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Collection Overview
Abstract
Growing up in low country South Carolina in the 1930s and 1940s, Jim Smoak immersed himself in the music of his family and of the live radio broadcasts to which they listened. Smoak especially admired the innovative banjo playing of Snuffy Jenkins, whom he heard daily on Columbia’s WIS Station. Jenkins would become a family friend and mentor, inspiring Smoak to pursue work as a banjo player. Smoak would become one of the first generation of banjo players to bring three-finger style to national audiences. Although a “hidden figure” of American roots music, Smoak has quietly contributed to many of the key contexts of country, folk, and bluegrass music.
Scope and Contents of the Materials
This collection is comprised of recorded interviews, transcripts, performance recordings, and additional materials documenting the music and experiences of banjo players Jim Smoak. The collection results from the research and work of Joseph O’Connell and the support of a 2013 Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship from the Berea College Special Collections and Archives. From July through August 2013, O’Connell worked with Smoak to document his work for the Appalachian Sound Archives at Berea College.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
Berea College Special Collections and Archives Catalog
Access Restrictions:
Records can be accessed through the Reading Room, Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Hutchins Library, Berea College.
Use Restrictions:
There are no restrictions on use of this material other than federal copyright regulations.
Preferred Citation:
[Object identification], Jim Smoak Banjo Music Collection, Berea College Special Collections & Archives, Berea, KY.
Processing Information:
The collection was processed by Harry Rice, Sound Archivist. The finding aid was created by Harry Rice and Lori Myers-Steele, Collections Archivist.
The finding aid was created, and the collection was opened for research, in September 2015.
Other Note:
The collection was opened for research in September 2015.
BCA 0163 SAA 165
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Box:
[
Box 1],
[
Box 2: Shelved onsite - SC&A],
[All]
- Box 1
- Folder 1: Jim Smoak and Biographical Notes and Autobiographical Notes
- Folder 2: Interview Transcripts, August 14-15, 2013 interviews
- Folder 3: Jim Smoak Commercial Recordings, Photographs of Covers
- Folder 4: Joe Connell Notes regarding Jim Smoak Documentation and Interview
- Folder 5: Photographs Folder 1/2
- Folder 6: Photographs Folder 2/2
- Item 1: SC-CD-146-001
- Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship Presentation: Joe O'Connell "And He Took It To the Grand Ole Opry': A conversation with banjoist Jim Smoak about his 60-year career in Country Music" Hutchins Library, 10-17-2013.
- Item 2: SC-CD-146-002
- CD Red Hot Sound at the Red Horse Inn Jim Smoak and the Cumberlands (Harold and Betty Thom), produced in 2012 from taping during a live performance in 1969 at the Red Horse Inn in Alexandria, Louisiana.
- Item 3: Cumberlands I - TIFF format
- Item 4: Cumberlands III - TIFF format
- Item 5: Cumberlands Red Horse Inn - Tiff format
- Box 2: Shelved onsite - SC&A
- Shelved separate from the rest of the collection.
- Item 1: SC-VD-270-001
- Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship Presentation: Joe O'Connell "'And He Took It to the Grand Ole Opry': a conversation with banjoist Jim Smoak about his 60-year career in Country Music" Hutchins Library, Berea College, 10-17-2013. (1 of 2). Video Recording.
- Item 2: SC-VD-270-002
- Interview Recorded by Jesse Anderson for the Appalachian Center - (Viewing DVD not done) Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship Presentation: Joe O'Connell "'And He Took It to the Grand Ole Opry': a conversation with banjoist Jim Smoak about his 60-year career in Country Music" Hutchins Library, Berea College, 10-17-2013. Video Recording.
