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RIP Willie "Big Eyes" Smith Last viewed: 1 hour ago

Posts: 159 Threads: 21

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Willie "Big Eyes" Smith; sadder still that nearly 3 years went by before I heard of it. I remember meeting Willie on St. John in 2003. He asked to rent my drums. I had just recently purchased a new set of Premier Cabrias and had not yet replaced the factory heads. I told him I wouldn't let him rent them, but that he could borrow them. After his performances with The Legendary Blues Band, he signed the snare head for me.

The last time I saw him was when he played with Bob Margolin at the Trinidaddio Blues Fest. We got to hang out together backstage and smoke a joint. I believe that was 2010, a little more than a year before his passing. RIP, "Big Eyes!"

This is the head he signed. If anyone wonders why I've never parted with these drums, despite subsequently buying better drums, this is why!

[IMG]https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10576910_898448350183594_5098992839193277107_n.jpg?oh=7cdbca8de5aa4a6ae52b890468a37d5a&oe=5449CAD1&__gda__=1412991931_9742a8e553c237aa3e0f274ddf466fb2[/IMG]

And this was me (several years ago) playing the same kit.

[IMG]https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t1.0-9/p417x417/182959_155794954475699_4725891_n.jpg[/IMG]

Posted on 10 years ago
#1
Posts: 159 Threads: 21

A better picture of them. They are "Metallic Wine Red."

[IMG]https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/p417x417/603372_510753772286389_1106266537_n.jpg?oh=e91419cffb6d59cc4bb62f4bcf22770c&oe=5452C388&__gda__=1413901487_2be10f9cb472253e03c6d48d09c75e40[/IMG]

Posted on 10 years ago
#2
Posts: 9005 Threads: 266

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwHbwtZN688"]PINETOP PERKINS & "WILLIE "BIG EYES" SMITH - WALKIN DOWN THE HIGHWAY - YouTube[/ame]

Enjoy...

As a fellow Ganga-lover, I'd like to share this little Louis Armstrong story... an often-told story relates that Armstrong once prevailed on Richard Nixon to carry his valise containing Armstrong's pot through an airport for him. Satchmo laughed heartily every time he told the story, pinpointing the locale as Japan. Both Armstrong and then-VP Nixon toured Japan in late 1953.

Satchmo turned Nixon into his drug mule to get his herb out of Japan safely! LOL

John

Too many great drums to list here!

http://www.walbergandauge.com/VintageVenue.htm
Posted on 10 years ago
#3
Posts: 159 Threads: 21

Thanks, John. I wish I could have met Pinetop. Unfortunately, he was unable to make the trip and was replaced on that run by David Maxwell. Enjoyed the video, and miss Willie's playing!

Posted on 10 years ago
#4
Posts: 9005 Threads: 266

I envy you meeting him and I wish I had been there to share a doob with one of the truly great old-school cats. There is so much to learn from those guys and there are so few of them left alive. After awhile, all we'll have will be whatever recorded or videoed material they may have left behind. It's a big loss of music talent, knowledge and experience that is lost every time we lose one of these great old players.

Frieda Wiede! :p

John

Too many great drums to list here!

http://www.walbergandauge.com/VintageVenue.htm
Posted on 10 years ago
#5
Posts: 1296 Threads: 208

His drumming on Hard Again and it's sequel is what blues playing is all about for me...

Never play it the same way once.
Posted on 10 years ago
#6
Posts: 9005 Threads: 266

From orangemi

His drumming on Hard Again and it's sequel is what blues playing is all about for me...

These cats were the inventors of all the stuff that -we- play today! Every blues lick I ever heard that gutted me and made me want to learn how to play it - came from these old cats. A good portion of all of our personal 'lick libraries' (the bag of tricks we reach into when we need something for a fill, or particular piece of music) we stole from these great old -Natural- players.

A lot of guys don't realize that blues drumming is its own discipline. Like somebody who specializes in jazz, rock, Latin jazz or whatever style, blues drumming is one of those. It's an art whose subtlety is learned only by years of playing the music. I have so much love and respect for these old guys that they almost feel like family to me somehow.

John

Too many great drums to list here!

http://www.walbergandauge.com/VintageVenue.htm
Posted on 10 years ago
#7
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