Pine Top Smith

Clarence Smith (June 11, 1904 – March 15, 1929), better known as Pinetop Smith or Pine Top Smith, was an American boogie-woogie style blues pianist. His hit tune "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" featured rhythmic "breaks" that were an essential ingredient of ragtime music, but also a fundamental foreshadowing of rock and roll. The song was also the first known use of the term "boogie woogie" on a record, and cemented that term as the moniker for the genre.

Birth and Death Data: Born June 11, 1904 (Troy), Died March 15, 1929 (Chicago)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1928 - 1939

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, piano, lyricist, songwriter, leader, kazoo, author

Notes: Name also appears as "Pinetop Smith." Original name: Clarence Smith.

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BVE-62928 10-in. 10/31/1930 Now that I need you Count Basie ; Kansas City Orchestra ; Bennie Moten Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Victor BS-026898 10-in. 9/16/1938 Boogie woogie Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Victor BS-027432 10-in. 9/29/1938 Boogie woogie Les Brown Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Victor BS-036539 10-in. 4/26/1939 Boogie woogie Wingy Manone Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo composer  
Brunswick C2623 10-in. 12/4/1928 Pine Top blues Pine Top Smith and his Hokum Jug Boys Jazz/dance band leader, composer  
Brunswick C2624 10-in. 12/4/1928 Pine Top trouble Pine Top Smith Piano, with kazoo instrumentalist, piano, kazoo, composer  
Brunswick C2625 10-in. 12/4/1928 I got more sense than that Pine Top Smith Male vocal solo, with piano composer, lyricist  
Brunswick C2626 10-in. 12/4/1928 Now I ain’t got nothin’ at all Pine Top Smith Male vocal solo, with piano composer, lyricist  
Brunswick C2644 10-in. 12/7/1928 Pine Top’s sober now Pine Top Smith Male vocal solo, with piano and talking composer, instrumentalist, piano  
Brunswick C2646 10-in. 12/10/1928 Big boy, they can’t do that Pine Top Smith Comic monologue, with piano composer, lyricist, instrumentalist, piano  
Brunswick C2654 10-in. 12/11/1928 Nobody knows you when you’re down and out Alberta Reynolds ; Pine Top Smith Female-male vocal duet, with piano composer, lyricist, instrumentalist, piano  
Brunswick C2725 10-in. 12/29/1928 Pine Top blues Pine Top Smith Male vocal solo, with piano composer, lyricist  
Brunswick C2726 10-in. 12/29/1928 Pine Top’s boogie woogie Pine Top Smith Male vocal solo, with piano composer, lyricist  
Brunswick C2781 10-in. 1/11/1929 Nobody knows you when you’re down and out Aunt Jemima Novelty Four Vocal quartet composer, lyricist  
Brunswick C2796 10-in. 1/14/1929 I got more sense than that Pine Top Smith Male vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano, composer, lyricist  
Brunswick C2797 10-in. 1/14/1929 I’m sober now Pine Top Smith Male vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano, composer, lyricist  
Brunswick C2798 10-in. 1/15/1929 Big Boy, they can’t do that Pine Top Smith Comic monologue, with piano instrumentalist, piano, author  
Brunswick C2799 10-in. 1/15/1929 Jump steady blues Pine Top Smith Piano solo, with talk instrumentalist, piano, composer  
Brunswick C2800 10-in. 1/15/1929 Now I ain’t got nothin’ at all Pine Top Smith Male vocal solo, with piano instrumentalist, piano, composer  
Brunswick C2801 10-in. 1/15/1929 Nobody knows you when you’re down and out Alberta Reynolds ; Pine Top Smith Female-male vocal duet, with piano instrumentalist, piano, composer, lyricist  
Brunswick C3115 10-in. 3/13/1929 Driving wheel blues Pine Top Smith Male vocal solo, with piano composer, lyricist  
Brunswick C3733 10-in. 6/26/1929 Boogie woogie John Oscar Piano solo composer  
Brunswick TC2647 10-in. 12/10/1928 Jump steady Pine Top Smith Monologue, with piano composer, lyricist  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Smith, Pine Top," accessed November 17, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/103381.

Smith, Pine Top. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 17, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/103381.

"Smith, Pine Top." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 17 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/103381

External Sources

Wikipedia: Clarence “Pine Top” Smith

Discogs: Pine Top Smith

Allmusic: Pine Top Smith

Grove: Pine Top Smith

IMDb: Pine Top Smith

Britannica: Pine Top Smith

Linked Open Data Sources

LCNAR: Smith, Pine Top, 1904-1929 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81139254

Wikidata: Clarence “Pine Top” Smith - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1095520

VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/37103472

MusicBrainz: Clarence “Pine Top” Smith - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/c205f484-aa74-4aae-8558-33499e688185

FAST: http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1899185

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

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