KENNY SMITH Vinyl Records and CDs

... Records heard Kenny perform at Castle Farms and told him that he liked the way he sounded. Kenny's first release under his own name was "Deep In My Heart" on Fraternity Records, produced by Carl Edmondson and written by Kenny himself. Having gotten his foot in the door with Fraternity, Kenny started writing and producing for the label as well as recording. He wrote and produced songs for the Charmaines and the Casinos, as well as being co-arranger with Edmondson on "Hey-Da-Da-Dow" by the Dolphins, which made it into the Billboard charts. , the guitar. I couldn’t afford to pay anybody to play it, so I wind up learning how to play guitar myself, so I could do my own stuff." Kenny would go on to write and produce for many other acts in the years to come including Albert Washington, Leroy and the Drivers, Gerri Diamond, The Casinos, Win Mennifee, Eddie Whitehead, Soul, Inc. and basketball legend Oscar Robertson. One of Kenny's proudest achievements was his song "Think Before You Walk Away". The song was originally recorded by Kenny's friend Herman Lewis on Stone Blue records. Lewis, a.k.a Herman Griffin, was at one time married to Motown singer Mary Wells and was intimately connected with the Detroit music scene. Through Herman's efforts, "Think Before You Walk Away" was re-recorded by The Platters, one of the biggest vocal groups of the day. Kenny's own recorded output for Fraternity comprised of numerous singles including tracks leased out to majors Chess and RCA. Kenny is best remembered for one song in particular "Lord, What's Happening To Your People?". Issued in 1971 as the first and only release on Kenny's own Goldspot label, (originally titled "Lord, What's Happened?"), the record was written to cash in on a particular trend that Kenny describes as the "Jesus-rock era." "It was just a market or a trend that was going on at the time, so I thought it would fit," Kenny explains. Some label owners from Chicago thought that it would fit as well. They picked up "Lord..." to re-release on their General American Records imprint. However, General American had bigger things in mind for Kenny than the Billboard charts. They made him the Publishing Director of the company and the host of their new television show: Soul Street. Soul Street, for which Kenny also wrote the opening and closing themes, was broadcast in 36 markets around the country and featured a range of guests from local artist Tommy Wills, to more well known acts such as Lynn Collins, the Ohio Players, Little Royal, the Detroit Emeralds, Gladys Knight and James Brown. Soul Street ran for ten episodes, the first nine of which were hosted by Kenny. Behind the scenes, things were falling apart for GAR. A new host was brought in for the tenth episode, and that was it as the studio pulled the plug on the show due to unpaid bills. Kenny was out of his element in the television studio. Used to the gritty and aggressive atmosphere of the nightclub, the cold, sterile television set was an environment with which Kenny was unfamiliar. With this in mind, Kenny , by now a seasoned performer, went back to what he knew and became a regular on the regional club scene. However, "Lord, What's Happened" would provide Kenny with recognition yet again in a strange and unexpected way. The song failed to ride the gospel-rock wave that Kenny had tried to latch onto in the U.S., but it got a second shot at success across the Atlantic in the dance clubs of Northern England. A couple of years after its release in the States, the British Northern Soul scene discovered the record and it became an anthem at the legendary Blackpool Mecca. Demand for the single from British DJ's and collectors was