From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Mon Jan 27, 2003  6:20 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Smokey Hogg
 
SMOKEY HOGG (By Phil Davies)

Born Andrew Hogg, 27 January 1914, Westconnie, Texas
Died 1 May 1960, Mckinney, Texas

Smokey Hogg was a rural bluesman navigating a postwar era infatuated
by R&B, but he got along quite nicely nonetheless, scoring a pair of major
R&B hits in 1948 and 1950 and cutting a thick catalog for a slew of labels.

Born in Northeast Texas, Smokey came from a clan that included blues
singers Lightnin' Hopkins and John Hogg. He learned to play the guitar
and piano early in life under the instruction of his father, Frank. One of
seven children he looked upon music as a means of escape from labour
in the fields. He sang around Dallas and Greenville and was popular enough
to be known as Little Peetie Wheatstraw after his idol. Also influenced by
Big Bill Broonzy. He worked joints with men like B.K. Turner (Black Aces)
and D.C. Bender. In 1937 he recorded two tracks for Decca, which, though
much valued by collectors, made no impression on the blues buying public
of the time - he didn't make it back into a studio for a decade. Sometime
during the war he was drafted and served in the US Army but by 1947 he
was in Los Angeles, where he recorded for the Exclusive label, again without
much success.
His breakthrough came after he had moved back to Dallas, Texas, where he
recorded To (sic) Many Drivers (Little Car Blues); released on the Modern
label in 1947. Back in Los Angeles, still on Modern, he recorded Long Tall
Mama (# 9 R&B) and his biggest hit Little School Girl (aka Good Mornin' Little
School Girl, # 5 R&B). The great Hadda Brooks played on many of his Modern
sides.
He was called Smokey, Smoky and Andrew by various labels. Now established,
he began, like many of his contemporaries, to hop from label to label, recording
for Specialty, Imperial, SIW, Mercury and many smaller concerns.
He enjoyed a good deal of popularity, especially with older fans who dug his
raw country blues style, and this allowed him to survive the initial impact
of rock 'n roll. Smokey's work seems to be something of an acquired taste
and collectors are divided judging its worth.
He worked both Texas and the West Coast (cutting his last 45 for Ebb in
1958), playing jukes, rent parties and picnics until his death in Texas on
May 1st 1960.
Smokey's cousin John Hogg also played the blues, recording for Mercury in
1951.

Recommended listening:
Angels In Harlem - Ace 419 (UK) / Specialty SPCD 7020-2 (USA)
Deep Ellum Roller - Ace 780 (Modern label sides)
Serve It To The Right - Ace 866 (just out, Combo and Modern recordings)
Goin' Back Home - Krazy Kat 7241