Aaron "The A-Train" Smith (born September 3, 1950) is a Nashville-based drummer and percussionist who has played as a member of multiple bands, and as a studio musician, starting in 1970. Smith played drums on several hit Motown recordings in the 1970s, including

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

' "

Papa Was a Rollin' Stone "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is a song originally performed by Motown recording act The Undisputed Truth in 1972, though it became much better known after a Grammy-award winning cover by The Temptations was issued later the same year. This la ...

". In the 1980s, he was a member of the new wave band

Romeo Void Romeo Void was an American new wave/ post punk band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. The band primarily consisted of saxophonist Benjamin Bossi, vocalist Debora Iyall, guitarist Peter Woods, and bassist Frank Zincavage. The ban ...

and the Christian alternative rock band

the 77s The 77s (alternatively spelled the Seventy Sevens, the 77's, or simply 77's) is an American rock band consisting of Michael Roe on vocals/guitar, Mark Harmon on bass guitar, and Bruce Spencer on drums. History The group was “formed at a ch ...

Background

With a singular focus, Aaron Smith began his career playing drums in marching band during the sixth grade practicing on the cafeteria tables since there were so many kids wanting to play that instrument. Smith has stated that his influences include James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Stax, RCA, Motown, Ringo Starr and the Beatles' appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. On his first recording session for the song "Push, Push", Smith was paid with "all the hamburgers he could eat". At the age of 20, Smith played drums on

' recording of "

" which reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song also won two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s at the 15th Annual Awards ceremony - one for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group Or Chorus and the other for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. Although not formally a member of the Funk Brothers, he performed with them on several Motown albums as a part of the rhythm section. These records include ''Sky's the Limit'' (Temptations 71), ''Solid Rock'' (Temptations 71), ''All Directions'' (Temptations 72), ''Face to Face with the Truth'' (The Undisputed Truth 72), ''Masterpiece'' (73), ''The Temptations in Japan'' (Temptations 73), ''Keep on Trucking'' (Eddie Kendricks 73), ''Me and Rock and Roll Are Here to Stay'' (David Ruffin 74). He has also worked on ''Renaissance'' (Ray Charles 76), ''Prime Time'' (Grey And Hanks 80), ''A Girl In Trouble'' (Romeo Void 84). Smith was also a member of the progressive rock group

Vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

from 1983 through 1985. In 1984, he joined the new wave group

. Although his stint in the band was relatively brief (with the band breaking up the following year), he did perform on their most commercially successful single, " A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)" (along with the rest of the tracks on the accompanying ''

Instincts Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing both innate (inborn) and learned elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a ve ...

'' album) and was even interviewed and invited back to perform with the group for their ''

Bands Reunited Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

'' episode. Also in 1984, Smith contributed to

' album '' All Fall Down''. He later joined the group officially in 1987, taking part in their albums ''

The 77s The 77s (alternatively spelled the Seventy Sevens, the 77's, or simply 77's) is an American rock band consisting of Michael Roe on vocals/guitar, Mark Harmon on bass guitar, and Bruce Spencer on drums. History The group was “formed at a ch ...

'' (1987), '' Sticks and Stones'' (1990), ''

Eighty Eight ''Eighty Eight'' is the title of The 77s' fifth album, released in 1991. The album was recorded live at the Warehouse in Sacramento, California on March 12, 1988. Track listing Eighty Eight # "Perfect Blues" – 6:00 # "I Can't Get Over It" ...

'' (1991), '' The Seventy Sevens'' (also known as Pray Naked - 1992), and ''

Drowning with Land in Sight ''Drowning with Land in Sight'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band The 77s. It was released in 1994 on Myrrh Records. The music, their heaviest up to that point, ranged from the opening note-for-note Led Zeppelin cover to the straig ...

'' (1994) leaving the group in 1995. Smith has also appeared on the following recordings: ''Simple House'' (

Margaret Becker Margaret Becker (born July 17, 1959) is an American Christian rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She has had twenty-one No. 1 Christian radio hits, won four Dove Awards, and been nominated for four Grammy Awards. Biography Becker was born ...

, 1991), ''Love Life'' (

Charlie Peacock Charles William Ashworth (born August 10, 1956), known professionally as Charlie Peacock, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, and author. His albums include ''Love Press Ex-Curio'', ''Arc of the Circle'' and ''No Man's L ...

, 1991), ''

Listen Listen may refer to: * The action of listening * Central auditory system listening is how the brain processes what you hear * Listening behaviour types in human communication Computing * LISTEN, a TCP connection state on the server side indi ...

