Fred Sledge Smith
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Fred Sledge Smith (May 18, 1933 – July 29, 2005), often credited as Fred Smith, was an American R&B songwriter and record producer, who worked in particular with
The Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competiti ...
,
Bob & Earl Bob & Earl were an American music singing duo in the 1960s, best known for writing and recording the original version of "Harlem Shuffle". Career The original duo were Bobby Day (born Robert James Byrd) and Earl Nelson. They had both been mem ...
,
Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...
, and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band.


Biography

Smith was born in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, where his mother, Effie Smith, worked as a singer and comic entertainer. He started his career as a songwriter in the 1950s with his friend
Cliff Goldsmith Cliff Goldsmith was an American composer and music producer who had success in the late 1950s and 1960s. Background Cliff Goldsmith was born on 10 May 1925 in Watts and went to school there, graduating from USC. He saw active service during WWII. H ...
. They wrote the
novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...
"
Western Movies The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Californi ...
", which was recorded by vocal group
The Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competiti ...
, who were managed by Smith's
stepfather A stepfather or stepdad is a biologically unrelated male parent married to one's preexisting parent. A stepfather-in-law is a stepfather of one's spouse. Children from his spouse's previous unions are known as his stepchildren. In fiction Thou ...
, John Criner. The song was released on the Demon
record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
, and rose to #8 on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...
, and #7 on the
R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
, in 1958.Jason Alkeny, Biography of Fred Smith, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 23 September 2015

Retrieved 23 September 2015

Retrieved 23 September 2015
Smith and Goldsmith continued to co-write novelty and dance songs together until the early 1960s. Their hits for the Olympics included " Hully Gully" (later reworked as "Peanut Butter" by the Marathons, for which Smith and Goldsmith also received the writing credit), "Shimmy Like Kate" (an adaptation of the 1920s song "
I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate", often simply "Sister Kate", is an up-tempo jazz dance song, written by Armand J. Piron and published in 1922. The lyrics of the song are narrated first person by Kate's sister, who sings about Kate's im ...
"), and " Dance By The Light of the Moon"; they also wrote "Patti Ann", a 1962 hit for
Johnny Crawford John Ernest Crawford (March 26, 1946 – April 29, 2021) was an American actor and singer. He first performed before a national audience as a Mouseketeer. At age 12, Crawford rose to prominence playing Mark McCain in the series ''The Rifleman ...
. Songs written by Fred Smith, ''MusicVF.com''
Retrieved 23 September 2015
The song "Hully Gully" was later
covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...
by many other artists, including
Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twis ...
and
The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...
. Smith and Goldsmith also co-produced many of the Olympics' early records, with Smith taking over sole production responsibilities in about 1963. Fred Smith production credits, ''Discogs.com''
Retrieved 23 September 2015
In 1963, Smith started working for the Mirwood label, established in Los Angeles by former
Vee-Jay Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...
executive Randy Wood. He began working with the duo Bob and EarlBob Relf and Earl Nelson – and, with Relf and Nelson, co-produced their record "
Harlem Shuffle "Harlem Shuffle" is an R&B song written and originally recorded by the duo Bob & Earl in 1963. The song describes a dance called the “Harlem Shuffle”, and mentions several other contemporary dances of the early 1960s, including the Monke ...
", arranged by
Gene Page Eugene Edgar Page Jr. (September 13, 1939 – August 24, 1998) was an American conductor, composer, arranger and record producer, most active from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. His sound can be heard in the arrangements he did for Jeffer ...
with input from
Barry White Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and ...
. The record belatedly became a Top 10 hit in the UK several years later, and Smith also co-wrote and co-produced several of the duo's follow-up singles. In 1965, Smith co-wrote and produced " The Duck", credited to Jackie Lee, a pseudonym used by Earl Nelson. The record reached #14 on the US pop chart, and Smith continued to work with Nelson on later singles credited to Jackie Lee. Many of Smith's productions on Mirwood for acts such as Jimmy Thomas and the Mirettes, though no more than regionally successful at the time, became popular in British
Northern soul Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...
clubs. He regularly worked with
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 ...
James Carmichael. He also wrote and produced tracks on other small Los Angeles record labels including Arvee and Tri-Disc. Smith set up his own label, MoSoul, in 1967, and co-wrote and produced the #33 R&B chart hit, "Grits 'n Cornbread", by local group the Soul Runners. The band also backed
Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...
on his successful album '' Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings''. The album, which Smith produced, included the hit single " Little Ole Man (Uptight, Everything's Alright)" – a #4 hit on the US pop chart – and Cosby followed it up with the album ''Hooray for the Salvation Army Band'', also produced by Smith. Smith renamed the backing band as the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, and recorded them on another of his labels, Keymen. The band's first hit under their new name, "Spreadin' Honey", was again co-written and produced by Smith, and he continued to produce the band after they were signed by
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
; they later changed their name to Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. In the early 1970s Smith worked briefly alongside his mother, Effie Smith, at
Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in September 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. ...
, but he became disillusioned with the music industry and left the entertainment business after Stax closed down in 1975. He died in Los Angeles in 2005, aged 72. The epitaph on his gravestone reads: "Never boring, always loved - he made America dance."


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Fred Sledge 1933 births 2005 deaths African-American songwriters Songwriters from California African-American record producers Record producers from California 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century American songwriters