AccuRadio Song Of The Day-O.C. Smith

Artist:O.C. Smith
Song:Little Green Apples
Album:The Very Best Of O.C. Smith





The 1968 top five hit Little Green Apples was the biggest hit for Ocie Lee Smith Jr. He started out as a jazz singer and really caught his stride with this kind of country soul in the late 60s. A lot of the credit for Smith's success goes to Columbia Records house producer Jerry Fuller. O.C. Smith was born June 21, 1932 in Mansfield, LA and grew up in Little Rock, AR. When his parents divorced, he moved with his mom to Los Angeles and went to high school there. His mom was a music teacher. After attending Southern University, he entered the US Air Force in 1951 and toured with Horace Heidt while in the service. Smith's first love was jazz. So when he was discharged in 1955, he moved to New York to start a career in music. An appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts earned him a contract with Cadence Records owned by Godfrey's musical director Archie Bleyer. Singles recorded there and other labels didn't sell. Then he was hired by veteran bandleader Sy Oliver and this led to replacing Joe Williams as the lead singer for Count Basie in 1961. In 1963, he moved to Los Angeles, changed his name to O.C. Smith and sang at local clubs. He signed with Columbia Records in 1966. He actually recorded That's Life before Frank Sinatra turned it into a big hit. Smith's 1967 album The Dynamic O.C. Smith was a jazz album and didn't sell. Columbia was ready to drop him when house producer Jerry Fuller said he liked Smith's voice and agreed to work with him. He also produced Gary Puckett & The Union Gap. Fuller got together with arranger H.B. Barnum and decided to cover the country song The Son Of Hickory Holler's Tramp. It charted so they decided to produce a whole album of country soul. Little Green Apples reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Little Green Apples was written by veteran Nashville songwriter Bobby Russell who wrote Honey for Bobby Goldsboro. The song was first recorded by Roger Miller and then Patti Page. Fuller knew the Page version as it was recorded at Columbia. Smith's version won two Grammys. Smith had more chart success with this brand of country soul. This comp from the easy listening reissue label Taragon is a good intro to his music. Smith left Columbia in 1971 and continued to record occasionally and became pastor of City Of Angels Church in Los Angeles. He was well liked in the music business but attempts to record him and return him to the mainstream never worked out. O.C. Smith died on Nov. 23, 2001 at age 69. Here's O.C. Smith performing Little Green Apples on Playboy After Dark 1968.