Time of my Life, interviews with Chris Smith

Jim Smith, Sixty-five years of music, several bands and one extraordinary journey.

INTERVIEW BY CHRIS SMITH

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0:00 | 31:18

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Sixty-five years of music, with several bands. One extraordinary journey.

Jim Smith has lived music from the inside — from the working men's clubs and pub stages of Sheffield to glittering cabaret nights and the era of the mega-arena. He's seen live entertainment transform beyond recognition, and he's adapted every step of the way.

A founding member of Sheffield beat band The Vantennas, Jim went on to tour the length and breadth of the UK seven days a week with 1960's heartthrob Jimmy Crawford, before taking his talent to Southern Africa with the Smith Brothers.

Master of lead and bass guitar, mandolin, and harmonica — and a Stratocaster player of rare quality — Jim first found his rhythm not on six strings but on a snare drum. That sense rhythm never left him.

"Still playing. Still finding his outlet." echoes the podcast title's spirit — Time of Your Life"

Sixty-five years on, he's still playing. Still finding his outlet. This is his story.