Is there any other artist that went on stage with a cigar in his mouth and a hat on his head?
Wikipedia has this to say about him:
[QUOTE=Wikipedia]Smith was born in [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goshen,_New_York"]Goshen, New York[/URL]. In his memoir he reports that his father, Frank Bertholoff, was [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish"]Jewish[/URL], and his mother Ida Oliver, had "Spanish, Negro, and Mohawk Indian blood". "Frank Bertholoff was a light skinned playboy who loved his liquor, girls, and gambling." His mother threw Frank out of the house when "The Lion" was two years old. When his father died in 1901, his mother married John Smith, a master mechanic from Paterson, NJ. The surname Smith was added to that of the "The Lion" at age 3.
By the early 1910s he was playing in [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City"]New York City[/URL] and [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_City,_New_Jersey"]Atlantic City, New Jersey[/URL].
Smith served in [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I"]World War I[/URL], where he saw action in [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France"]France[/URL], and played [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum"]drum[/URL] with the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American"]African-American[/URL] regimental [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_band"]band[/URL] led by [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tim_Brymn"]Tim Brymn[/URL]. Legend has it that his nickname "The Lion" came from his reported bravery while serving as a [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_artillery"]heavy artillery[/URL] gunner. He was a decorated [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veteran"]veteran[/URL] of the 350th Field Artillery[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_%22The_Lion%22_Smith#cite_note-1"][2][/URL].
Around 1915,[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_%22The_Lion%22_Smith#cite_note-Doctor_Jazz-2"][3][/URL] he married Blanche Merrill (née Howard), a song writer and lyricist who wrote a number of songs and lyrics for Broadway shows from about 1912 through to 1925, particularly for [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Brice"]Fanny Brice[/URL]. Smith and Merrill are thought to have separated before Smith joined the Army in 1917 serving as a corporal (he claimed sergeant was his rank), but they were still living together in Newark, New Jersey at the time of the 1920 census.[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_%22The_Lion%22_Smith#cite_note-Doctor_Jazz-2"][3][/URL] Merrill was white and Smith was the only black man living in their apartment building at the time.[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_%22The_Lion%22_Smith#cite_note-Doctor_Jazz-2"][3][/URL]
He returned to working in Harlem clubs and in rent parties where Smith and his contemporaries James P. Johnson and Fats Waller developed a new, more sophisticated piano style later called “[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stride_%28music%29"]stride[/URL].”[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_%22The_Lion%22_Smith#cite_note-3"][4][/URL] also after the war, where he worked for decades, often as a [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solo_%28music%29"]soloist[/URL], sometimes in bands and accompanying [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues"]blues[/URL] singers such as [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamie_Smith"]Mamie Smith[/URL]. Although working in relative obscurity, he was a "musician's musician", influencing countless others including [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Ellington"]Duke Ellington[/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gershwin"]George Gershwin[/URL], and [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artie_Shaw"]Artie Shaw[/URL].
In the 1940s his music found appreciation with a wider audience, and he toured [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America"]North America[/URL] and [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe"]Europe[/URL] through to 1971. Willie "The Lion" Smith died in [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City"]New York City[/URL]. His [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiography"]autobiography[/URL], [I]Music on My Mind, The Memoirs Of An American Pianist[/I] written with the assistance of [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Hoefer&action=edit&redlink=1"]George Hoefer[/URL], was published by Doubleday and Company in 1964. It included a generous foreword written by Duke Ellington. It also includes a comprehensive list of his compositions and a discography. His students, include such notable names as [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Powell"]Mel Powell[/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks_Kerr"]Brooks Kerr[/URL], and [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Lipskin"]Mike Lipskin[/URL]. With the latter, he made 2 albums: a 2 LP set of playing and reminiscences, [B]The Memoirs of Willie the Lion Smith[/B], done in 1965, and an album of solos and duets from 1971: [B]California Here I Come[/B], which coincided with Mike's relocation from New York to Marin County.[/QUOTE]
Some of my favorite songs played by him:
Ain't Misbehavin'
[MEDIA][URL]http://youtube.com/watch?v=OHz7YcuH6VM[/URL][/MEDIA]
Fingerbuster
[MEDIA][URL]http://youtube.com/watch?v=KDMOkgSdy3E[/URL][/MEDIA]
Echoes Of Spring
[MEDIA][URL]http://youtube.com/watch?v=TSifvwBPuy4[/URL][B][/MEDIA][/B][URL="http://youtube.com/watch?v=TSifvwBPuy4"][/URL]
"Made by him" would be wrong, just write "by him". But yes, great pianist, and I love his classic look, the hat, the glasses and the cigar (my avatar).
Fixed it, thanks for pointing that out.
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