Norman D. Smart (born September 29, 1947) is an American

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

. He replaced Chip Damiani in the

Remains Remains or The Remains may refer to: Music *The Remains (band), a 1960s American rock band *The Ramainz, originally The Remains, a Ramones tribute band Albums * ''Remains'' (Alkaline Trio album), 2007 * ''Remains'' (Annihilator album), 1997 * ' ...

in 1966, shortly before the band split up. Smart was a member of the band Kangaroo, which released one album on

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

in 1968. Other members included

John Hall John Hall may refer to: Academics * John Hall (NYU President) (fl. c. 1890), American academic * John A. Hall (born 1949), sociology professor at McGill University, Montreal * John F. Hall (1951–2023), professor of classics at Brigham Young Univ ...

(who went on to Orleans),

Barbara Keith Barbara Allen Keith (born 1946) is an American folk-rock singer-songwriter who recorded two solo albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She re-emerged in the 1990s with her family band, The Stone Coyotes, who have released 12 albums and co ...

and Ted Speleos. He then joined the band

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

in 1969 and played on its first gigs, before being replaced by

Corky Laing Laurence Gordon "Corky" Laing (born January 26, 1948) is a Canadian rock drummer, best known as a longtime member of the pioneering American hard rock band Mountain. He and guitarist/vocalist Leslie West were the only members to appear on eve ...

in late 1969. He played with Mountain at

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

in August 1969. The live recording of "

Long Red "Long Red" is a song recorded by Leslie West for his first solo album ''Mountain'' (1969). He performed it with his band Mountain at Woodstock in 1969, which was later included on '' Live: The Road Goes Ever On'' (1972). The drum break from this v ...

" from the Woodstock set was released in 1972 on '' Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On''. The drum break by Smart has been sampled many times by

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

artists. In 1969, he became a member of Ian and Sylvia's

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

group Great Speckled Bird. Their first album was produced by

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

, with whom Smart would continue to work throughout the 1970s. Smart, Jim Colegrove and Jeff Gutcheon formed the group Hungry Chuck in 1971. In 1973, Smart played and completed one tour with the Fallen Angels,

Gram Parsons Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973), known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist. He recorded with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Bu ...

's group. Smart was the drummer for

Hello People Hello People was a rock group that was created in New York City in late 1967 by producer Lou Futterman. History The idea for creating the group stemmed from Marcel Carné's 1945 film ''Children of Paradise'' (''Les Enfants du Paradis''). Eti ...

on their 1974 album ''The Handsome Devils'', which was produced by Todd Rundgren.

References

Biography of N.D. Smart
Living people American rock drummers Mountain (band) members 1947 births Great Speckled Bird (band) members 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians The Remains (band) members {{US-drummer-stub