The Country Swing of Smokey Wood

Vocalist, Smokey Wood, was born on 16 September 1918 in Harrison, Arkansas, and raised in Oklahoma. Albeit Wood's entire recording roster consists of only three identifiable dates, and he is something obscure beyond the not especially attractive character that he was, record of him yet persists as if indelible. We include him in this history as a remark on the sibling nature of swing jazz and country swing: Wood's Wood Chips titles were pronouncedly jazz which could never have been heard on the conservative Grand Ole Opry stage, and a case in point why the folk-purist Nashville Opry long demurred to receive country western into its fold. Wood was seventeen when he invaded Houston with his Oklahoma Playboys. They there played what Al Dexter might have called honky tonks and performed at radio KXYZ.

Wood played piano on his first session with Bill Boyd's (guitar) Cowboy Ramblers on October 27, 1936, in San Antonio for titles like 'Fan It', 'Somebody's Been Using It' and 'Way Out There' / 'Put Me in Your Pocket' (Bluebird 6670), the latter issued in 1936 per Discogs. Also in that outfit were Cecil Brower and JR Chatwell on fiddle, JC Way on electric steel, Johnny Thames at banjo, William Perrin on guitar and Clifton Ramsey on string bass.

'Put Me in Your Pocket'   Smokey Wood (piano) w Bill Boyd and His Cowboy Ramblers

27 Oct 1936 in Dallas   Matrix BS-02967-1

 Bluebird B-6670 / Montgomery Ward M-7193 / Twin FT8277

Vocal duet: Bill Boyd w Curly Perrin

Guitar: Boyd / Perrin   Banjo: Johnny Thames

Steel guitar: J.C. Way   Fiddle: Cecil Bower / J.R. Chatwell

Bass: Rip Ramsey

Composition: W. Lee O'Daniel

It was the Modern Mountaineers in San Antonio on March 1 of 1937, Smokey playing guitar and leading vocals on several tracks with Chatwell, Way, Thames, Ramsey, Lefty Groves on guitar and Hal Hebert on clarinet and tenor sax. Wood performed on such as 'Gettin' That Low-Down Swing' / 'Loud Mouth' (Bluebird 7047).

'Gettin' That Low Down Swing'   Smokey Wood w the Modern Mountaineers

1 March 1937 in San Antonio   Matrix BS-07431-1   Bluebird B-7047

Tenor sax: Hal Hervert

Guitar: Wood (vocal) / Lefty Groves   Banjo: Johnny Thames

Steel guitar: J.C. Way   Fiddle: J.R. Chatwell   Bass: Rip Ramsey

Composition: J.R. Chatwell

'Everybody's Truckin''   Smokey Wood w the Modern Mountaineers

1 March 1937 in San Antonio   Matrix BS-07434-1

Bluebird B-6911 / Old Timey 117 / Rambler 107 / JSP 7742

Tenor sax: Hal Hervert

Guitar: Wood (vocal) / Lefty Groves   Banjo: Johnny Thames

Steel guitar: J.C. Way   Fiddle: J.R. Chatwell   Bass: Rip Ramsey

Composition: J.R. Chatwell

'Loud Mouth'   Smokey Wood w the Modern Mountaineers

1 March 1937 in San Antonio   Matrix BS-07439-1   Bluebird B-7047

Tenor sax: Hal Hervert

Guitar: Wood (vocal) / Lefty Groves   Banjo: Johnny Thames

Steel guitar: J.C. Way   Fiddle: J.R. Chatwell   Bass: Rip Ramsey

It was Way in Wood's Wood Chips on September 12, 1937, in Dallas, the rest of Wood's band consisting of the Ross Rhythm Rascals: George Uttinger (fiddle), Clarence Clark (trumpet), Gene Edmondson (banjo), and probably Horace Edmonson (guitar) with Lonnie Mitchell (string bass) [Russell's CMR]. A couple titles went unissued: 'There's Gonna Be No One to Welcome You Home' and 'The Doctor'. Eight other tracks saw release on Bluebird like 'Riding to Glory' / 'Moonlight in Oklahoma' (7399).

'Riding to Glory'   Smokey Wood and the Wood Chips

12 Sep 1937 in Dallas   Matrix BS-014066-1   Bluebird B-7399

Trumpet: Clarence Clark

Guitar: Horace Edmondson   Banjo: Eugene Edmondson

Steel guitar: J.C. Way   Fiddle: George Uttinger

Piano: Wood (vocal)   Bass: Lonnie Mitchell

'Woodchip Blues'   Smokey Wood and the Wood Chips

12 Sep 1937 in Dallas   Matrix BS-014069-1   Bluebird B-7729

Trumpet: Clarence Clark

Guitar: Horace Edmondson   Banjo: Eugene Edmondson

Steel guitar: J.C. Way   Fiddle: George Uttinger

Piano: Wood (vocal)   Bass: Lonnie Mitchell

'Keep on Truckin''   Smokey Wood and the Wood Chips

12 Sep 1937 in Dallas   Matrix BS-014070-1   Bluebird B-7232

Trumpet: Clarence Clark

Guitar: Horace Edmondson   Banjo: Eugene Edmondson

Steel guitar: J.C. Way   Fiddle: George Uttinger

Piano: Wood (vocal)   Bass: Lonnie Mitchell

Composition: J.R. Chatwell

'Wood's Traveling Blues'   Smokey Wood and the Wood Chips

12 Sep 1937 in Dallas   Matrix BS-014071-1   Bluebird B-7729

Trumpet: Clarence Clark

Guitar: Horace Edmondson   Banjo: Eugene Edmondson

Steel guitar: J.C. Way   Fiddle: George Uttinger

Piano: Wood (vocal)   Bass: Lonnie Mitchell

In 1938 Wood and Buddy Ray toured with a carnival. He then did rounds from band to band as he roamed southern Texas, employed as a radio announcer in Muskogee, Oklahoma, as well. Wood also spent a brief period in San Diego. He invested time with Spade Cooley in Los Angeles in the latter forties and worked with others like Cliff Bruner in Beaumont, Bill Mounce in Houston and Adolph Hofner in San Antonio. Around 1955 Wood inherited a farm near Meridian, Texas, where he spent the remainder of his life performing sporadically amidst other pursuits like cock fighting, painting and running a flea market. On an unknown date early in that period he was backed by Joe Sanchez and his Orchestra on 'Lucille' / 'Spirit of '65' (Tu Bill 500). Those were Wood's last-known recordings though he worked with Sanchez' operation for several years.

What had once been a slim man died at about 250 pounds worth of bloating by alcohol on January 6, 1975. A compilation of Wood with the Modern Mountaineers and the Wood Chips was later released in 1982 called 'The Houston Hipster: Western Swing 1937' (Rambler 107).