'' (

Cindy Morgan Cindy Morgan (born Cynthia Ann Cichorski; September 29, 1954) is an American actress known for her appearances as Lora/Yori in ''Tron'' and Lacey Underall in ''Caddyshack''. Life and career Morgan was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Polish and ...

, 1996), ''

The Loving Kind "The Loving Kind" is a song by English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud, taken from their fifth studio album '' Out of Control'' (2008). The song was written by Pet Shop Boys, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and pro ...

'' (Cindy Morgan, 1998), '' Brother's Keeper'' ( Rich Mullins, 1995), ''Hope Is Born Again'' (

Jim Brickman James Merrill Brickman (born November 20, 1961) is an American pop songwriter, pianist and radio host. Brickman has earned two Grammy nominations for his albums ''Peace'' (2003) for Best Instrumental, and ''Faith'' (2009) for Best New Age Album. ...

Point of Grace Point of Grace is an all-female contemporary Christian music vocal group. The current trio consists of Shelley Breen, Denise Jones, and Leigh Cappillino. The group started out as a quartet in 1991, with original members Breen and Jones, as wel ...

, 1997), ''

The Jesus Record The Jesus Record is the ninth and final album by American singer and songwriter Rich Mullins, released posthumously on July 21, 1998, ten months after his death. The first disc of the album, entitled "The Jesus Demos", consists of nine rough de ...

'' (Rich Mullins, 1998), ''Prayers of a Ragamuffin'' (

A Ragamuffin Band A Ragamuffin Band was a musical group founded by Rich Mullins in 1993, when he gathered friends from other bands to back him on his '' A Liturgy, A Legacy, & A Ragamuffin Band'' album. The band continued to record and tour with Mullins, and even ...

, 2000), ''A Long Way Back'' (

Kim Richey Kimberly Richey (born December 1, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter. Career Kim Richey came onto the music scene in the 1990s and entered her first recording contract at the age of 37. Kim signed with Mercury Nashville. She spent the n ...

, 2020) and many more. In his career, Smith has done many live tours as well with artists he has recorded with: Chuck Jackson, The Undisputed Truth, The Temptations, Mirosla Vitous, Club Nouveau, Miroslav Vitous, The 77's, Michael Card, Englebert Humperdinck, Michael W. Smith, Charlie Peacock, Rich Mullins and Kevin Max. An autographed pair of Smith's drumsticks, part of the Peter Lavinger collection which was on display in the Main Exhibition Level through Feb. 2002 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can be found next to a pair of sticks used by Ringo Starr, one of his early influences. Smith is married and has two daughters.

Selected discography

* '' Sky's the Limit'',

, 1971 album * '' Solid Rock'',

, 1972 album * ''

All Directions ''All Directions'' is a 1972 album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label, produced by Norman Whitfield. It reached number two on the ''Billboard'' 200, making it the band's most successful non-collaborative album on the chart, and becam ...

'',

, 1972 album * ''Boogie Down!'',

Eddie Kendricks Edward James Kendrick (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temptation ...

, 1972 album * '' Masterpiece'',

, 1973 album * ''

Law of the Land The phrase ''law of the land'' is a legal term, equivalent to the Latin ''lex terrae'', or ''legem terrae'' in the accusative case. It refers to all of the laws in force within a country or region, including statute law and case-made law. Use in ...

'',

The Undisputed Truth The Undisputed Truth was an American Motown recording act, assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield as a means for being able to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe "Pep" Harris served as main lead singer, with ...

, 1973 album * '' Down to Earth'',

, 1974 album * ''Mannequin Virtue'',

, 1983 album * ''

'',

, 1984 album * '' All Fall Down'',

, 1984 album * ''

'',

, 1987 album * ''Special''

, 1989 album * '' Sticks and Stones'',

, 1990 album * ''

'',

, 1991 album * '' The Seventy Sevens'',

, 1992 album * ''

'',

, 1994 album * ''

Emperors of Soul ''Emperors of Soul'' is a 1994 box set compilation for The Temptations, released by Motown Records. The five-disc collection covers the Temptations' entire four-decade history, from the first recording of The Distants in 1959 ("Come On") to fou ...

, 1994 boxed set * '' Brother's Keeper'', Rich Mullins, 1995 album * ''

'', Rich Mullins, 1998 album * ''Prayers of a Ragamuffin'',

, 2000 album

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Aaron 1950 births Living people American rock drummers Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee 20th-century American drummers American male drummers The 77s members A Ragamuffin Band members Vector (band) members 20th-century American male musicians