John Beasley Smith (September 27, 1901 – May 14, 1968) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and big band musician. " That Lucky Old Sun" (1949) one of his better known works, was covered by many well-known artists. He often worked with

Haven Gillespie James Lamont Gillespie (February 6, 1888 – March 14, 1975), known under the pen name Haven Gillespie, was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of " You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", " That Luc ...

and toured the nation with his group, ''Beasley Smith and His Orchestra''.

Biography

Beasley Smith was born in

McEwen, Tennessee McEwen is a city in Humphreys County, Tennessee, Humphreys County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,750 at the 2010 census. Geography McEwen is located in eastern Humphreys County at (36.108810, -87.634974). U.S. Route 70 passes th ...

. His parents were teachers. The family moved to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

when he was in elementary school. Smith attended

Hume-Fogg High School Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School is a public magnet high school serving grades 9–12 and located in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. History Hume School, serving the first through 12th grades, opened in 1855 on Eighth Avenue ...

, where he formed an instrumental duo with fellow piano prodigy Francis Craig. They both attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, where they were roommates, but Smith left college after two years to pursue a career as a musician. Smith formed his first band, the ''Beasley Smith Orchestra'', around 1922. By 1925 the group was entertaining regularly at the Andrew Jackson Hotel in downtown Nashville, and on October 5, 1925, both Smith and Craig performed with their bands during radio station WSM's opening-day broadcasts. From 1927 to 1933, the group toured nationally. Lead vocalists who worked with Smith's band during his heyday included Snooky Lanson, Dottie Dillard, Kitty Kallen, and

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...

. In 1933, Smith accepted the job of music director at WSM, and starred on such radio shows as ''Mr. Smith Goes to Town'', ''Sunday Down South'' and ''Tin Pan Valley.'' When Nashville started to become a recording center in the 1940s, Smith and

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician, bandleader and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was a chief architect of the 1950s and 60s Nashville sou ...

were key figures in assembling musicians for studio sessions for producers such as

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

Paul Cohen Paul Joseph Cohen (April 2, 1934 – March 23, 2007) was an American mathematician, best known for his proofs that the continuum hypothesis and the axiom of choice are independent from Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory, for which he was awarded a F ...

. During this time, Smith started having success as a songwriter. He and Owen Bradley co-wrote "Night Train to Memphis" with Marvin Hughes. Roy Acuff sang the original version in 1942, and the upbeat song has been recorded consistently ever since. Beasley Smith and Francis Craig co-wrote "Beg Your Pardon," and it became the 1948 follow-up hit to " Near You" for Craig's band. "That Lucky Old Sun" (1949), co-written with Haven Gillespie was a million-seller for

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American singer and songwriter whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performa ...

and is now considered a pop-music standard. In his lifetime, Smith wrote more than 100 songs. In 1953, Smith left WSM to become the A&R director and musical

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

for

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In its early years, Dot sp ...

. He and Dot's founder, Randy Wood, also incorporated the Randy-Smith Music Publishing Company. Beasley Smith died in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in 1968. In 1983, Beasley Smith was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* *http://nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com.s164288.gridserver.com/Site/inductee?entry_id=2839 1901 births 1968 deaths American male composers People from Humphreys County, Tennessee 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians {{US-composer-20thC-stub