O.C. Smith
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O.C. Smith (21 June, 1932 – November 23, 2001) was a Grammy Award winning musician.
Born Ocie Lee Smith in Mansfield, Louisiana, Smith moved with his parents to Little Rock, Arkansas before their divorce saw Smith and his mother move to Los Angeles.
After completing a psychology degree at Southern University, Smith joined the United States Airforce and served throughout the US, Europe and Asia. While in the Air Force, Smith began entering talent contests and toured with Horace Heidt and on his discharge in July 1955, Smith realised that a career in jazz was for him.
Smith gained his first break as a singer with Sy Oliver and made an appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts television show, which led to a recording contract with the Cadence label. Smith's debut release was a cover of the Little Richard hit "Tutti Frutti" in December 1955. The song was not a hit but convinced MGM Records to sign Smith to a solo contract resulting in three more releases but still no hits.
In 1961, Smith was recruited by Count Basie to be his vocalist, a position he held until 1965. He also continued to record with different labels but a hit remained elusive (his highest position being number 127 for his 1967 release "That's Life"). By 1968, Smith's then label Columbia Records was ready to release him from his contract when he entered the charts for the first time with "Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp".
Smith changed the first part of his name to O.C. and recorded a cover of the Bobby Russell song "Little Green Apples", which shot to number 2 on the pop charts and won Smith a 1969 Grammy Award for 'Best Song'.
While Smith was unable to scale these heights again, he continued to record, reaching number 34 with "Daddy's Little Man" before retiring from music to study divinity. In 1985 Smith became Dr O.C. Smith, pastor of the City of Angels Science of Mind Centre in Los Angeles and continued to preach until his death in 2001.
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