An hour with Johnny Smith

[Wyllys]

Just found this on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/WGvUEvsnOfU

Although I play with my fingers and he used a flat-pick, one of the greatest compliments I've ever gotten was "that sounds like Johnny Smith". If you know who he is, I think you'll enjoy the hour. If you've yet to hear him, he's one of the jazz guitar icons of post-WWII. But there are so many...

[mr. beaumont]

Very cool, saving this to watch soon.

[Ze.]

Thanks for this post

[tbeltrans]

I own a guitar that he used to own. Mike Elliot was a student of his and purchased a double-pickup Gibson Johnny Smith from him. Somebody else bought the guitar from Mike Elliot, and put it on consignment at Willie's a few years ago because he had arthritis that he couldn't play anymore. I bought that guitar. It is a 1974 Gibson Johnny Smith. Those here who are into jazz guitar probably know who Mike Elliot was too.

As for having heard Johnny Smith, yes definitely. I have the Mosaic CD set and it is wonderful. I used to have the albums on vinyl. Probably a few months at most after having transferred these to CD myself and then selling them, the Mosaic set came out, so I got that.

Johnny Smith was a master of harmony and voice leading. He was really smooth and appealed to a much wider audience than many of his contemporaries as a result.

If you want to hear some great solo chord melody playing, check out Man With A Blue Guitar.

Tony

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

I own a guitar that he used to own. Mike Elliot was a student of his and purchased a double-pickup Gibson Johnny Smith from him. Somebody else bought the guitar from Mike Elliot, and put it on consignment at Willie's a few years ago because he had arthritis that he couldn't play anymore. I bought that guitar. It is a 1974 Gibson Johnny Smith. Those here who are into jazz guitar probably know who Mike Elliot was too.

As for having heard Johnny Smith, yes definitely. I have the Mosaic CD set and it is wonderful. I used to have the albums on vinyl. Probably a few months at most after having transferred these to CD myself and then selling them, the Mosaic set came out, so I got that.

Johnny Smith was a master of harmony and voice leading. He was really smooth and appealed to a much wider audience than many of his contemporaries as a result.

If you want to hear some great solo chord melody playing, check out Man With A Blue Guitar.

Tony

I have had several instruments used by players of note...and a fiddle case that Stefan Grapelli traded in at Claire Givens shop (obscure Mpls reference).

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

I have had several instruments used by players of note...and a fiddle case that Stefan Grapelli traded in at Claire Givens shop (obscure Mpls reference).

That is really interesting. I think there is a certain "patina" to these instruments. I don't know if having an instrument owned by somebody famous really matters at the time of reselling, but it is just something nice to know and is a bit of interesting history.

At the time I purchased the guitar, I did not know of its history. Willie's either didn't know or didn't try to cash in on that. When I brought the guitar over to The Podium to show to one of the guys who worked there (Dave, whose interest is archtops since he plays professionally), Marty saw it and remembered it because he had done some work on it way back when. Double pickup Johnny Smith instruments are even less common than Johnny Smith guitars in general. So there is no printed "provenance" that I know of, but just knowing what Marty had to say was good enough for me personally.

Recently, I decided I might sell my Johnny Smith archtop because I am not playing in the jazz group anymore and have no plans to do so any time soon. However, it has held its value, but I would take a loss when considering the consignment fee. It is such a nice guitar and I never see these around anywhere. The short scale and 1 3/4" nut make it very comfortable to play. When playing in the group, I always got compliments on my sound because this guitar seems to work really well with my Henriksen amp. I have the separate head and cabinet, which they apparently don't make anymore.

Anyway, my wife feels that I should keep it. I know I will be using it from time to time, and don't really need the money, so I will most likely just keep it.

I remember Claire Givens violin shop, though I was never a customer. The shop is still around. I wandered in there a few months ago for some reason that I can't remember. We got to talking about humidity and that sort of thing.

Tony