{{short description|American singer (1930–2010)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Robert Curtis Smith | image = | caption = | image_size = | birth_name = | alias = R. C. Smith | birth_date = February 17, 1930 | birth_place = Cruger, Holmes County, Mississippi, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|2010|11|10|1930|2|17}} | death_place = Chicago, Illinois, United States | instrument = vocals, guitar | genre = Piedmont blues<ref name="AMG"/> | occupation = singer, guitarist, songwriter | years_active = 1960s | label = Bluesville Records }}
'''Robert Curtis Smith''' (February 17, 1930 – November 10, 2010)<ref name="Wirz">{{cite web|url=http://www.wirz.de/music/smircfrm.htm|title=R. C. Smith Discography|publisher=Wirz.de|access-date=2014-09-16}}</ref> was a Piedmont blues singer, guitarist and songwriter from Cruger, Mississippi, US.<ref name="AMG"/>
Smith was influenced by Big Bill Broonzy.<ref name="AMG"/> He recorded one album, for Bluesville Records, released in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Robert-Curtis-Smith-The-Blues-Of-Robert-Curtis-Smtih/release/3984795|title=Robert Curtis Smith, ''Clarksdale Blues (The Blues of Robert Curtis Smith)''|publisher=Discogs.com|access-date=2014-09-16}}</ref>
==Biography== Smith was born in or near Cruger, Holmes County, Mississippi, United States,<ref name="Council"/> and was African-American. He worked as a farm labourer, where he and his wife raised eight children. He first played the blues guitar in 1948.<ref name="Wirz"/> He left Mississippi twice in hope of finding alternative employment in either Chicago or Texas, but each time he returned to his home state.<ref name="Council"/>
In 1960, by chance, he met Paul Oliver and Chris Strachwitz in Wade Walton's Big Six barber shop in Clarksdale, Mississippi. This led him to record some tracks that year and again in 1961, with the resulting album, ''Clarksdale Blues: The Blues of Robert Curtis Smith'', released in 1963.<ref name="AMG"/><ref name="Wirz"/> One of his songs, "Council Spur Blues", made direct references to the conditions on the plantation where he worked.<ref name="Council">{{cite web|url=http://jeffcrompton.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/council-spur-blues-robert-curtis-smith.html|author=Crompton, Jeff|title=Council Spur Blues – Robert Curtis Smith, RIP|publisher=Jeffcrompton.blogspot.co.uk|date=2010-12-08|access-date=2014-09-16}}</ref><ref name="Fungus">{{cite web|url=http://www.swanfungus.com/2009/02/robert-curtis-smith-clarksdale-blues.html|title=Robert Curtis Smith – Clarksdale Blues|publisher=Swanfungus.com|access-date=2014-09-16|archive-date=2017-05-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523112455/http://www.swanfungus.com/2009/02/robert-curtis-smith-clarksdale-blues.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 1968, he left Mississippi again for Chicago, where he spent the remainder of his life. Around this time he auditioned for a place in Willie Dixon's backing band.<ref name="Council"/> He later joined the church and played gospel music instead of the blues.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/robert-curtis-smith-mn0000284799/biography|title=Robert Curtis Smith: Biography|author=|publisher=Allmusic.com|access-date=2014-09-16}}</ref> Walton eventually tracked him down, and in 1997 Smith appeared at the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival in Clarksdale, playing only gospel songs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jeffcrompton.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/council-spur-blues-robert-curtis-smith.html|title=Council Spur Blues – Robert Curtis Smith, RIP|publisher=Jeffcrompton.blogspot.co.uk|date=December 8, 2010|access-date=2014-09-16}}</ref>
==Death== Smith died in Chicago in November 2010, aged 80.<ref name="Wirz"/><ref name="Council"/>
==Discography== ===Album=== {| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" |- ! Year ! Title ! Record label |- | 1963 | ''Clarksdale Blues: The Blues of Robert Curtis Smith'' | Bluesville Records |}<ref name="Wirz"/><ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/clarksdale-blues-mw0000851230|title=Robert Curtis Smith, ''Clarksdale Blues'': Overview |publisher=Allmusic.com|access-date=2014-09-16}}</ref>
===Single=== {| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" |- ! Year ! Title ! Record label |- | 1961 | "Don't Drive Me Away" | Arhoolie Records |}<ref name="Wirz"/>
==See also== *List of Piedmont blues musicians
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.wirz.de/music/smircfrm.htm Discography at Wirz.de]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Robert Curtis}} Category:1930 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American blues guitarists Category:American male guitarists Category:American blues singers Category:American male singers Category:Songwriters from Mississippi Category:Piedmont blues musicians Category:Blues musicians from Mississippi Category:People from Holmes County, Mississippi Category:Guitarists from Mississippi Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:American male songwriters