Black Jack David

Warren Smith could sing it all: blues, hillbilly, rockabilly. One of the best pure singers of the era, he chose a powerfully mythic place to start: Sun Records. For a time it looked as if Smith would emulate his label-mates and become a household name. He had the looks, the talent, the will to succeed and he was unquestionably in the right place at the right time. Stardom had to wait until he returned to country music on Liberty Records in the 1960s, but even now, his '50s music ranks alongside the best from a great era. On these two recordings, he's performing live at the Big D Jamboree in Dallas with his rockabilly duo.