Friday 17 May 2019

Sonny Knight born 17 May 1934


Joseph Coleman Smith (17 May 1934 – 5 September 1998), who performed and recorded under the name Sonny Knight, was an American singer, songwriter and author. His biggest hit was "Confidential", which reached the pop and R&B charts in 1956, and he continued to record into the 1960s. In 1981, using his real name, he wrote The Day the Music Died, a fictionalised account of racism in the American music business in the 1950s.

He was born in Maywood, Illinois, and moved to Los Angeles with his family in the early 1950s. He enrolled at Los Angeles State College intending to pursue an academic career, but became interested in the music business and, according to one source, visited the Mesner brothers at Aladdin Records to sell them a song, "Vicious, Vicious Vodka", that he had written for his idol, Amos Milburn; Milburn recorded the song in 1954.

Another source suggests that Smith actively sought a recording contract himself, at the behest of a girlfriend. In any event, Aladdin offered him a recording contract, and, using the pseudonym Sonny Knight that he invented himself, released two singles on the label, including "But, Officer," later recorded by Steve Allen. The records were unsuccessful, and he recorded as Joe Smith for the Cal-West label before signing for Specialty Records.



                              

After a couple more unsuccessful singles, recorded again as Sonny Knight, producer Robert "Bumps" Blackwell partnered him with songwriter Dorinda Morgan. She wrote the ballad "Confidential", which he recorded for the small Vita record label in Pasadena. 

Although the record label states that it was recorded with the Jack Collier Orchestra, in fact it was made with the Ernie Freeman Combo, which also included guitarist Irving Ashby and saxophonist Plas Johnson. Originally the B-side of "Jail Bird", the record was flipped by radio DJs. After initial local success, the record was licensed to the larger Dot label, and rose to no. 17 on the Billboard pop chart, and no. 8 on the R&B chart at the end of 1956.

Knight was unable to follow it up, although he continued to record for Dot. He also worked as a session pianist in Los Angeles, on records by Sandy Nelson and others, and recorded for small labels including Original Sound, Fifo, and World Pacific. In the early 1960s he recorded for the Aura label, and in 1964 his song "If You Want This Love" reached no.71 on the pop chart; its follow-up "Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow" reached no.100. He gave up his recording career in the mid 1960s, moving in the 1970s to live in Hawaii, where he continued to sing in nightclubs.

In 1981, credited as Joseph C. Smith, his novel The Day the Music Died was published by Grove Press. It was based on his own experiences in the music business in the 1950s, and received generally good reviews, remaining in print for over 25 years.

Knight died in Hawaii in 1998 at the age of 64, following a stroke two years earlier.

A compilation CD of Sonny Knight's recordings, Confidential, was issued by Pacific Records in about 2001.  (Edited from Wikipedia)

Here’s a clip of Sonny Knight with “If You Want This Love of Mine,” taken from American Bandstand. February 27, 1965.

8 comments:

boppinbob said...


For “ Sonny Knight - Confidential, The Best Of” go here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/9976006/Sonny_Knight_Confidential.rar.html

01 - Cold, Cold Night
02 - Saving My Love For You
03 - Jail Bird
04 - Barbara
05 - But Officer
06 - Coldest Cat In Town
07 - Once In A While
08 - So Wonderful
09 - Keep A Walkin'
10 - Teenage Party
11 - If You Want This Love
12 - Confidential
13 - Those Oldies But Goodies
14 - Short Walk
15 - Lovesick Blues
16 - School's Out
17 - Baby Don't Want Me
18 - Worthless And Lowdown
19 - End Of A Dream

A very big thank you to Jake @ Loadsamusics forum for active link.

Charles D said...

Thanks very much for Sonny Knight.

Bob said...

Thanks for the link. But I'm sorry to report that you must be careful what you download from upload.ee(malicious software, i.e. virus like I had today)

boppinbob said...

Thanks for the warning Bob. Alas it seems upload.ee has taken over from Zippyshare who for some reason have barred all action from the UK & Germany. I only cane across upload.ee when given links by other bloggers. At present my blocker and antivirus seem to be coping. Am looking for other alternatives that are free and keep files for at least 3 months or more!
Regards, B.

Jake said...

May I suggest using JDownloader2 ? That way you don't even have to visit the hosting site, just copy the link and JD2 does the rest.

john said...

Any chance you can re-upped this album. Sonny Knight - Confidential, The Best Of” go here

boppinbob said...

Hello John, here's Sonny....
https://www.upload.ee/files/14947442/Sonny_Knight_-_Confidential.rar.html




john said...

Thank You for the Sonny Knight album