Gordon Smith

12+ albums

bluesacoustic blues

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about

Gordon Smith (born in South Shields on 12 March 1949) is a British blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. As well as solo recordings, he was a member of Kevin Coyne's band with whom he recorded several albums during the 1970s. Smith, an only child, was born to Gordon, Snr. and Olive Smith at his grandparent's house, 42 School Loaning, Simonside, South Shields, Tyne & Wear. Gordon received his education at South Shields Primary and Secondary schools, but he was not interested in instruction and training. As he says, "school was not really my thing". Gordon's family frequently played music, especially on his mother's side, and at family gatherings, his mother played mandolin banjo and her sister accordion. Smith's interest in blues artists started at age 14, when he heard compilations from Pye International records featuring the likes of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. Because of this interest, his father bought Smith his first acoustic guitar. His first attempt at imitating the 'blues masters' was at playing alongside a Muddy Waters album. "I couldn't figure out the bottleneck stuff at that time - I was just working on the basic chords and getting the feel right". Smith researched and practised the art of using the bottleneck and by age 17 was singing and playing at a local folk club, The Fort. Smith's father planned for him to become a printer and Smith applied at the South Shields Gazette but was rejected. Instead he finally landed a job at a men's outfitters as a salesman