Biography
Smith Ballew stands out as one of the premier and perhaps sole authentic exponents of "cowboy jazz" singing, with certain histories crediting him as the initial architect of the Glenn Miller orchestra before others assumed control. Born in Texas, he directed far greater attention toward visual arts than toward music throughout his pre-college years. While attending the University of Texas, he and his brother Charles Robert Ballew joined the devoted circle of jazz enthusiasts who gathered in the evenings, prompting Smith Ballew to take up guitar and banjo. Although he pursued formal musical studies at the institution, much of his practical development apparently stemmed from time spent among Black musicians on the town's periphery. The brothers advanced sufficiently to enter Jimmy's Joys, the ensemble directed by Jimmy Maloney. This association launched both Ballews' professional paths, enabling the group by 1923 to travel to California for sessions on the Golden record label.
That imprint proved modestly successful at minimum, with the discs achieving respectable sales. None of those sides, however, showcase Smith Ballew's voice, for he functioned then strictly as an instrumentalist focused chiefly on banjo or the "five-banger." He subsequently formed his own unit, the Texajazzers, which followed standard territory-band practice by performing throughout Texas and neighboring states. In 1927 Smith Ballew disbanded the outfit and partnered with pianist Dick Voynow in the Wolverine Orchestra, drawing the notice of bandleader and talent scout Ben Pollack during a Chicago engagement. Pollack extended an offer of employment, and it was within that ensemble that Ballew first added vocals while still balancing a banjo on his knee.
Late in the decade he accompanied bandleader Ted Fio Rito to New York City, only to find himself performing on the streets for survival. The city's thoroughfares nevertheless proved fertile ground for new connections. Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey encountered him there and arranged an introduction to violinist Joe Venuti, setting in motion a rapid ascent for Ballew's abilities. He secured engagements with Fred Rich's orchestra at the Astor Hotel as well as studio and broadcast work alongside Meyer Davis. Following the recording of the concert-arranged "Was It a Dream?" with the Dorsey brothers, the Okeh label extended a contract to the vocalist. The band assembled for those dates, incorporating several Texas associates, merged Southern and urban rhythmic elements in the style later identified with western swing. Ballew continued collaborating with leading New York musicians, among them trumpeter Red Nichols, Venuti, guitarist Eddie Lang, trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke, and saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer.
At one juncture, if accounts from the period hold, Ballew attained the peak position sought by every New York musician: he was reportedly cutting sides for every label operating in the city and appearing with every prominent bandleader. Like many artists of the era, Ballew suffered severe financial reversal during the Depression, losing substantial sums through failed investments and the market collapses of the late 1920s and early 1930s. The proprietor of a venue where the singer held steady employment endured comparable setbacks and took his own life, canceling numerous scheduled appearances. The Ballew Orchestra endured, retaining accomplished personnel that included Venuti, Lang, and brothers George and Bobby Van Eps. A 1932 iteration of the group was organized by former Pollack sideman Glenn Miller and featured Bunny Berigan on trumpet together with pianist Chummy MacGregor.
As the 1930s progressed, Ballew gradually relinquished direction of his orchestra, with Miller and additional figures such as Ray Noble assuming greater authority. By early spring of 1935 the transition was final, and Ballew's concluding Columbia session appeared under the name Glenn Miller & His Orchestra. He relocated to Los Angeles, where Victor Young, then musical director for both the Decca label and NBC radio, secured him a part in a Hollywood radio program. Ballew also received an offer to appear in a series of B westerns for 20th Century Fox and embraced the prospect of a singing-cowboy persona. Acting thereafter overshadowed his musical activities, culminating in his most dramatic screen role in John Huston's 1951 adaptation of The Red Badge of Courage. He subsequently entered a non-performing career in public relations and retired in 1967. He can be heard on numerous historic recordings as a featured vocalist, while renewed attention in Australia has produced six separate reissues on two domestic labels devoted to the Ballew orchestra's Okeh, Columbia, and Crown material along with selections from his cowboy films.
That imprint proved modestly successful at minimum, with the discs achieving respectable sales. None of those sides, however, showcase Smith Ballew's voice, for he functioned then strictly as an instrumentalist focused chiefly on banjo or the "five-banger." He subsequently formed his own unit, the Texajazzers, which followed standard territory-band practice by performing throughout Texas and neighboring states. In 1927 Smith Ballew disbanded the outfit and partnered with pianist Dick Voynow in the Wolverine Orchestra, drawing the notice of bandleader and talent scout Ben Pollack during a Chicago engagement. Pollack extended an offer of employment, and it was within that ensemble that Ballew first added vocals while still balancing a banjo on his knee.
Late in the decade he accompanied bandleader Ted Fio Rito to New York City, only to find himself performing on the streets for survival. The city's thoroughfares nevertheless proved fertile ground for new connections. Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey encountered him there and arranged an introduction to violinist Joe Venuti, setting in motion a rapid ascent for Ballew's abilities. He secured engagements with Fred Rich's orchestra at the Astor Hotel as well as studio and broadcast work alongside Meyer Davis. Following the recording of the concert-arranged "Was It a Dream?" with the Dorsey brothers, the Okeh label extended a contract to the vocalist. The band assembled for those dates, incorporating several Texas associates, merged Southern and urban rhythmic elements in the style later identified with western swing. Ballew continued collaborating with leading New York musicians, among them trumpeter Red Nichols, Venuti, guitarist Eddie Lang, trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke, and saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer.
At one juncture, if accounts from the period hold, Ballew attained the peak position sought by every New York musician: he was reportedly cutting sides for every label operating in the city and appearing with every prominent bandleader. Like many artists of the era, Ballew suffered severe financial reversal during the Depression, losing substantial sums through failed investments and the market collapses of the late 1920s and early 1930s. The proprietor of a venue where the singer held steady employment endured comparable setbacks and took his own life, canceling numerous scheduled appearances. The Ballew Orchestra endured, retaining accomplished personnel that included Venuti, Lang, and brothers George and Bobby Van Eps. A 1932 iteration of the group was organized by former Pollack sideman Glenn Miller and featured Bunny Berigan on trumpet together with pianist Chummy MacGregor.
As the 1930s progressed, Ballew gradually relinquished direction of his orchestra, with Miller and additional figures such as Ray Noble assuming greater authority. By early spring of 1935 the transition was final, and Ballew's concluding Columbia session appeared under the name Glenn Miller & His Orchestra. He relocated to Los Angeles, where Victor Young, then musical director for both the Decca label and NBC radio, secured him a part in a Hollywood radio program. Ballew also received an offer to appear in a series of B westerns for 20th Century Fox and embraced the prospect of a singing-cowboy persona. Acting thereafter overshadowed his musical activities, culminating in his most dramatic screen role in John Huston's 1951 adaptation of The Red Badge of Courage. He subsequently entered a non-performing career in public relations and retired in 1967. He can be heard on numerous historic recordings as a featured vocalist, while renewed attention in Australia has produced six separate reissues on two domestic labels devoted to the Ballew orchestra's Okeh, Columbia, and Crown material along with selections from his cowboy films.