Huey "Piano" Smith's musical legacy stands alongside that of fellow New
Orleans legends Dr. John, Fats Domino, Ernie K-Doe, and Allen Toussaint.
His 1957 classic, "Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu," made
Billboard's top R&B singles chart, and hundreds of artists including
Aerosmith, the Grateful Dead, the Beach Boys, Johnny Rivers, and Chubby
Checker have recorded his songs.
The first biography of the artist responsible for hits "Don't You Just
Know It," "High Blood Pressure," and "Sea Cruise," Huey "Piano" Smith
and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues follows the musician's extraordinary
life from his Depression-era childhood to his teen years as a pianist
for blues star Guitar Slim to his mainstream success in the 1950s and
'60s. Drawing from extensive interviews and court records, author and
journalist John Wirt also provides new insights on Smith's professional
disappointments and financial struggles in the 1980s and '90s as he
battled over royalties from his most successful and profitable work.
An enigmatic and guarded personality in a profession of extroverted
performers, Smith made farreaching contributions to the New Orleans
music scene as a songwriter, pianist, and producer. Wirt reveals that
Smith's numerous collaborations with other artists--including the
Clowns, the Pitter Pats, the Hueys, and Shindig Smith and the Soul
Shakers--served as vehicles for his creative vision rather than simply
as an anonymous backup for a leading front man.
Throughout this intimate account, Wirt details Smith's significant
impact on rock and roll history and underscores both the longevity of
his music--which has entertained and inspired for over five decades--and
the musician's personal endurance in the face of hardship and
opposition.
