Johnny Smith , born John Henry Smith, Jr. on June 25, 1922 in Birmingham, Alabama, and died on June 11, 2013 (at 90 ans) , is a jazz guitarist (mainstream and cool jazz) American.
During the Great Depression, Smith's family moved from Birmingham to various cities and eventually moved to Portland, Maine.
Smith learned to play the guitar as an autodidact in pawn shops that let him play in exchange for keeping the guitars tuned. At the age of 13, he taught others to play the guitar. One of his students bought a new guitar one day and gave it the old one, which became the first guitar owned by Smith.
Smith joined a local hillbilly group, Uncle Lem and the Mountain Boys. The group toured Maine, giving performances at dance parties, fairs, carnivals, and so on. Smith earned four dollars each. He left the school then to privilege this professional orientation>.