Roy Smeck

Roy Smeck ( born February 6, 1900 in Reading, Pennsylvania, † April 5, 1994 in New York City, NY) was an American guitarist who was especially successful in the field of Hawaiian music. His nickname was The Wizard Of The Strings ( " Warlock of the strings ").

Life

His career took the early 1920s, its course as he picked up some plates for the Warner Bros. Records. Later he also appeared in several feature films from Warner Bros. Pictures. In addition to his successful solo recordings, which were a mixture of jazz, hillbilly and Hawaiian music, he worked frequently with the country singer Vernon Dalhart and Carson Robison together. Beginning of the 1930s, he founded his own band, the Vita Trio. In addition, he played all over the world and appeared at the inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He began to publish books about playing ukulele, banjo and steel guitar. Later, he began then also be on television, including on The Ed Sullivan Show.

In his long career Smeck took on more than 500 plates, among other things, for Victor Records and RCA Victor, Edison Records, Columbia Records and Decca Records. In the 1970s, he gained new popularity through re-releases.

Roy Smeck died on 5 April 1994 at the age of 94 years in New York. He was inducted into the Banjo Hall of Fame and in the Ukulele Hall of Fame posthumously in 2001.

1985, a documentary short film was made about him titled The Wizard of the Strings.