ROOTS of Country Music

The Profesional Work of Velma Williams

Velma Elizabeth (Williams) Smith

Velma Williams Smith first gained notice in 1942 when she became a member of Roy Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys and Girls. Performing with her sister, Mildred, as the Williams Sisters, Velma Williams Smith played the bass and sang.

Velma Smith playing rhythm guitar behind Hank Williams

Following the departure of Rachel Veach, fom the band, Williams was briefly billed with Bashful Brother Oswald as Oswald and His Big Sister. She left the troupe around 1948 and married Hal Smith, who was then the fiddler for Ernest Tubb.

Velma Williams Smith was a member of Carl Smith's band, The Tunesmiths. The band featured Velma Williams Smith on rhythm guitar, her husband, fiddler-manager Hal Smith, bassist Junior Huskey, steel guitarist Johnny Sibert and former Hank Williams electric guitarist Sammy Pruett.

During the Nashville Sound era, Williams' destenctive rhythm guitar style earned session apparances on many of Chet Atkins' RCA acts, including Jim Reeves, Dottie West and Skeeter Davis. 

Williams played guitar on the single, I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know, which was a number one single for The Davis Sisters in 1953. The song, written by Cecil Null, was the first hit for the duo of Skeeter Davis and Betty Jack Davis and their only one as Betty. Jack was killed in an automobile accident the week the record was released.

The musicians for the sessions were Chet Atkins, (lead guitar) Velma E. Williams Smith (guitar), Jerry Byrd (steel guitar), Ernest "Ernie" Newton, (bass) and Hal Smith (fiddle). The session, The Davis Sisters' first in Nashville, Tennessee was recorded at Thomas Productions.

Below are just a few of the artists who Velma Williams Smith played guitar on some of their studio sessions. 

1. Carl Smith
2. Don Gibson
3. Dottie West
4. Eddy Arnold
5. George Jones
6. Hank Williams
7. Jim Reeves
8. Marty Robbins
9. Ray Price
10. Roger Miller
11. Roy Acuff
12. Skeeter Davis
13. Faron Young 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched, compiled and written by Richard Bell, Roots of Country Music, Dec. 7, 2011.