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| Art Smith in an East End bar, 1976 |
Smith is known and appreciated by many for his mastery of the tool belt.
But a whole generation of Montrealers know Smith better for his days slinging an acoustic guitar around from club to club in the late 60s and 70s.
Smith's performances were so dynamic and exciting that he was dubbed Little Elvis in many newspapers clippings, which are stuck in a scrapbook he kept.
Smith apparently still occasionally hops onto the stage at the Wheel Club to do a few country tunes.
But before his fame faded in the 70s Smith was a draw at such local country bars as the Kit Kat on Bleury, the Cat's Den on Guy, the Blue Angel on Drummond and the Wagon Wheel on Union.*
With his blonde hair and blue eyes and electric performances Smith brought in the crowds as young women would flock to his shows and fawn all over him.
One time Smith was playing at the Cat's Den on Guy Street (now Andrew's Pub) when he spotted one of his fans get invited to a table with an older couple who bought her drinks.
The couple was well-dressed and a little unusual.
The husband was French but the woman looked Eastern European and sported a beehive hairdo with fur coat and jewels and perfume made by her husband. They were much too posh for the downscale Cat's Den.
They said owned a big home in Westmount and offered to put the young woman in the movies.
The young woman was invited to stay with them and was tempted at taking the offer as she was apartmentally-challenged at the time and the seductive luxury beckoned.
They proposed to make a film of the young woman. They said they would show it to a producer friend.
After plying her with drinks, the couple handed the naive young woman a bag of marijuana and so she went out back alone to toke up.
Smith, who had been watching the whole thing, was wiser to the world, being at least a dozen years older than the young woman.
He came and found the young woman and told her straight "That couple, they are old pigs and gangsters! They're going to put you in a porno movie," he said. "Go!"
The shocked young woman then sneaked away down an alleyway and never returned to the Cat's Den and thanks to Smith she narrowly avoided a disastrous encounter that would have ended badly.
*Other Montreal country music venues from that era include the Country Palace on Sherbrooke near Bleury, Peg's on St. James W., Smitty's on Sherbrooke near Cavendish and the Times Square Cafe on Bleury near Mayor).
They said owned a big home in Westmount and offered to put the young woman in the movies.
The young woman was invited to stay with them and was tempted at taking the offer as she was apartmentally-challenged at the time and the seductive luxury beckoned.
They proposed to make a film of the young woman. They said they would show it to a producer friend.
After plying her with drinks, the couple handed the naive young woman a bag of marijuana and so she went out back alone to toke up.
Smith, who had been watching the whole thing, was wiser to the world, being at least a dozen years older than the young woman.
He came and found the young woman and told her straight "That couple, they are old pigs and gangsters! They're going to put you in a porno movie," he said. "Go!"
The shocked young woman then sneaked away down an alleyway and never returned to the Cat's Den and thanks to Smith she narrowly avoided a disastrous encounter that would have ended badly.
*Other Montreal country music venues from that era include the Country Palace on Sherbrooke near Bleury, Peg's on St. James W., Smitty's on Sherbrooke near Cavendish and the Times Square Cafe on Bleury near Mayor).
Thanks for sharing that Kristian.I actually knew the man in the mid 70's when he was the resident musician at the german resto-bar ,Das Brauhaus which replaced the Kit Kat on Bleury.I was quite young (14) at the time,but to the dismay of my parents, Art took me under his wing as it were and introduced me to the downtown club world.He was very kind and generous towards me as well and often protected me in the way an older brother would.At Das Brauhaus I had the opportunity to hear his sets each week and can attest to the fact that he was quite talented,which led me to often wonder why he hadn't been able to make it on a larger scale.I do remember that he once showed me an album of his that had been released in the early 60's.Sadly,that didn't translate into the hoped for notoriety that one aspires to.I'll always have the memories of him and the time we spent together and who knows, our paths may cross again one day!
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