DESCRIPTION:
"Hobo Man" was originally recorded by Mack Allen Smith & The Flames and released on the small Vee Eight label (#1006) in 1962. Engineered by Ray Harris (of Sun Records fame) and recorded in the Hi Recording Studio in Memphis. My own VERY scaled down version of this rather bluesy song saw the light of day sometime in the mid-'70s, using only a pair of acoustic and electric guitars, plus drums, as the entire backing. Rather laidback and, what I remember, cut just for fun. Enjoy...
TRIVIA:
Mack Allen Smith was born in Carroll County, Mississippi, on October 20, 1938. He is the son of Malcolm Alonzo Smith and Fannie Mae (Herbert) Smith.
Mack Allen attended grammar school in Carrollton, Mississippi his first two years, then moved to Camp McCain at Elliott, Mississippi, where his father was in charge of the sheet metal department of the German Prison Camp. He graduated from J. Z. George High School in North Carrollton, Mississippi, in 1956.
Mack Allen was exposed to country and blues music at an early age, and this exposure provided the foundation for his unique style which in later years was defined as the "Delta Sound." His early exposure to country music came from his mother and her family (the Herberts).
Mack Allen was also exposed to blues music before he started school, but this exposure occurred in North Carrollton, Mississippi.
On one side of the railroad tracks in North Carrollton, you could hear country and western music. On the other side, you could hear rhythm and blues music. Personally, Mack Allen always liked the blues music better than he did the country music.
In 1954, while in high school, Mack Allen became lead singer in his first band, The J. Z. George FFA Band.
After graduating from high school in 1956, he joined the Kenny Minyard band as lead singer and performed with this band at the VFW in Greenwood, Mississippi, until September 1956, when he left for college at Holmes Junior College in Goodman, Mississippi.
Just prior to leaving for college, Mack Allen formed a band called The Carroll County Rock & Roll Boys. He then changed the name of the band to Mack Allen Smith and the Flames.
In January 1957, he joined the Marines and left for a two-year tour of duty in California. While in the Marines, Mack Allen sang some weekends at the USO Club in Ocean Side, California. He also sang with a Black band at the Figure-Eight Club in Los Angeles.
In January 1959, he returned to Carrollton, Mississippi, and immediately re-formed Mack Allen Smith and the Flames. They recorded three songs (Kansas City, Mean Woman Blues, and Sandy Lee) for producer Ernie Barton at Sun Records in 1959; however, Mr. Barton left Sun Records shortly thereafter to form Barton Records in Little Rock, Arkansas. Efforts were made to recover the 1959 Sun recordings, but, to date, they have not been found.
After re-forming the band in January 1959, Mack Allen Smith and the Flames performed for 25 more years (until October 1984) throughout Mississippi and surrounding states.
During his career Mack Allen Smith has recorded over 150 songs at various studios in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee, not to mention the number of live recordings he's made. Many of these recordings have not been released.
Mack Allen completed a novel in 1993 entitled Honky-Tonk Addict. The novel was published in 1996 by Colonial Press of Birmingham, Alabama. In addition to Honky-Tonk Addict, he has written five children's stories and over 100 songs.
Mack Allen and his wife of 40 years, Lois Bennett Smith, live in Greenwood, Mississippi, where he is currently writing songs, tracing his family roots, and working on his second novel.