I have to say I have known the J.Smith in question for many years and
find it difficult to believe he would resort to copying anything.
John is in touch with dozens maybe hundreds of soul artists
all over the U.S.A. and regularly finds out interesting information/facts
regarding who recorded with who and when etc.
I have always found him to be a rather charming old gentleman who has
recently retired and is now mastering the dark arts of Hoovering, ironing and washing up.
I have it on good authority, from his brother Martin, that last Christmas he did all the lunch dishes in a positively
boyant mood as his wife had bought him a new Wigan Casino pinafore complete with a scan
of Footsie on a Demo.
Following the comments made in this forum, I decided to contact him and his family and friends to
make sure that his proximity to becoming an octogenarian had not had any adverse effects.
Although I could not speak to Mr Smith personally, as he had gone out for
a loaf 3 days ago and got lost, I did manage to contact his wife, brother and a friend.
A source said he was becoming incresingly concerned about Mr Smith's mental state
and hinted that maybe he could not cope with the incresing fame of his younger brother
who is apparently becoming a big noise on the Modden scene.This kind of sibling rivalry
probably stems from a very poor background in South Yorkshire.
His wife said that he has his good days and apart from the bed wetting and erectile dysfunction
things were fine.His hoovering was improving leaps and bounds but she does still have to change his colestomy bag
and make sure he takes his medication.However she is quite worried about his new obssesion for Pye Disco Demand and Spark
demo copies,he recently swapped the family budgie for a Honeyend Spark Demo.
I am hoping to see Mr Smith this weekend at Cleethorpes and we will no doubt have a long chat,
I will see if I can get an answer to the issues raised on here.
Finally I would appeal to the members of this site to show a little christian charity towards an elderly man who
has been part of the scene since God(in) was a lad, and probably knows more about our music
than most of the causeway edge pissers on this site put together.
Cheers
Kegsy