Arthur Lee “Red” Smiley
Best known for
Guitar
Red Smiley was the warm, plaintive voice and sturdy rhythm guitar of Reno and Smiley, one of the defining duos of first-generation bluegrass. His smooth, lower-pitched lead singing — often in the key of D, a register friendlier than most bluegrass of the era — shaped the sound of an act that brought bluegrass to a generation of Southern television audiences through their groundbreaking morning TV show.
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- Born Arthur Lee Smiley in Asheville, North Carolina. His red hair gave him the nickname “Red.” His father was a school administrator, teacher, and fiddler who was a friend of mountain music scholar Bascom Lamar Lunsford.
- According to Barry Willis’s America’s Music: Bluegrass, Red was first inspired by hearing two hobos play in Bushnell, North Carolina when he was about seven.
- As a teenager, played guitar and sang with Bryson City, NC residents Harry and Harley “Smoky” Tallent and Lewis Sherrill as Smoky and the Carolina Ramblers. By the late 1930s he was playing on WROL in Knoxville.
- Joined the Army in 1943; served during WWII. After discharge, attended diesel mechanic school in Nashville, where he first saw Don Reno on stage at the Grand Ole Opry with Bill Monroe (though they didn’t meet).
- In 1949 joined fiddler Tommy Magness’s band at WDBJ in Roanoke, VA. On hearing that Don Reno had left the Blue Grass Boys, Smiley convinced Magness to call and offer him a job. Reno joined the Tennessee Buddies and the two formed their first musical partnership.
- Reno and Smiley made their first recordings together for King Records in 1952, cutting sixteen sides including their iconic “I’m Using My Bible for a Roadmap.” The record sold; more sessions followed in 1953 and 1954.
- In Easter weekend 1955, Reno and Smiley played their first live show together as a touring unit, at the Old Dominion Barn Dance in Richmond, Virginia, with John Palmer on bass and Mack Magaha on fiddle. The band became regulars at the Barn Dance.
- On December 31, 1956, Reno & Smiley and the Tennessee Cut-Ups launched Top O’ the Morning, a weekday morning TV show broadcast from Roanoke, Virginia — the first early-morning country music TV show, which ran for more than a decade until 1968 and reached enormous Southern audiences.
- Reno and Smiley split in November 1964, largely because Red’s diabetes made the demanding touring schedule increasingly difficult. Reno kept the band name and took Smiley’s son Ronnie Reno on mandolin. Smiley continued with his Bluegrass Cut-Ups on the TV show until its cancellation in 1968.
- Formed his own Bluegrass Cut-Ups with John Palmer, Billy Edwards, Tater Tate, and Gene Burris. Recorded five albums for Rimrock and Rural Rhythm. After 1968 also cut 10 country-leaning sides for Major Records.
- Bored at home in retirement, joined Don Reno and Bill Harrell’s band in 1970 and toured and recorded with them for about a year and a half. Mandolinist David Grisman played with Smiley’s band early in his career.
- In 1971 began suffering mild heart attacks; was taken seriously ill during a flu epidemic late in the year while returning from a tour of Eastern Canada and the Northeast. Died on January 2, 1972 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from complications of diabetes, at age 46. Buried at DeHart Cemetery in the Jackson Line community of Bryson City, North Carolina.
- Inducted (with Don Reno) into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1992. A pioneer of bluegrass on television, with more than 3,000 weekday TV broadcasts over 12 years — a figure unmatched in the music’s early era.
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Reno & SmileyPlayed on recordings with Reno & Smiley
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Red Smiley and the Bluegrass CutupsPlayed on recordings with Red Smiley and the Bluegrass Cutups
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Don RenoPlayed on recordings with Don Reno
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Jim EanesPlayed on recordings with Jim Eanes
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Rose MaddoxPlayed on recordings with Rose Maddox
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J.E. Mainer With Red Smiley and the Tennessee CutupsPlayed on recording with J.E. Mainer With Red Smiley and the Tennessee Cutups
