Author and critic John Wirt has covered many Louisiana greats over the years in his job as music writer for the Baton Rouge and New Orleans editions of the daily paper The Advocate. But one of his favorites is Huey "Piano" Smith.
Even though Smith's created some immortal hits and is also among the Crescent City's finest pure pianists, he's much lesser known than several other New Orleans R&B/soul musicians.
Smith was pianist for Guitar Slim, and later penned a number of classics, most notably "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu." A host of artists have recorded Smith compositions, among them Aerosmith, Johnny Rivers, The Beach Boys, The Grateful Dead and Chubby Checker.
Unfortunately, Smith has never benefited from his accomplishments in the financial manner that would be expected. In fact, he has endured considerable fiscal hardship over the past few years.
Wirt's Huey "Piano" Smith and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues is the first biography of a figure who should enjoy a much larger presence in popular music circles than he does. It documents trials and triumphs, hardships, court battles and other events in the life of a vital musical personality.
We discussed the Smith biography, Wirt's assessment of his career, and some other developments during a recent phone call.
Were there any things you discovered about Huey "Piano" Smith and/or his music that surprised you?
Well, he's very well known and highly respected in New Orleans, but has never gotten that type of attention outside the city other than from other musicians.
One thing that really stands out for me Is what a great all-round performer he is. From the time he was with Guitar Slim all through all of his hits and the success he did have in the '50s and '60s, it's still not really known just how great he is as a musician. Allen Toussaint, for one, says he's just as great a pianist as he's ever heard in all his years in New Orleans.
Why do you think he's still such an obscure figure nationally, even with big hits like "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" and "Sea Cruise?"
Part of it has to do with the fact that he had a lot of his success at a time when black artists still weren't getting airplay anywhere other than on R&B and soul stations.
Some of it is also due to bad decisions being made in terms of marketable songs. One of his finest tunes, "High Blood Pressure," got buried as a "B" side. Then the decision to have a white artist (Frankie Ford) do "Sea Cruise" first kept him from having the big hit on it he should have.
There are people out there who don't even realize that Johnny Rivers' version of "Rockin' Pneumonia" is a cover. They think he wrote it. Huey was one among many great R&B artists across the nation who just never became the big stars they should have for a lot of reasons.
Your book details a lot of fiscal setbacks, questionable business practices and other things that have certainly affected his career. Yet in the segments where you interview him about this he doesn't seem bitter so much as just realistic about what's happened to him.
What Johnny Vincent at Ace Records did to him Is what happened to so many great musicians. He didn't do what he should have in terms of royalty payments, he often didn't even properly promote or push the songs that were hits.
When you look at all the artists who've covered his songs and the success of those records, there's absolutely no reason why he should have been in any financial trouble.
It's really shameful when you look at his career and what he's done that he would have spent all those years (over a decade) in court trying to retain (and ultimately losing most of the time) ownership of his music.
Do you have a favorite Huey Smith tune? "I love the whole catalog, but a song that I really treasure is "High Blood Pressure." Why Vincent decided to bury that as a "B" side I'll never know or understand. Certainly "Rockin' Pneumonia" and "Sea Cruise." "Don't You Just Know It" is great.
Is there a good or comprehensive collection of his music available?
It's hard to accept, but there's not really a well recorded, comprehensive collection of his music available. The last decent collection I recall was one that came out of England in 1998, a collection of the songs he made for Vincent's Ace label.
There are some poorly recorded foreign bootlegs out there that I've heard, but no domestic label at the moment seems interested in doing the type of high quality set of his recordings that should be done. Some of that I would attribute to all the litigation over his music through the years.
Do you feel he should be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in some category?
Definitely. He's right there among influential New Orleans artists, and in my view clearly should be in the Hall if only as an influence. But I would put him in just as a performer, singer and musician. The whole Hall business is tricky, and the voters now tend to be younger and people who aren't that familiar with his history. but on the musical merits, in my view he definitely belongs in there.
Does he still perform today?
The last time I saw Huey performing, at least in terms of his hits and R&B, was when he was a recipient in 2000 of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation's Pioneer Award, and he performed. Today, he's busy playing at the West Congregation Kingdom Hall in Baton Rouge, singing hymns in the Jehovah's Witness hymnal.
Has he seen a copy of your book? And if so, what was his response?
I did send him a copy and I've seen him a couple of times since, but he hasn't really said anything about it. If you ask him about the past and the things that happened, he has no problems telling you how he feels. His attitude has always been that they outlasted and wore him down in court, that he wasn't treated fairly and the outcomes weren't right, but he finally just gave up fighting them.
Hopefully your book will get him some new attention and recognition.
If it does, I feel I've accomplished my goal, because he certainly deserves it.
