Howard Russell Smith (June 17, 1949 – July 12, 2019) was an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the groups The Amazing Rhythm Aces and

Run C&W Run C&W was an American novelty bluegrass group that was active in the early 1990s, playing mostly cover renditions of classic soul and R&B songs in a bluegrass or roots country style, including banjo, harmonica, washboard, and multi-part ...

. As a solo artist, he released four studio albums and charted five singles on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart between 1984 and 1989.

Early life and career

Smith was born in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

and grew up in

Lafayette, Tennessee Lafayette is a city in Macon County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 4,474 at the 2010 census, and had 5,584 in 2020.U.S. Census ...

. The Amazing Rhythm Aces were formed in 1972 with Smith as lead singer. The band recorded six studio albums for

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels befo ...

before disbanding in 1981. In 1982, Smith signed with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

and released two albums for the label, ''Russell Smith'' (1982) and ''The Boy Next Door'' (1984). He later signed with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

in 1988, where he released ''This Little Town'' in 1989. His highest-charting single, "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight," peaked at number 37 on the ''

chart in 1989. In 1993, Smith became the lead singer of bluegrass novelty group

. Smith also found success as a songwriter, penning Number One songs for

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. Active from 1978 until being incapacitated by a stroke in 2013, he has recor ...

(" Look Heart, No Hands"), T. Graham Brown ("

Don't Go to Strangers ''Don't Go to Strangers'' is an album recorded in 1960 by jazz vocalist Etta Jones. It was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. Overview This was Etta Jones' first album for the independent jazz label Prestige when it was released in 1 ...

"),

Don Williams Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing popular ballads and amassing seventeen number ...

Heartbeat in the Darkness "Heartbeat in the Darkness" is a song written by Dave Loggins and Russell Smith, and recorded by American country music artist Don Williams. It was released in May 1986 as the second single from the album ''New Moves ''New Moves'' is the fifte ...

"), and

Ricky Van Shelton Ricky Van Shelton (born January 12, 1952) is an American retired country music singer. Active between 1986 and 2006, he charted more than 20 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts. This figure includes 10 Number One hits: "Somebod ...

Keep It Between the Lines "Keep It Between the Lines" is a song written by Russell Smith and Kathy Louvin, and recorded by American country music singer Ricky Van Shelton. It was released in July 1991 as the second single from his fourth studio album '' Backroads'', and wa ...

"). In addition, he wrote "

Big Ole Brew "Big Ole Brew" is a song written by Russell Smith, and recorded by American country music artist, Mel McDaniel. It was released in June 1982 as the third single from his album ''Take Me to the Country''. It peaked at both number 4 on the U.S. ''Bi ...

" which became a No. 4 country hit for

Mel McDaniel Melvin Huston McDaniel (September 6, 1942 – March 31, 2011) was an American country music artist. Many of his top hits were released in the 1980s, including " Louisiana Saturday Night", " Big Ole Brew", " Stand Up", " Baby's Got Her Blue Jea ...

in 1982. The Amazing Rhythm Aces reunited in 1994 and continued to record and tour until Smith died on July 12, 2019, at age 70, following a cancer diagnosis.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

* Russell Smithat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Russell 1949 births 2019 deaths Singers from Nashville, Tennessee American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Run C&W members Country musicians from Tennessee Singer-songwriters from Tennessee