You won’t want to miss this one! One of the most in demand blues / rock guitarists, GE Smith, joins Janeane on KUCI 88.9fm

One of the most in demand blues / rock guitarists in the world is a mysterious character who goes by the name of G.E. Smith. Millions of TV viewers know his face-and the shock of unruly blond ponytail that was always falling across it-from his tenure stint of fronting the Saturday Night Live Band. For G.E. (George Edward) Smith, a soulful guitarist, composer, singer, and bandleader, it all began in rural Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, where he was just about born with a guitar in his hand. “I started playing around the age of four, and started getting good at seven,” he says. “Eventually, the girlfriend of one of my Uncles bought me a Martin, a real good guitar, in 1959. Then when folk the music scene came around and Bob Dylan was first performing, I got really into that.” By chance he was attending a taping of the television show ‘Hootenanny’ in Princeton, New Jersey, and saw the legendary Odetta and Josh White perform, further inciting his musicality. On his 11th birthday, G.E.’s mother bought him his first electric guitar, a Fender Telecaster, a model that dated his birth year-1952. (“I still have that guitar, and there’s no sound that I can’t find in it.”) By then he was supporting himself as a musician, and playing in numerous situations–Pocono’s resorts, high school dances, you name it–often with musicians more than twice his age. After accomplishing all he could in the bar-band scene as a teenager, Smith left the Pocono’s to conquer the Connecticut. He quickly established himself as a “top gun” guitarist and hooked up with the legendary Scratch band, which scorched clubs up and down the East Coast during the mid-70’s. In late 1977, G.E. got his first break in the form of Dan Hartman, fresh off his hit “Instant Replay”. Dan hired G.E. to front his band for a “lip-synch tour” of Europe and the U.S. Upon his return to the East Coast, Smith moved to Manhattan and became the guitarist for Gilda Radner’s 1979 Broadway show “Gilda Live”. Radner and Smith became an item and shortly after married. During that period of Smith’s life another break took place when the blue-eyed soulsters Daryl Hall and John Oates came calling. Not only was Smith hired to play lead guitar for Hall and Oates, he stayed for six years (1979-1985) constantly touring and recording with them, racking up hit after hit with songs like Private Eyes, Man Eater, Kiss on My List, and others. “It was insanely fun, “ he recalls. “We were so big that one year we decided it would be fun to perform during summer –all year round! We toured the northern hemisphere in the summer and the southern hemisphere in the during America’s winter.” Another fortuitous event was the Live Aid and Farm Aid benefit concerts in early 85’. I ended up being the house band backing Mick Jagger, Tina Turner and whoever didn’t have a band. G.E.’s hard work earned him a commanding position in the music industry as a first call blues/rock guitarist, sought out by major recording artists like Jagger, who, shortly after Live Aid, called Smith to work with him on his first solo album, She’s the Boss. (Smith also played on Jagger’s Primitive Cool.) During this period Smith also did a few one-off recordings and concerts with David Bowie, and Peter Wolfe, among other notables. When Hall & Oates decided to take a long break from the music scene, Smith was chosen to be musical director for Saturday Night Live. “The way it happened was, I knew Howard Shore, the show’s original musical director, and producer Lorne Michaels, from my stint with Gilda,” says Smith. “In ’85, when Lorne returned to produce the show again, he asked me to be the musical director. And I was thrilled to take it.” Leading the SNL band for 10 years (1985 – 1995) – it was arguably the best late-night band on television at the time – and G.E. won an Emmy. “I definitely grew a lot from playing with those world-class musicians, especially the horn section. I really had to learn to play in time and in tune. It was a great education.” MORE here: http://getthefunkoutshow.kuci.org