Artist:Spark Plug Smith
Song:Vampire Women
Album:Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order
Blues singer Spark Plug Smith recorded a bunch of songs on one day in 1933. And then he was never heard from again. He's a pretty good singer. I don't even have a bio for this guy. He named himself after a race horse. There are all kinds of blues singers with goofy names. There is even one called Six Cylinder Smith. Maybe I will look at him someday. Spark Plug Smith went to New York City to record at the American Record Company. on Jan. 5, 1933. He recorded a total of twenty songs but only ten of them have been released. Vampire Women was the third release on Vocalion Records. Obviously it's a song about women who figuratively suck a man's blood. What I like is that Smith's tone is more conversational than we normally heard from blues singers of the era. Unfortunately it's Smith's only recording session. We don't know where he came from or where he went. There is one photo of Spark Plug Smith. Document Records uses it on the cover of this collection of Spark Plug Smith songs. All ten songs are there. But it's not enough for a full album. The rest of the songs are by Louis "Tallahassee Tight" Washington who had a similarly short career at ARC. His songs were recorded in 1934. This album is available as a digital download. And as usual Document does a great job of releasing the music of obscure blues singers. Here's a video of Vampire Women by Spark Plug Smith.
Interesting. A man that comes out of nowhere and records some great music and then just disappears. The stuff of legend and the early days of the Blues. Thanks so much Frank.
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