Johnny Smith - The Guitarist whom others called 'The Master'
TRIBUTES
"Man, I can never be that perfect. No one plays like Johnny Smith." - Wes Montgomery.
"As far as I'm concerned, no one in the world plays the guitar better than he. They might play it differently, but nobody plays better." - Barney Kessel.
"The first truly major jazz guitarist since Charlie Christian." - Tony Mottola.
"First there was Django Reinhardt, then came Charlie Christian, and then there was Johnny Smith. He was really a giant." - Gene Bertoncini.
"When he first came to New York, he scared every guitar player to death." - Bucky Pizzarelli.
"Johnny remains the standard we all aspire to." - Jimmy Bruno.
"Johnny was flawless in his musicianship." - John Pisano.
"His perfectness was just ridiculous." - Tim May.
"When the word 'Master' appears, so too does the name Johnny Smith." - Pat Martino.
"Oh my God. We're getting letters of religious-awakening proportions as players discover this guy." Michael Cuscuna (Mosaic Records).
A Brief Biography
Johnny SMITH (25 June 1922 - 11 June 2013)
Johnny Smith was born in Birmingham, Alabama, during financially difficult times. From these very humble beginnings, he taught himself to play the guitar and became the most respected and revered jazz guitarist on the New York jazz scene during the golden age of the 1950s.
His 1952 recording of 'Moonlight in Vermont' with Stan Getz brought him out of the shadows as the No. 1 studio guitarist for NBC and into the limelight of New York's jazz scene where he became the Birdland club's most regular performer. Aside from his prolific live performances with his own combo in New York's premier jazz clubs, Johnny toured the USA as a featured soloist with the Count Basie and Stan Kenton orchestras and was accompanied by Oscar Peterson at the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954. Outside of jazz circles, he is probably best known as the composer of the pop hit 'Walk, Don't Run'.
At the height of his career, he left New York for Colorado Springs in 1958 where he opened a music store. Although he continued to perform, record and teach his celebrated jazz guitar seminars, he was somewhat forgotten by the jazz media who largely focused their attention on New York and Los Angeles. Nevertheless, he remained revered by guitarists and musicians.
A Pioneer in Musical Equipment
GUITARS & AMPLIFIERS
Johnny Smith's meticulous approach to his guitar playing also extended to his musical equipment. Aside from using Epiphone, Gibson, Gretsch and, most notably, D'Angelico guitars early in his career, Johnny went on to have his own signature models. Unlike, most guitarists who merely endorse a manufacturer's product, a guitar with Johnny's name on it was designed by the man himself.
The Guild Johnny Smith Award was the first of his designs to enter production. This was followed by the Gibson Johnny Smith which set new standards in archtop guitar design. Johnny later transferred his endorsement to the former Gibson employees at Heritage who produced the Johnny Smith Rose using his Gibson design.
In the 1950s, Johnny worked with Ampeg to design and produce amplifiers with a flat frequency response. The most notable result was the Fountain of Sound amplifier with its upwards facing speaker. In the 1960s, Gibson guitars built the GA-75L amplifier to Johnny's specifications and which he used on his three albums for Verve (Johnny Smith, Johnny Smith's Kaleidoscope and Phase II). In the 1970s, Johnny worked with 'Ev' Evans in Littleton, Colorado to produce the EMRAD Johnny Smith amplifier.
A Selected Discography
selected discography
Johnny Smith's range of musicianship was broad, to say the least. The intention, here, is to provide merely a glimpse of his catalog. For a more comprehensive discography, please refer to Lin Flanagan's Moonlight in Vermont - The Official Biography of Johnny Smith.
Small JAZZ group & SOLO RECORDINGS
Johnny recorded several albums with his own trio, quartet and quintet, as well as his solo guitar arrangements. The compilation CDs Moonlight in Vermont and Moods are perhaps among the most celebrated albums. He also recorded his own arrangements for guitar and orchestra. Most of these can be found on CD.
with singers
Johnny recorded albums with Beverly Kenney (Beverly Kenney Sings for Johnny Smith), Ruth Price (Ruth Price Sings with the Johnny Smith Quartet) and Jeri Southern (Jeri Southern Meets Johnny Smith).
Classical works
Famously, Johnny took part in the recording of Arnold Schonberg's Serenade Opus 24 under Dimitri Mitropoulos as a member of the New York Philharmonic. He also recorded Ibert's Entr'acte for Flute and Guitar with flautist Julius Baker and was featured on Johnny Richard's Annotations of the Muses. He performed the premieres of Max DiJulio's Littlemass and Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra, although these two recordings are yet to be commercially released.
as a sideman
In his early New York days, Johnny recorded with Mary Lou Williams and, soon after, the Benny Goodman Sextet. Later, he recorded as a sideman with Hank Jones. Tito Puente, Don Gibson, Bing Crosby, Joe Bushkin and Gene Krupa and His Orchestra.
RECENT POSTHUMOUS RELEASES
In 2024, Craig Patterson issued two excellent live recordings by Johnny in Colorado - Last Night at Shaners and Jazz in the Springs. Please go to https://dickpatterson.bandcamp.com/album/jazz-in-the-springs and watch out for further releases.
Literature
THE JOHNNY SMITH METHOD BOOK
THE JOHNNY SMITH METHOD BOOK
THE JOHNNY SMITH METHOD BOOK
Mel Bay's Complete Johnny Smith Approach to Guitar method book remains an essential publication for all jazz guitarists. Written by the Master himself.
GUITAR TRANSCRIPTIONS
THE JOHNNY SMITH METHOD BOOK
THE JOHNNY SMITH METHOD BOOK
Steve Silverman's excellent book of transcriptions of Johnny Smith's guitar solos. Please note, these are not chord-melody solos.
THE OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
THE JOHNNY SMITH METHOD BOOK
THE OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
Lin Flanagan's Moonlight in Vermont: The Official Biography of Johnny Smith is just about everything thing you need to know about Johnny's life in music. Written with the help of Johnny, his family, friends and musicians.
INTERVIEW
CHORD-MELODY ARRANGEMENTS
THE OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
Of the few published interviews with Johnny Smith, Jim Carlton's conversation is among the best. Great discussions with other guitarists as well.
JOHNNY SMITH STUDIES
CHORD-MELODY ARRANGEMENTS
CHORD-MELODY ARRANGEMENTS
A very early publication of studies and exercises by Johnny Smith for guitar students. Second-hand copies occasionally surface for sale.
CHORD-MELODY ARRANGEMENTS
CHORD-MELODY ARRANGEMENTS
CHORD-MELODY ARRANGEMENTS
Another very early publication for guitar students. Please note, Johnny was not happy with the results, as his arrangements had been brutally altered.