Brian William Smith (born March 26, 1949) is a British–Canadian guitarist, known for being a founding member of the rock band Trooper.

Life and career

Early life

Smith was born in London and emigrated to Canada in 1951. Smith began performing on the guitar before he was fifteen years old. Some of his first gigs were playing with Don Geppert and Anne Attenborough in a band that played Hawaiian music. By the age of 16 he was playing guitar almost professionally. He graduated from Vancouver City College with a degree in Arts and Merchandising, but his love of music led him along another route. He is known as a guitarist and also as a co-writer of more than 100 songs, many of which have become hits.

Career

Smith has performed with Trooper along with

Ra McGuire Ramon Wayne "Ra" McGuire (born June 13, 1950) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and founding and longtime member of the rock band Trooper. Ra (pronounced "Ray") has performed with Trooper and Brian Smith from 1975, when their first album was ...

since 1975, when their first album was released, until their 2021 retirement. He currently resides in Langley, BC. At the 1999

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...

Awards, Smith and songwriting partner

received SOCAN Classic Awards for "We're Here for a Good Time" and "Santa Maria", presented for songs that have received over 100,000 documented radio plays. Smith received a third

Classic Award in 2005, for "Oh, Pretty Lady." Smith and Trooper continued to tour and perform across Canada. As part of the

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May Doan Nancy GreeneWayne Gr ...

festivities, Smith was featured when Trooper performed on February 21, 2010. Coverage of the event was broadcast in Canada and around the world on networks such as

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

and

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31, ...

. On November 19, 2012, Smith was presented with a

National Achievement Award, which is presented to artists who have had outstanding success, predominantly in the Canadian music industry, over the span of their career. He also received three SOCAN Classic Awards for "Raise A Little Hell", "General Hand Grenade", and "Janine", co-written with songwriting partner

. He was also nominated for the Composer of the year Juno award several times.

Personal life

Brian and his wife Joanne have been living for 40 years together, he is three times grandfather and his granddaughters have inspired him to stay healthy and to continue creating.

Retirement

Quoted from their official Facebook group, as of November 8, 2021, the final two founding members are retiring:

Instrument collection

Smith has a large collection of vintage guitars, including the following: *

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuous ...

* 1974 Gibson Les Paul, which Smith still plays at every Trooper show. * A

Gretsch Gretsch is an American company that manufactures musical instruments. The company was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Friedrich Gretsc ...

Guitar, formerly owned and played by

Randy Bachman Randolph Charles Bachman (; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Bachman recorded as a solo artist and was part of a n ...

Bachman–Turner Overdrive Bachman–Turner Overdrive, often abbreviated BTO, were a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, founded by Randy Bachman, Robbie Bachman and Fred Turner in 1973. Their 1970s catalogue included five top-40 albums and six US top-40 singl ...

and

The Guess Who The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1965. The band originated in 1962 and achieved an international hit single with a cover of " Shakin' All Over" in 1965 under the name Chad Allan and the Expressions. After ...

. This guitar was also used for the guitar riff at the end of the Trooper hit "

Round Round We Go ''Thick as Thieves'' is the fourth studio album by Canadian rock band Trooper, released in 1978. The album was produced by Randy Bachman of Bachman–Turner Overdrive and The Guess Who fame. The album went platinum in their home country, and feat ...

". * A Bill Lewis handbuilt guitar which Smith played mostly when Trooper was known as Applejack. Several times he was nominated for the Composer of the year Juno award.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Brian 1949 births Living people Canadian rock guitarists Canadian male guitarists