Chris first picked up a guitar in 1979 and in that same year, along with school friends Stephen Pearce and Andrew Wilson, formed his first band, a prog rock outfit, named ‘Oracle’. That band folded after about 8 months and achieved, in the words of Socrates “bugger all”. But the end of ‘Oracle’ was to lead to the creation of ‘Trojan Fox’ a “heavy metal” band that was probably the most shambolic disaster to ever grace a church hall. A friend of the band once told them that they sounded “f***ing brilliant”, but only when heard from the public bar of the local, which was some 200yds down the road. Luckily neither band made it onto a stage, although the former did appear live on top of a garage roof in a suburban cul-de-sac, an event witnessed by three housewives, a milkman and the neighbours cleaning lady, who brought the event to a close!
After such total humiliation there was but one course left open, but rather than give up Chris, for some strange reason, decided to create a totally new band with a totally different direction. Thus he contacted a friend, and fellow guitarist, Charlie Turner and suggested to him the idea of putting together a band that would be “just for a laugh”. This ‘short-term’ project was to follow in the footsteps of Bonzo Dog, Neil Innes, Fat Mattress and The 1812 Fruitgum Company. Thus on March 8th 1981 Whistler’s Mother was born.
Whistler (hwis’-ler) n. one who whistles [O.E hwistlian]
Mother (muTH’-er) n. a female parent.
Whistler’s Mother (hwis’-lers muTH’-er) 1. Nickname given to a famous portrait, painted in 1871, by
James Abbott Mc Neill Whistler entitled “Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the artist’s mother”.
2. Nowhere near as famous, but much better looking, Indie Folk/Rock band created by Chris Smith in 1981. Which throughout the 80’s explored many styles from folk to rock, pop even electronic.
During the next four years Chris would write and record over 50 songs. These recordings, along with the bands live performances, made during this period, included local artists such as Jeff Ward, Karl Groom, Miles Evemy, Martin Carver, Paul Flynn, Gary Levell, Ian Salmon and Clive Nolan to name but a few.
But by 1985 although Chris continued to record he began appearing more and more often either solo, at folk clubs, or as a regular guest star in local bands either run by or featuring former colleges. One offshoot band that he formed around 1986, though it never got further than the garage in which they rehearsed, concentrated upon playing Beatles numbers. He named that band ‘Oasis’ a name destined to become better known later on when used by another mob, who try as they might never did get ‘I am the Walrus’ right! Finally however by the end of the 80’s with musicians and live venues becoming ever harder to find and recording time becoming evermore expensive Chris decided to call it a day.
Well until 1992 anyway. When a sudden resurgence of interest in the Mother, mainly from Europe, prompted our hero to try again. Thus in 1993 Chris reformed Whistler’s Mother and took them back on the road and back into the studio. It was a year that started well but the financial toll and bitter internal arguments were to bring the newly reformed band to an untimely end.
1995 was the year that brought the release of the bands last offering ‘The Graceful Art of Falling’ recording of which had began in 1993. It had taken nearly a year of blood, sweat and tears from Chris and his old partner Jeff Ward to thrash out the albums direction and style. Then a further year, with the aid of Miles Evemy, to record and produce it. But the album, though praised by record companies and critics alike, failed to get a distribution deal. Time and again the reply of “we don’t know how to market it” came from the various distributors that were approached.
In 1996 Chris tried to promote the album, which he was now distributing from home, with a short tour of pubs and clubs in the London area supporting other bands, aided at times by guitarist Ian Salmon. Even though he was personally well received at times, the generally poor turn out at many venues meant that he was often playing solely to the members of the bands he was supporting. This depressing state of affairs led to the end of the Mother and Chris retiring, well, almost retiring......