Pinetop Smith

One of the driving forces behind the advent of boogie-woogie piano, Clarence "Pine Top" Smith ranks among the most influential blues figures of the 1920s. Born January 11, 1904, in Troy, AL, he was raised in nearby Birmingham; a self-taught player, he began performing at area house parties while in his mid-teens, and after relocating to Pittsburgh accompanied Ma Rainey and Butterbeans & Susie. On the advice of fellow pianist Cow Cow Davenport -- himself a seminal figure in boogie-woogie's development -- Smith relocated to Chicago in 1928, where he lived in the same apartment h...