Paul
Tiliman Smith - Biography
When
your father hands you a set of drumsticks at the age of four, chances
are you’ll wind up a drummer. Paul Tillman Smith’s father,
George Smith (Kansas City Smitty) played drums during the big band
era with many well-known bands including Count Basie, Trummer Young
and the Harlem Aces. He was also a mentor to singer Pearl Bailey‘s
husband drummer Louie Bellson. At age fifteen at the urging of his
mother Della, Paul began playing the piano. Dropped from piano lessons
for not cutting his fingernails, he began to write simple three
chord songs like the ones he would hear on the radio. This love
has lasted a lifetime. Paul has published over eighty songs to date
including the Pharaoh Sanders and Phyllis Hyman jazz pop classic
“As You Are”, the Norman Connors and Jean Carne hit
“Stella” featuring guitarist Lee Ritenour, and the tender
love ballad “ Heavenly”, recorded by pianist Webster
Lewis featuring saxophonist Benny Maupin with strings by Herbie
Hancock and performed by the Boston Pop Symphony for nationally
syndicated TV. Paul’s album “Sharing” from his
middle seventies Buddha Records recording group Vitamin E., produced
by Norman Connors featured the Sly Stone, Frank Zappa vocalist Lady
Bianca and saxophonist Jules Broussard’s vocalist David Gardener.
“Sharing” the single from that album with a special
guest vocal by Freddie Hughes and written by Paul, became a number
one hit in over twelve cities across the nation. In the ninety’s,
the Vitamin E. CD was reissued in Japan as a double CD also featuring
vocalist Melba Moore’s biggest selling CD “This is It”.
Paul’s CD “Crying for Love” was voted record of
the year by Blues and Soul magazines in England in 2001. The CD
featured never released demo’s recorded at Fantasy Studio’s
by his eighty’s Bang CBS recording group “Bridge”.
The CD was released by the U.K. record label “First Experience
Records” and featured fourteen original songs by Paul with
co-arrangements by Ronnie Laws keyboardist Michael “Spiderman”
Robinson and vocals by former Motown recording artists Derrick Hughes
and Debra Von Lewis. The European critic’s called the Bridge
CD a rare brilliant American discovery. Paul is also reputed to
be the first to record Sheila E., Rosie Gaines and Bonnie Boyer
of Prince fame.
Paul considers his biggest contribution to the Bay Area music scene
is being the co-founder and Music Coordinator of the Berkeley Juneteenth
Festival, the longest running African American Arts and Music festival
in Northern California history. Upwards of twenty thousand people
attend annually. He was also the first to promote free music concerts
in Berkeley’s Provo Park and Oakland’s Mosswood Park
in the seventies and eighties when he was a music and concert supervisor
for “ACNAP”, the Alameda County Neighborhood Arts Program.
Paul has been the stage manager for the Richmond Juneteenth, the
Oakland Port Festival. the Laurel District World Music Festival,
and the Vallejo 4th of July Festival. He also put the music program
together for the city of Emeryville’s Appreciation Day Festival
and helped put the city of Berkeley’s 100th Anniversary Arts
and Music Festival music program together and managed both stages.
More >>
|
|
| |
COMING
SOON!
PAUL TILLMAN SMITH:
THE INVISIBLE MAN |
| |
|
| |
|
|
