Clay Smith (1877-1930)

Overview

All that can presently (December 2023) be gleaned about Clay Smith from sheet music covers and by Internet searching is that he was American vaudeville performer and composer born in Batesville, Arkansas.
He had some 23 works published between 1912 and 1925 many of which were for and with his wife and partner Lee White. They made popular tours both in the UK and Australia.
Smith is featured on works by other composers published between 1908 and 1916.
Of ragtime interest is The Ragtime Engineer (1912) published by Jos. W. Stern & Co., New York, USA.
His portrait together with Melnotte Twins on the left is taken from I've Got To Make Love To Somebody (1908) , words & music Thomas S. Allen and published by Thos. S. Allen, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Surfers are welcome to contribute any further information about this composer/performer.

Websites:
	DAHR: Clay Smith	List of 23 historic recordings from 1912 to 1924.

MIDIs

	Title	Co-Author(s)	Sequencer


	Ragtime Engineer (1912), The		Unknown

Records

	Title (Release Year)	Composer	Performers	Issue


Cheep - Selection Part 1 (1917)	C. Smith		Columbia: 75893
Cheep - Selection Part 2 (1917)	C. Smith		Columbia: 75894
Drifting to You (1924)	C. Smith	Marcia Freer Lewis James	Victor: B-30503
Drifting to You (1924)	C. Smith	James J. Sheridan	Brunswick: 13318-13320
Give Me the Isle of Cuba (1920)	C. Smith	Ralph Bingham	Victor: [Trial 1920-05-24-02]
Maid of the West (1924)	C. Smith	Bernard Ferguson	OKeh: S-72431
Maid of the West (1923)	C. Smith	Walter Van Brunt as Walter Scanlan	Edison: 9265
Maid of the West (1924)	C. Smith	Lambert Murphy	Victor: B-29421
Maid of the West (1923)	C. Smith	Allen McQuhae	Brunswick: 12105-12107
Shoot the Rabbit (1917)	C. Smith	Beatrice Lillie	Columbia: 75923
Sorter Miss You (1917)	C. Smith	Charles W. Harrison	Victor: B-20309
Sorter Miss You (1918)	C. Smith	Frances Davis Alda	Victor: B-21770
Sorter Miss You (1917)	C. Smith	Vernon Stiles	Columbia: 47462
Sorter Miss You (1919)	C. Smith	Oscar Seagle	Columbia: 78571
Sorter Miss You (1918)	C. Smith	Marie Morrisey	Edison: 6242
When the Company's Gone (1920)	C. Smith	Lee White	Columbia: 76796
as Performer
Jingle Johnnie (1916)	J.W. Tate	C. Smith	Columbia: 6873
Oh, Those Naughty Eyes! (1916)	J.W. Tate	C. Smith Lee White	Columbia: 6870
And They Called It Dixieland (1916)	R.A. Whiting	C. Smith Lee White	Columbia: 6871

Monologues

This list is derived from information provided by Monologues.co.uk which went down sometime in 2023.
The loss of this valuable resource is very sad and a mystery.

	Title	Attribution	Remarks


	Somebody's Coming to Tea	Clay Smith (music) R.P. Weston (words) Bert Lee (words) Lee White (perf.) Stanley Kirkby (perf.) Harry Hudson (perf.)

	Title	Attribution	Instruments	Source	Remarks


Dear Little You (1921)	C. Smith (music) Roscoe Gilmore Stott (words)	Piano, Voice	IMSLP
Maid of the West (1923)	C. Smith (music) Roscoe G. Scott (words)	Piano, Voice	IMSLP
My Dream Baby (1919)	C. Smith (w&m)	Piano, Voice	Indiana
Sorter Miss You (1916)	C. Smith (w&m)	Piano, Voice	IMSLP
Wee Little Cabin (1922)	C. Smith (music) Russell J. England (words)	Piano, Voice	Indiana
As performer
My Orchard Is Short of a Peach Like You (1913)	A. von Tilzer (music) C. Smith (perf.) Tommy Clancey (perf.)	Piano, Voice	Sheet Music Singer

Titles

The peformer is featured on 7 sheet music/recording covers. It does not claim to be complete and represents only the number of items located. Keys: (w&m)

	Title	Composer	Attribution	Remarks


I've Got To Make Love To Somebody (1908)	Thomas S. Allen(w&m)	Clay Smith (perf.)
Oh, Those Naughty Eyes! (1916)	James W. Tate	F. Clifford Harris (words) Clay Smith (perf.) Lee White (perf.)
Jingle Johnnie (1916)	James W. Tate	F. Clifford Harris (words) Clay Smith (perf.)
My Orchard Is Short of a Peach Like You (1913)	Albert von Tilzer	Clay Smith (perf.)
And They Called It Dixieland (1916)	Richard A. Whiting	Raymond B. Egan (words) Clay Smith (perf.) Lee White (perf.)

Works

This list is arranged in chronological order and contains 23 works by Clay Smith (1877-1930). It does not claim to be complete and represents only the number of items located. Keys: ER

(w&m)

Title	Year	Attribution	Remarks


Ragtime Engineer, The	1912	Sam M. Lewis (words)
Sorter Miss You (w&m)	1916	Frances Davis Alda (perf.) Charles W. Harrison (perf.) Marie Morrisey (perf.) Oscar Seagle (perf.) Vernon Stiles (perf.)
Cheep - Selection Part 1	1917	Bert Lee (co-author) R. P. Weston (co-author)
Cheep - Selection Part 2	1917	Bert Lee (co-author) R. P. Weston (co-author)
Don't Blame Me	1917	R.P. Weston (words) Bert Lee (words) Clay Smith (perf.) Lee White (perf.)
I Shall See You To-Night (w&m)	1917	R.P. Weston (co-author) Bert Lee (co-author) Lee White (perf.)	Pub.
Shoot the Rabbit	1917	Beatrice Lillie (perf.)
Somebody's Coming to Tea	1917	R.P. Weston (words) Bert Lee (words) Harry Hudson (perf.) Stanley Kirkby (perf.) Lee White (perf.)
He's Coming Home	1919
My Dream Baby	1919
Oh, Johnny Callagan! (w&m)	1919	R.P. Weston (co-author) Bert Lee (co-author) Clay Smith (perf.) Lee White (perf.)	Pub.
⇑ We've Got a Servant	1919		Pub.
Give Me the Isle of Cuba	1920	Ralph Bingham (perf.)
When the Company's Gone (w&m)	1920	Bert Lee (co-author) R. P. Weston (co-author) Lee White (perf.)
When We've Company at Our House	1920		Pub.
Winter Time	1920		Pub.
Dear Little You	1921	Roscoe Gilmore Stott (words)
Wee Little Cabin	1922	Russell J. England (words)
Maid of the West	1923	Roscoe G. Scott (words) Walter Van Brunt as Walter Scanlan (perf.) Bernard Ferguson (perf.) Allen McQuhae (perf.) Lambert Murphy (perf.)
Plain, Li'l Cullah'd Boy	1923	Roscoe G. Scott (words)	Pub.
Drifting to You	1924	O. J. Gunnell (words) Al. Short (words) Marcia Freer (perf.) Lewis James (perf.) James J. Sheridan (perf.)
Egyptian Rose	1925	Fred Godfrey (words)	Pub.
Under the Blushing Moon	?	Leo. Bennet (words)