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Byther Smith – Hold That Train
Delmark DE 774 (1980)
Compact Disc

A mainstay on the Chicago blues scene since the ’60s, “Byther Smith has earned a reputation as one of the most intense performers and songwriters in the blues.” – Living Blues

When you see Smitty live you know you are in the presence of somebody special. His strong, passionate voice and stinging guitar deliver the messages from this genuine bluesman. Recorded in 1981, Hold That Train was partially issued on the Grits label as Tell Me How You Like It. This new expanded version contains many unissued songs–a full hour of raw Chicago blues played by a working band. Also available by Byther Smith are Mississippi Kid (Delmark 691) and All Night Long (Delmark 708).

Byther Smith Hold That Train Delmark DE 774

How to reach for that one bit of something that's in there, waiting to be grabbed. That’s the only thing that really matters, Smitty says, that reaching for the next level. Every time he plays, he tries to get just a little bit more out of the song, pushing himself and the band to get to that next level. Hold That Train is all about reaching for that piece of the truth that’s been hidden in a song and pushing yourself until you finally find a way to turn it loose. No frills, no gimmicks, Hold That Train is sixty-some minutes of wanting it, reaching for it. Byther Smith whomps-it. Complete notes enclosed by Mark Lipscomb.

1. This Little Voice 3:20
2. 300 Pounds Of Joy 4:03
3. So Unhappy 4:37
4. Tell Me How You Like It 4:14
5. What My Mamma Told Me 3:54
6. Hold That Train 5:26
7. Mississippi Kid 3:39
8. Come On In This House 5:03
9. You Ought To Be Ashamed 3:44
10. Walked All Night Long 4:04
11. So Mean To Me 4:44
12. Thrill Is Gone 4:11
13. Close To You 4:01
14. I Don't Like To Travel 4:51
15. Killing Floor 3:35

Byther Smith, vocals, guitar
Mike Baietto, guitar
Bruce Felgen, bass
Joe Pusateri, drums

Recorded July 30, 1981
originally released on vinyl LP in 1983 on Grits label as "Tell Me How You Like It"

1. This Little Voice 3:20 (Aaron Corthen, Su-Ma Publ. Co. Inc., BMI)
2. 300 Pounds Of Joy 4:03 (Willie Dixon, Hoochie Coochie Music, BMI)
3. So Unhappy 4:37 (C. Baby)
4. Tell Me How You Like It 4:14 (Harris/Harris/Jackson, Heno Publ. Co., BMI)
5. What My Mamma Told Me 3:54 (Traditional, P.D.)
6. Hold That Train 5:26 (Dr. Clayton, P.D.)
7. Mississippi Kid 3:39 (Byther Smith, BMI)
8. Come On In This House 5:03 (Amos Blakemore, Bluesharp Music Co., BMI)
9. You Ought To Be Ashamed 3:44 (Andrew Brown, Fair Shake Music, BMI)
10. Walked All Night Long 4:04 (Byther Smith, BMI)
11. So Mean To Me 4:44 (Campbell/Sain, Arc Music Corp./Conrad Music, BMI)
12. Thrill Is Gone 4:11 (Hawkins/Darnell, Careers BMG Music Publ., BMI)
13. Close To You 4:01 (Willie Dixon, Hoochie Coochie Music, BMI)
14. I Don't Like To Travel 4:51 (Byther Smith, BMI)
15. Killing Floor 3:35 (Chester Burnett, Arc Music Corp., BMI)

Produced by Byther Smith and Kehn A. Bacon
Album Production: Robert G. Koester
CD Production: Steve Wagner
Recorded at Timbre Recording Studio, Alsip, Illinois by Jerry Muzika
Mixed and Mastered at Riverside Studio, Chicago by Steve Wagner


A couple of weeks ago, we were in Smitty’s basement getting schooled. A typical lazy Saturday afternoon. We were talking music, looking at posters of clubs and shows he’d headlined, running back almost forty years now, checking out his guitars. Byther allowed as how all the guitars, “every last one of ‘em, make me a’offer,” was for sale.
Maybe one part working a deal and three parts frustration. One part just Smitty scuffling, seeing after getting paid, the same way it’s been some seventy years now. And the other three parts pure Byther too. A working man’s poet. A working musician. And of course, an artist who couldn’t help checking to see if his pilot light still fired off that old gas, giving up.
So, he was talking, running his fingers over necks and knobs, clicking open cases plastered with stickers from all over the world, telling stories while his hands danced a blind dance toward the Strat he plays now.
“See, now Buddy he …” and the words choked off while he showed us what he wanted us to know.
Wanting us to understand how to reach for that one bit of something that was in there, waiting to be grabbed. That’s the only thing that really matters, Smitty says, that reaching for the next level. Every time he plays, he tries to get just a little bit more out of the song, pushing himself and the band to get to that next level.
“’N B.B., he says, reaching for a way to explain it, pushing and prodding the strings, “he took that stuff right off T-bone Walker. Hear that? But he’s reachin’ at that next level.”
And the song spoke a haunting, shimmering vibrato. Not even plugged in, the Strat was singing, Smitty keening right along. We were trying to figure out how that much blues came out of an electric guitar not even plugged in.
“You got to wants it,” Smitty said, his voice dropping under the word want, so it came out more like Whomps-it, while his big right hand pulled hard off the strings and clutched tight around the idea, like he figured if he could just squeeze hard enough on the memories and passion he’d find that soul-fired groove that powers life one more time.
Then, like he could read our minds, Byther grabbed a cord and powered up, telling us about plugging in that same amp one night at Legends and blowing out the lights up and down Wabash. We were still laughing when he sucked the air out the room, showing us how he was going to take his smoldering slow groove from I Live Here and work Going Down Slow into it. By then, he’d pretty well forgotten about selling off his guitars and quitting the business.
In fact, he’d pretty much forgotten everything except the music. And we just stood there, as lost in the music as he was.
That’s the story with this CD. Hold That Train is all about reaching for that piece of the truth that’s been hidden in a song and pushing yourself until you finally find a way to turn it loose.
No frills, no gimmicks, Hold That Train is sixty-some minutes of wanting it, reaching for it. Byther Smith whomps-it. These are his passions and memories, steel rails for a soul grooved to run.
-Mark Lipscomb, February, 2004


Other Delmark Albums Of Interest:
Byther Smith, All Night Long (708)
Mississippi Kid (691)
Junior Wells, Hoodoo Man Blues (612) with Buddy Guy
Southside Blues Jam (628) with Buddy Guy, Otis Spann
On Tap (635) with Phil Guy, Sammy Lawhorn
Blues Hit Big Town (640) with Muddy Waters, Elmore James
Jimmy Burns, Back To The Delta (770)
Night Time Again (730)
Leaving Here Walking (694)
Little Walter, The Blues World Of... (648) with Muddy Waters
Otis Rush, So Many Roads (643) live in Japan
Cold Day In Hell (638)

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CP 2004 Delmark Records