -- against Dandy Don's five-string, which, of course, is why he called it "Fuedin' Banjos." The radio show frequently featured Arthur playing fiddle along with Don's five-string. Later on the same show, he might play "Lady Of Spain" on electric guitar through a studio engineer's experimental echo chamber. "Why not?" was the unspoken motto of the show; indeed, that has been the standard of his entire career. George Hamilton IV told me a while back that Arthur has gotten quite involved with fishing tournaments, and Hugh X. Lewis says the last time he was in Charlotte, a year or so ago, Arthur was doing a TV commercial -- certainly nothing new about that! Another big deal in Charlotte has been his Sunday School class, a natural outreach from the radio and TV shows when the gospel song of the day was often introed with comments that tied in with the following Sunday's standard lesson plans. All in all, Arthur Smith has been more of a good citizen than a local celebrity. Such praise is the point where he would say, "Hit the theme song, Ralph, it's time to get out of here." copyright 2000 Bill Littleton, from thebridgeworks for November |