Smith Ballew
| Smith Ballew | |
|---|---|
Smith Ballew on a 1931 sheet music cover.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sykes Ballew |
| Born |
January 21, 1902 Palestine, Texas |
| Died | May 2, 1984 (aged 82) Longview, Texas |
| Genres | Popular music, Jazz, Country music, Western movies |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist, musician, orchestra leader, film actor |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1930s–50s |
Sykes "Smith" Ballew (January 21, 1902 – May 2, 1984) was an American actor, sophisticated singer, orchestra leader, and a western singing star.
Ballew was born in Palestine, Texas; he attended Sherman High School, Austin College and the University of Texas.
During his time at Austin College, Ballew and his brother, Charlie, formed the Texasjazzers orchestra.
He began his singing career on the radio, and in the 1930s became one of the earliest of the singing cowboys on the movie screen. He did a series of musical Westerns for Paramount Pictures and one for 20th Century Fox, continuing in supporting roles until the 1950s.
Ballew was one of the hosts of old-time radio's Shell Chateau.
Prior to his singing cowboy career, starting in the late 1920s, he became one of the most recognizable vocalists on hundreds of dance band and jazz records, based in New York. During this time, Ballew along with Scrappy Lambert, Dick Robertson, and Chick Bullock were the most prolific studio vocalists. He organized his own short-lived band in 1931.
Ballew's band's opening theme song was "Tonight There Is Music in the Air"; its closing theme was "Home".
Between 1929 and 1935, he made scores of records issued under his own name for OKeh, the dime store labels (Banner, Domino, Jewel, Regal, Perfect, Oriole as Buddy Blue & His Texans or Jack Blue's Texans), Columbia, and Crown. Few of these popular records gave any indication of his future Cowboy style.
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