Sonny Knight

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Sonny Knight
Birth nameJoseph Coleman Smith
Also known asJoe Smith
Joseph C. Smith
Born(1934-05-17)May 17, 1934
World Pacific

Joseph Coleman Smith (May 17, 1934 – September 5, 1998), who performed and recorded under the name Sonny Knight, was an American singer, songwriter and author. His biggest hit was "Confidential", which reached the pop and

music business
in the 1950s.

Biography

He was born in

Los Angeles State College intending to pursue an academic career, but became interested in the music business and, according to one source, visited the Mesner brothers at Aladdin Records to sell them a song, "Vicious, Vicious Vodka", that he had written for his idol, Amos Milburn;[1] Milburn recorded the song in 1954.[2] Another source suggests that Smith actively sought a recording contract himself, at the behest of a girlfriend.[3] In any event, Aladdin offered him a recording contract, and, using the pseudonym Sonny Knight that he invented himself, released two singles on the label, including "But, Officer," later recorded by Steve Allen. The records were unsuccessful, and he recorded as Joe Smith for the Cal-West label before signing for Specialty Records.[1]

After a couple more unsuccessful singles, recorded again as Sonny Knight, producer

R&B chart at the end of 1956.[5]

Knight was unable to follow it up successfully, although he continued to record for Dot. He also worked as a

World Pacific.[1][6][7] In the early 1960s he recorded for the Aura label, and in 1964 his song "If You Want This Love" reached no.71 on the pop chart; its follow-up "Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow" reached no.100.[8] He gave up his recording career in the mid 1960s,[3] moving in the 1970s to live in Hawaii, where he continued to sing in nightclubs.[2]

In 1981, credited as Joseph C. Smith, his novel The Day the Music Died was published by Grove Press.[1][9] It was based on his own experiences in the music business in the 1950s, and received generally good reviews, remaining in print for over 25 years.[1] Rock critic Greil Marcus, in his book Dead Elvis, wrote that:[4]

"[it is] the bitterest book ever written about how rock'n'roll came to be and what it turned into; its theme is racism....[W]hat really interests Smith is how a rich version of American black culture is transformed into a horrible, enormously profitable white parody of itself: as white labels sign black artists only to ensure their oblivion and keep those blacks they can't control penned up in the ghetto of the black charts; as white America, faced with something good, responds with a poison that will ultimately ruin even honest men... There is no question that much of what Smith describes took place.... But.. driven by its bitterness, Smith's story runs away from itself..."

Knight died in Hawaii in 1998 at the age of 64, following a stroke two years earlier.[2]

A compilation CD of Sonny Knight's recordings, Confidential, was issued by Pacific Records in about 2001.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Biography by Dik de Heer at Black Cat Rockabilly. Retrieved April 20, 2013
  2. ^ a b c Nick Talevski, Rock Obituaries – Knocking On Heaven's Door, Omnibus Press, 2010, p.344
  3. ^ a b Biography by Rovi at Allmusic.com. Retrieved April 20, 2013
  4. ^ a b Greil Marcus, Dead Elvis: a chronicle of a cultural obsession, Harvard University Press, 1999, pp.100–103
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995. Record Research. p. 253.
  6. ^ Sonny Knight at 45cat.com. Retrieved April 20, 2013
  7. ^ Sonny Knight at Discogs.com. Retrieved April 20, 2013
  8. ISBN 0-89820-155-1
    .
  9. ^ Google Books, The Day the Music Died

External links

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