Mira Ann Smith

Mira Ann Smith (or often credited as Myra Smith; October 22, 1924 – August 29, 1989) was an American songwriter, music industry pioneer, record label owner, studio engineer, and multi-instrumentalist. In 1955, she founded Royal Audio Music, Inc. (a.k.a. Ram Records) and became one of the first women to own her own record company. Her success led some in the music business to dub her "the female Sam Phillips". Smith is most well known for the songs she wrote with singer/songwriter Margaret Lewis (Warwick), many of which charted on the Billboard Top 10. Smith and Lewis found their greatest songwriting success with singer Jeannie C. Riley, and wrote many of her songs including, "The Girl Most Likely", "Oh Singer", "The Rib" and "There Never Was a Time". In addition, Smith and Lewis wrote hit songs for artists such as Margaret Whiting ("I Almost Called Your Name") and Peggy Scott and Jo Jo Benson ("Soulshake"). Four artists charted on Billboard with the Smith and Lewis song "Reconsider Me": Johnny Adams, Ray Pillow (1969), John Wesly Ryles (1971) and Narvel Felts (1975). Smith received six outstanding achievement awards from the Broadcast Music Industry (BMI). In 1988, she was inducted into the Southern Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 1995 Smith was the first woman inducted into the Women in Music Hall of Fame.

Early life and influences Smith was born in 1926 in Alexandria, Louisiana to parents George W. Smith and Beulah Martin Smith. Her mother was a seamstress for The Fashion, Inc., a women's clothing company. She grew up attending the local Baptist church. Smith had two older sisters, Kathleen and Birdie Lee and from an early age, all three were encouraged to play music. Her parents saved their money and bought Smith an expensive Martin guitar on which she quickly became proficient.

In 1955, Smith was elected president of the newly organized Song Writers Club of Shreveport, which was founded to give young writers the opportunity to introduce their work to the public. The club started with 6 members.

Smith was greatly inspired by Les Paul, both by his guitar playing and his innovations with multi-track studio recording. When the first Les Paul guitar came on the market, she "had to have" one.

Louisiana Hayride Smith was a fan and later performed

Royal Audio Music, Ram Recording Co. In 1955, when Smith was 29, she acquired the building located at 2439 Lakeshore Drive in Shreveport Joe Osborn,

Clif Records In 1957 Smith partnered with Cliff Hagin and they added Clif Records as a subsidiary record label. Clif Records' first success was with T.V. Slim (Oscar Wills) and his song "Flat Foot Sam" (Clif #103) written by his wife, Clara Wills. When it was reviewed by Billboard on July 7, 1957, the magazine gave it a 65 or less rating. However, Slim had connections with Leonard Chess and was able to get Checker Records to distribute the song across the nation. Under the Checker Records label (#870), Billboard gave the song a 77 rating. In 2005, Brian Setzer recorded a cover of "Flat Foot Sam" for his album Rockabilly Riot! Live From the Planet. Chico Chism & His Jetanairs also released "Hot Tamales and Bar-B-Que" on the Clif Label.

K Label K Label was another Ram subsidiary record label named after Smith's sister, Kathleen. The Lonesome Drifter (Thomas Johnson) and his 1958 single "Eager Boy"/ "Tear Drop Valley" (K-Records #5812) is considered one of the more significant recordings from this label.

Studio struggles As a woman in almost completely male industry, Smith often found it difficult to find distribution and promotion services. Her cousin, Alton Warwick, was quoted in 1994 as saying, "(Being a woman) did handicap her, as far as people taking her seriously with things like financing. If she had better funding for distribution and promotion, she could've made some of her records really go."

On August 27, 1960 the Louisiana Hayride performed its last show. Rock and Roll was growing in popularity and the Shreveport music scene was slowing and changing. As a result, the studio began to struggle. a London native, assembled the collection. He learned about Ram Records in 1969 when he purchased the song "Drop Top" by Roy "Boogie Boy" Perkins. The Ace release received many mentions in the press, including Billboard magazine. The pair composed more than 100 songs. Several other artists also recorded "I Almost Called Your Name" including Linda Martell (Plantation Records, 1970) and Freddy Fender (ABC Dot 1974).

In 1968 Smith and Lewis wrote four of the songs on Jeannie C. Riley's album, Yearbooks and Yesterday (Cat# PLP-2) which peaked at #9 on the 1969 Billboard Hot Country Albums and included their songs "Girl Most Likely" (# 6 on Hot Country Songs, # 55 US Hot 100), and "Yearbooks and Yesterdays" (#187 on the Billboard 200).

In 1969, Riley recorded the Smith and Lewis songs "There Never Was a Time" (#5 on Hot Country Songs), "The Rib" (#32 on Hot Country songs), "Things Go Better With Love" (#142 on Billboard 200), and "The Wedding Cake" for her album Things Go Better With Love. (Plantation Records, #PLP-3). "The Wedding Cake" was also recorded by Connie Francis, (MGM, 1969), Connie Smith (RCA Victor, 1969), and Linda Martell (Plantation Records, 1970). Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner also recorded a duet of, "There Never Was A Time" for their RCA Records album, "Always, Always" (1969)

Riley's hit songs, "Oh Singer" (#4 on the Hot Country Songs, #74 on US Hot 100) and "Country Girl" (#7 on Hot Country, #106 Billboard 200), were also written by Smith and Lewis.

In 1969, Smith and Lewis' song "Reconsider Me" became a hit for R&B singer Johnny Adams. His rendition peaked at #8 on the Billboard R&B charts and #28 on the Billboard Hot 100. Also in 1969, the song was a hit for Country artist Ray Pillow and peaked at #38 on the Billboard Country Charts. In 1971, "Reconsider Me" was the title track of John Wesly Ryles' Plantation Records album, hitting #39 on the Country Charts. In 1975, Narvel Felts released a cover of "Reconsider Me". His version charted at #1 on Canada's RPM Country charts, spent 6 weeks on the US charts, and peaked at #67 on the Billboard Hot 100. Smith and Lewis also recorded themselves performing this song, but their version wasn't released until 1994, five years after Smith's death. (Ace #CDCHD 495).

Also in 1969, Jo Jo Benson and Peggy Scott recorded the Smith and Lewis song "Soulshake" which peaked at #37 on the Billboard US Pop charts and #13 on the US R&B charts. Several other artists recorded this song including Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn (MCA Records, 1977), Delaney & Bonnie and Friends (ATCO/Atlantic Records 1970), and Bruce Willis (Motown Records, 1989).

Awards and recognitions Smith was the recipient of six BMI Awards for her songs "The Girl Most Likely", "Mountain of Love", "Oh Singer", "Reconsider Me", "There Never Was a Time" and "The Wedding Cake".

In 1988, Smith was inducted into the Southern Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 1995 she was the first woman inducted into the Women in Music Hall of Fame.

Pseudonyms Smith was a talented guitarist and pianist and her playing can be heard on many Ram releases, but she often used the aliases Grace Tennessee and Laura Martin (writing credits), or changed the spelling of her name to Myra in the song/album credits.

Death In 1986, Mira wrote and played guitar for her last recording "Wings Like Eagles". In 1988, she moved back to Shreveport, and in 1989 she died of leukemia. While many sources report her death as September 29, 1989, her obituary in the Shreveport Times is dated August 29, 1989.

Songwriting hits