Pepe Smith
| Joey "Pepe" Smith | |
|---|---|
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Pepe Smith
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joseph William Feliciano Smith |
| Also known as | Joey Smith Pepe Smith |
| Born |
December 25, 1947 Angeles, Pampanga, Philippines |
| Genres | Pinoy rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, guitarist |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, drums |
| Years active | 1958–present |
| Associated acts |
Juan de la Cruz Band Speed, Glue & Shinki Asin (band) |
| Notable instruments | |
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Fender Jazzmaster Gretsch 6120 Gretsch Nashville Reissue Gretsch Country Club Reissue Gibson Les Paul Standard |
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Joseph William Feliciano Smith (born December 25, 1947) is a Filipino singer-songwriter, drummer and guitarist. More commonly known alternately as Joey Smith and Pepe Smith, he is an icon of original Filipino rock music or "Pinoy rock".
Smith was born 25 December 1947. His father, Edgar William Smith, was a U.S. serviceman, and his mother, Conchita Feliciano, was from Angeles, Pampanga, where the huge Clark Air Force base was located. Smith said his father told him he had served as a naval aviator in World War Two, flying the Grumman F8F Bearcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. Smith spent his first years in Angeles, often visiting the airbase, where his father would take him to the flightline to watch the U.S. military aircraft take off and land. To this day, he has a fascination with, and collects model airplanes.
When he was eight years old, his parents separated, and his mother died from hepatitis. Smith and his younger brother Raymond went to live with their grandmother, Concordia Go, in Kamuning, Quezon City. Smith continued to live with his grandmother on and off for the next 50 years, even during his heyday as a rock icon, and she was affectionately known to the Pinoy rock community as "Lola Smith" (Granny Smith). Smith said he never had the opportunity to speak to his father again, although he briefly corresponded with an American half-sister from another family his father had started when he returned to the U.S.
Joey Smith has a younger half brother who lives with his wife in Germany. His brother Allan Smith, like their father, also served for the US Air Force.
Smith has been associated with several women over the course of his life, and has five children. His eldest, Queenie, born 1976, also a rock singer, is the daughter of noted artist Agnes Arellano. She is followed by former MYX VJ Sanya Smith, born 1985, Beebop, born 1989, Desiderata, born 1991 and Delta, born 1992.
Smith learned to play the drums by about age 9, and formed his first rock band at age 11, in 1959. This group, composed of friends from the Kamuning district, was first called The Blue Jazzers, later The Villains, then The Surfers. As The Surfers, they got a 6-month gig in Vietnam in the early 1960s. A few years later, Smith became a rock sensation in Manila as the drummer and lead vocal of the Eddie Reyes and the Downbeats band, imitating Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. This earned him the title "Mick Jagger of the Philippines". The Downbeats, managed by the Reyes clan of Pasig, owners of RCR Productions, appeared in contemporary TV specials and movies. Eddie Reyes and the Downbeats opened for the Beatles at their July 4, 1966 concert at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, performing "Get Off Of My Cloud", originally by The Rolling Stones. The Downbeats was the highest paid international band in Hong Kong during their time.
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Wikipedia