Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith

Smith died at his home on April 3, 2014, two days after his 93rd birthday. On April 12, 2014, artists, friends and family paid tribute to Smith in a memorial celebration at Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Producer Fred Foster gave the eulogy. George Hamilton IV, The Avett Brothers, and others performed several of Smith's popular gospel songs. Dave Moody and David Johnson performed Smith's classic banjo instrumental, "Dueling Banjos". The service ended with a rendition of "Guitar Boogie" performed by a band full of guitarists, including Smith's nephews Tim and Roddy Smith.

As of fall 2006, Smith was retired. His extensive publishing interests, production company, and management business are managed by his son, Clay Smith. The younger Smith, a noted recording artist, ran Johnny Cash's businesses in the late 1970s. He returned to his family business with his father in 1982.

In Charlotte, Smith founded in 1957 the first commercial recording studio in the Southeast. In addition to recording the Crackerjacks and its various members, he recorded such musicians as vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Tommy Faile, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Pat Boone, Ronnie Milsap, George Beverly Shea and the Statler Brothers. He also produced sides from many other acts, including rhythm and blues star James Brown, whose "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (1965) was cut in Smith's studio. It was later ranked as "No. 72 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time." In this facility, Smith also created and produced nationally syndicated radio programs hosted by Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, Richard Petty, James Brown, and George Beverly Shea. Billy Graham's Hour of Decision radio program was first produced in Smith's studio. Smith also produced and hosted his own radio program, Top of the Morning, which was syndicated for an unbroken span of 29 years. In the 1970s, Smith produced a weekly, 30-minute videotaped program syndicated in more than 90 TV markets at its peak. He produced radio and television shows for a number of other artists, including Johnny Cash, who had become a friend, and gospel singer George Beverly Shea.

Smith was also noted for his "Feudin' Banjos" (1955), which was also recorded by Lester Flatt. It was revived as "Dueling Banjos" and used as a theme song in the popular film, Deliverance (1972). Released as a single, it became a hit, played on Top 40, AOR, and country stations alike. It reached the Top Ten and hit #1 in the US and Canada. Because he was not credited in the film for the song, Smith sued Warner Brothers, and gained a settlement. Smith asked Warner Bros. to include his name on the official soundtrack listing, but reportedly asked to be omitted from the film credits because he found the film offensive.

In 1955, Smith composed a banjo instrumental he called "Feudin' Banjos," and recorded the song with five-string banjo player Don Reno. Later the composition was performed in the popular 1972 film Deliverance, retitled "Dueling Banjos" and played by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell. It was released as a single becoming a major hit: played on Top 40, AOR, and country stations alike. It reached the Top Ten in several categories and hit #1 on the Cashbox and Record World US pop charts. It was also a #1 country hit in the US and Canada. Not credited for this piece in the film, Smith filed a legal suit against Warner Brothers, winning a "substantial settlement;" it included his being awarded songwriting credit and back royalties. This was considered a landmark copyright infringement suit.

After wartime service in the US Navy, Smith returned to Charlotte. He was joined in his recording career by his brothers, wife Dorothy and vocalist Roy Lear. He also started his own radio show, Carolina Calling, on WBT. Smith emceed part of the first live television program broadcast in 1951 by the new television station, WBTV, in Charlotte.

His own The Arthur Smith Show was the first country music television show to be syndicated nationally; it ran for 32 years in 90 markets coast to coast. His band, renamed Arthur Smith & His Crackerjacks, became an institution in the Southeast area through the new medium. They had a daily early-morning variety program, Carolina Calling, which was carried on the CBS-TV network as a summer-replacement during the 1950s. This increased Smith's national visibility. Unusually for a country music band, his band relied on tight arrangements with written "charts" for most of their music.

Born in Clinton, South Carolina, United States, Arthur Smith was a textile mill worker who became a celebrated and respected country music instrumental composer, guitarist, fiddler, and banjo player. One of his early hits was the instrumental "Guitar Boogie," which he wrote and recorded in 1945. It sold over three million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. The song earned him the moniker Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith (to differentiate him from Tennessee fiddler and 1930s Grand Ole Opry star Fiddlin' Arthur Smith). It was recorded by numerous other musicians, including Tommy Emmanuel, and became known around the world.

Arthur Smith (April 1, 1921 – April 3, 2014) was an American musician, songwriter, and producer of records, as well as a radio and TV host. Smith produced radio and TV shows; The Arthur Smith Show was the first nationally syndicated country music show on television. After moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, Smith developed and ran the first commercial recording studio in the Southeast.

Arthur Smith was born in 1921 in Clinton, South Carolina, the son of Clayton Seymour Smith, a cotton mill worker, and his wife. His father was also a music teacher, and led a brass band in Kershaw, South Carolina. The boy's first instrument was the cornet. Arthur, along with his brothers Ralph and Sonny, formed a Dixieland combo, the Carolina Crackerjacks, who appeared briefly on radio in Spartanburg, South Carolina.