If you don’t know him, Johnny played jazz guitar, starting from the 1940s. In 1954 he wrote, “Walk Don’t Run”, which was then covered by Chet Atkins, and later the Ventures made it a surf tune. He kept playing and recording through the 60s, then he moved to Colorado and ran a music store, gave lessons till he passed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Smith
I love his cool, laid back style combined with his excellent guitar technique and tone.
Example from YT with Stan Getz: https://youtu.be/NPVS2ZnjLY8
Awesome collection. I bet they sound great on those KEFs, too. I have the Mosaic 8 CD set from 20-odd years ago, too bad vinyl wasn’t back in the zeitgeist at that juncture.
One of my mentors used to fly up to Colorado Springs to see his son at the Air Force Base next to the airport and then go see Johnny at his music store, which I think he had since retired from running(early 90s).
Oh, nice! You’re the first Johhny fan I’ve met online. :) I come across that CD set every so often but yes, I’ll always prefer to listen on vinyl.
And yes, just got these speakers this year and I love them.
Do you play guitar? I don’t but I understand he’s well regarded within that world.
I play piano, but my mentor was a guitarist. As far as I’m concerned, Johnny Smith is one of the great ones, regardless of instrument.
Yeah, he’s technically a brilliant guitarist and I respect the hell out of that. But to me, he’s just good. He kinda transcends the guitar, like most great musicians.
