Biography
For anyone sharing living quarters with an incessant telephone conversationalist, a vintage copy of Dial That Telephone on the mid-'60s Jubilee label offers pointed comic relief. On this release, veteran West Coast rhythm & blues and doo-wop performer Effie Smith lampoons nonstop chatterers through rapid-fire patter and fervent declamation, all set against funky blues backings. The album belonged to Jubilee's line of so-called "adult listening" novelties, a catalog that also featured Rusty Warren and Autry Inman; by present-day rap standards those efforts register as mild rather than risqué. Although Smith outdid her Jubilee labelmates in verbal dexterity, she had first built her reputation as a blues vocalist active on the West Coast during the 1950s—the same milieu that gave rise to the telephone satire itself.
From the middle of that decade onward Smith recorded frequently, often alongside her husband John Criner and with two successive doo-wop ensembles both billed as the Squires. One lineup included Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Dewey Terry, later celebrated as the duo Don and Dewey; Harris would subsequently achieve further instrumental renown through work with Frank Zappa and additional collaborators. The original version of "Dial That Telephone" appeared in the 1950s on the Aladdin label within its 4000 series; the immediately following catalog entry paired Ritchie Valens' "Donna" with the flip-side "La Bamba," a coupling that achieved far greater commercial success. In 1959 Smith and Criner reissued "Dial That Telephone Part 1 and 2" on their own Spot imprint. Around the same period the couple established Aries Publishing, joining other artists who secured control of their own recording and manufacturing operations. Spot also marked the first sessions in which Don and Dewey stepped out as leaders rather than group members, an initiative that underscored the astute A&R judgment of both Criner and Smith.
Beyond the telephone routine, Smith left behind numerous other noteworthy recordings. Among them is "Champagne Mind With a Soda Water Income," singled out by one rhythm & blues historian as an "irresistible R&B classic" solely on the strength of its title. Sides cut with the Squires encompass "Water, Water" and "You Ought to Be Ashamed," the latter perhaps aimed at anyone who monopolized a party line. In 1965 she issued the scarce single "Teenage World" on Duodisk. A 1968 B-side for Eee Cee reworked her telephone motif around the then-recent country hit "Harper Valley PTA," yielding the track "Harper Valley PTA Gossip"—nearly as diverting as the original marathon.
Smith first gained professional visibility in the 1940s through regular appearances on Armed Forces Service Radio broadcasts. Much of that material has since surfaced on collector editions of broadcast transcriptions, documenting both an enthusiastic audience and a network of contacts invaluable to an emerging artist. Her radio work brought her together with tenor saxophone giant Coleman Hawkins, bandleader and composer Benny Carter, and a sixteen-year-old pianist who would later conduct classical ensembles, Andre Previn. In 1947 she recorded some of her earliest sides, "Answer to R.M. Blues" and "It's Been So Long," for the Miltone label.
From the middle of that decade onward Smith recorded frequently, often alongside her husband John Criner and with two successive doo-wop ensembles both billed as the Squires. One lineup included Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Dewey Terry, later celebrated as the duo Don and Dewey; Harris would subsequently achieve further instrumental renown through work with Frank Zappa and additional collaborators. The original version of "Dial That Telephone" appeared in the 1950s on the Aladdin label within its 4000 series; the immediately following catalog entry paired Ritchie Valens' "Donna" with the flip-side "La Bamba," a coupling that achieved far greater commercial success. In 1959 Smith and Criner reissued "Dial That Telephone Part 1 and 2" on their own Spot imprint. Around the same period the couple established Aries Publishing, joining other artists who secured control of their own recording and manufacturing operations. Spot also marked the first sessions in which Don and Dewey stepped out as leaders rather than group members, an initiative that underscored the astute A&R judgment of both Criner and Smith.
Beyond the telephone routine, Smith left behind numerous other noteworthy recordings. Among them is "Champagne Mind With a Soda Water Income," singled out by one rhythm & blues historian as an "irresistible R&B classic" solely on the strength of its title. Sides cut with the Squires encompass "Water, Water" and "You Ought to Be Ashamed," the latter perhaps aimed at anyone who monopolized a party line. In 1965 she issued the scarce single "Teenage World" on Duodisk. A 1968 B-side for Eee Cee reworked her telephone motif around the then-recent country hit "Harper Valley PTA," yielding the track "Harper Valley PTA Gossip"—nearly as diverting as the original marathon.
Smith first gained professional visibility in the 1940s through regular appearances on Armed Forces Service Radio broadcasts. Much of that material has since surfaced on collector editions of broadcast transcriptions, documenting both an enthusiastic audience and a network of contacts invaluable to an emerging artist. Her radio work brought her together with tenor saxophone giant Coleman Hawkins, bandleader and composer Benny Carter, and a sixteen-year-old pianist who would later conduct classical ensembles, Andre Previn. In 1947 she recorded some of her earliest sides, "Answer to R.M. Blues" and "It's Been So Long," for the Miltone label.
Albums