Pine Top Smith
Clarence "Pinetop" Smith (June 11, 1904 – March 15, 1929) was an American boogie-woogie style blues pianist. His hit tune "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie" featured rhythmic "breaks" that were an essential ingredient of ragtime music, but also a fundamental foreshadowing of rock and roll. The song was also the first known use of the term "boogie woogie" on a record, and cemented that term as the moniker for the genre. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Troy (city in Pike County, Alabama, United States), Died March 15, 1929 (Chicago (city and county seat of Cook County, and largest city in State of Illinois, United States of America) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1928 - 1939
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, piano, lyricist, songwriter, leader, kazoo, author
Notes: Name also appears as "Pinetop Smith." Original name: Clarence Smith.
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor | BVE-62928 | 10-in. | 10/31/1930 | Now that I need you | Count Basie ; Kansas City Orchestra ; Bennie Moten | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | songwriter | |
| Victor | BS-026898 | 10-in. | 9/16/1938 | Boogie woogie | Tommy Dorsey Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
| Victor | BS-027432 | 10-in. | 9/29/1938 | Boogie woogie | Les Brown Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
| Victor | BS-036539 | 10-in. | 4/26/1939 | Boogie woogie | Wingy Manone Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | composer | |
| Brunswick | C2623 | 10-in. | 12/4/1928 | Pine Top blues | Pine Top Smith and his Hokum Jug Boys | Jazz/dance band | leader, composer | |
| Brunswick | C2624 | 10-in. | 12/4/1928 | Pine Top trouble | Pine Top Smith | Piano, with kazoo | instrumentalist, piano, kazoo, composer | |
| Brunswick | C2625 | 10-in. | 12/4/1928 | I got more sense than that | Pine Top Smith | Male vocal solo, with piano | composer, lyricist | |
| Brunswick | C2626 | 10-in. | 12/4/1928 | Now I ain’t got nothin’ at all | Pine Top Smith | Male vocal solo, with piano | composer, lyricist | |
| Brunswick | C2644 | 10-in. | 12/7/1928 | Pine Top’s sober now | Pine Top Smith | Male vocal solo, with piano and talking | composer, instrumentalist, piano | |
| Brunswick | C2646 | 10-in. | 12/10/1928 | Big boy, they can’t do that | Pine Top Smith | Comic monologue, with piano | composer, lyricist, instrumentalist, piano | |
| Brunswick | C2654 | 10-in. | 12/11/1928 | Nobody knows you when you’re down and out | Alberta Reynolds ; Pine Top Smith | Female-male vocal duet, with piano | composer, lyricist, instrumentalist, piano | |
| Brunswick | C2725 | 10-in. | 12/29/1928 | Pine Top blues | Pine Top Smith | Male vocal solo, with piano | composer, lyricist | |
| Brunswick | C2726 | 10-in. | 12/29/1928 | Pine Top’s boogie woogie | Pine Top Smith | Male vocal solo, with piano | composer, lyricist | |
| Brunswick | C2781 | 10-in. | 1/11/1929 | Nobody knows you when you’re down and out | Aunt Jemima Novelty Four | Vocal quartet | composer, lyricist | |
| Brunswick | C2796 | 10-in. | 1/14/1929 | I got more sense than that | Pine Top Smith | Male vocal solo, with piano | instrumentalist, piano, composer, lyricist | |
| Brunswick | C2797 | 10-in. | 1/14/1929 | I’m sober now | Pine Top Smith | Male vocal solo, with piano | instrumentalist, piano, composer, lyricist | |
| Brunswick | C2798 | 10-in. | 1/15/1929 | Big Boy, they can’t do that | Pine Top Smith | Comic monologue, with piano | instrumentalist, piano, author | |
| Brunswick | C2799 | 10-in. | 1/15/1929 | Jump steady blues | Pine Top Smith | Piano solo, with talk | instrumentalist, piano, composer | |
| Brunswick | C2800 | 10-in. | 1/15/1929 | Now I ain’t got nothin’ at all | Pine Top Smith | Male vocal solo, with piano | instrumentalist, piano, composer | |
| Brunswick | C2801 | 10-in. | 1/15/1929 | Nobody knows you when you’re down and out | Alberta Reynolds ; Pine Top Smith | Female-male vocal duet, with piano | instrumentalist, piano, composer, lyricist | |
| Brunswick | C3115 | 10-in. | 3/13/1929 | Driving wheel blues | Pine Top Smith | Male vocal solo, with piano | composer, lyricist | |
| Brunswick | C3733 | 10-in. | 6/26/1929 | Boogie woogie | John Oscar | Piano solo | composer | |
| Brunswick | TC2647 | 10-in. | 12/10/1928 | Jump steady | Pine Top Smith | Monologue, with piano | composer, lyricist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Smith, Pine Top," accessed January 3, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103381.
Smith, Pine Top. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 3, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103381.
"Smith, Pine Top." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 3 January 2026.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Clarence “Pine Top” Smith
Discogs: Pine Top Smith
Allmusic: Pine Top Smith
Grove: Pine Top Smith
IMDb: Pine Top Smith
Britannica: Pine Top Smith
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Smith, Pine Top, 1904-1929 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81139254
Wikidata: Clarence “Pine Top” Smith - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1095520
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/37103472
MusicBrainz: Clarence “Pine Top” Smith - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/c205f484-aa74-4aae-8558-33499e688185
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/1899185 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/1899185
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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