Judge Smith

In 1967, with Peter Hammill, Judge Smith founded the band Van der Graaf Generator. He was originally a singing drummer and percussionist (sometimes playing a typewriter),Christopulos & Smart, p. 12 and 21.Album notes for four-double CD box The Box by Van der Graaf Generator (2000), page 6. Virgin Records but after drummer Guy Evans joined the band, Smith realized that there was not a great deal left for him to do, since his role was reduced to being a backing vocalist.Christopulos & Smart, p. 28. After recording the first Van der Graaf Generator-single ("People You Were Going To" b/w "Firebrand"), Smith amicably left the band in 1968.{{Cite web |last=Breznikar |first=Klemen |author-link=Klemen Breznikar |date=14 August 2021 |title=Van der Graaf Generator {{!}} Judge Smith Interview |url=https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2021/08/van-der-graaf-generator-judge-smith-interview.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814160125/https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2021/08/van-der-graaf-generator-judge-smith-interview.html |archive-date=14 August 2021 |access-date=6 February 2023 |website=It's Psychedelic Baby! Magazine}}

He went on to form a jazz-rock band called Heebalob, which included saxophonist David Jackson, who would later join Van der Graaf Generator.Christopulos & Smart, p. 50. After the demise of Heebalob, Smith pursued a solo career, and wrote and recorded many songs, some of which appeared on his (currently unavailable) first solo album Democrazy (1991). Smith also wrote several stage musicals as lyricist with composer Maxwell Hutchinson. These included The Kibbo Kift (produced at the Traverse Theatre for the Edinburgh Festival of 1976{{cite web|url=http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/sta/search/detaile.cfm?EID=17542|title=Scottish Theatre Archive – Event Details|publisher=University of Glasgow}} and at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield the following year) and The Ascent of Wilberforce III (subtitled "The White Hell of Iffish Odorabad", and produced at the Traverse Theatre, in 1981, and at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London in 1982). His own chamber opera, The Book of Hours, was directed by Mel Smith at the Young Vic Theatre, London in 1978. Mata Hari (staged at the Lyric Theatre in 1982), was his last musical, co-written with Lene Lovich and Les Chappell, and starring Lovich.{{cite web|url=http://www.judge-smith.com/wp/about/|title=Biography « Judge Smith|website=www.judge-smith.com|access-date=4 June 2017}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NOQkBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA265|title=Be Stiff: The Stiff Records Story|first=Richard|last=Balls|date=30 October 2014|publisher=Soundcheck Books|isbn=9780957570061}}

Around 1973, Smith, together with Van der Graaf Generator co-founder Peter Hammill, began work on an opera based on the short story The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, Smith writing the libretto and Hammill composing the music.Christopulos & Smart, p. 157. The album was finally released in 1991 on Some Bizzare Records, with a cast of singers including Lene Lovich, Andy Bell, Sarah Jane Morris and Herbert Grönemeyer. A reworked version, titled The Fall of the House of Usher – deconstructed & rebuilt, was released on Hammill's Fie! label in 1999.{{cite web|url=http://www.sofasound.com/nlnov99.htm |title=Newsletters |publisher=Sofa Sound |access-date=18 March 2013}} The new version is notable for having a cleaner, better produced sound, additional guitars and (unlike the first version) no percussion.Album notes for The Fall of the House of Usher – deconstructed & rebuilt (1999). Fie!

Peter Hammill has recorded a number of songs written by Smith, including "Been Alone So Long" and the jointly-written "The Institute of Mental Health, Burning" (both on Nadir's Big Chance, 1975), "Time for a Change" (on pH7, 1979) and "Four Pails" (on Skin, 1986), and plays them live on a regular basis. Lene Lovich also recorded songs written by Smith, including "What Will I Do Without You" and "You Can't Kill Me" (both on Flex, 1979).

In 1974 Smith wrote and directed a short film titled The Brass Band, which has won several international awards.{{cite web|url=http://www.fuzzlogic.com/vdgg/judge.htm |title=VdGG Profile: Judge Smith |publisher=FuzzLogic.com |access-date=18 March 2013}}

Smith also wrote music for the television comedy series Not The Nine O'Clock News in the 1980s, including the punk rock parody "Gob on You".

In 1993 Dome of Discovery was released, Smith's first CD proper. Apart from the vocals, virtually every note on the album came from the sampled sounds of real instruments.{{cite web|url=http://www.judge-smith.com/wp/product/dome-of-discovery-cd/|title=Dome of Discovery CD « Judge Smith|website=www.judge-smith.com|access-date=4 June 2017}} Smith spent months making his own samples, hiring various musicians and recording individual notes. Since 2006, a remastered version has been available for download at iTunes.

After many years of work developing a new form of narrative music he calls "Songstory",{{cite web|url=http://www.judge-smith.com/wp/songstory/ |title=Songstory « Judge Smith |website=www.judge-smith.com |access-date=4 June 2017}} Smith completed and released, in 2000, the double CD Curly's Airships, about the 1924 Imperial Airship Scheme and the R101 airship disaster of 1930. Among many others, Peter Hammill, Hugh Banton, Arthur Brown, David Jackson, John Ellis and Pete Brown performed on the project.{{cite web|url=http://www.judge-smith.com/wp/curlys-airships-jon-downes/ |title=Curly's Airships Interview with Jon Downes of Gonzo Media « Judge Smith |website=www.judge-smith.com|access-date=4 December 2017}} Smith believes that the 2 hr 20 min work might be the largest and most ambitious single piece of rock music ever recorded.Album notes for Curly's Airships (2000). Masters of Art. Curly's Airships was to be the first of three Songstories so far written and composed by Smith.

On the same day that Van der Graaf Generator played their reunion concert in the Royal Festival Hall in London, 6 May 2005, Smith played an afternoon concert at the Cobden Club in London. At this concert his new album, The Full English was launched, and Smith played (among others) all the songs from the album. He was accompanied by John Ellis on electric guitar, Michael Ward-Bergeman on accordion and René van Commenée on percussion.{{cite web|url=http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/judge_cobden060505.htm |title=Judge Smith – Cobden Club – 6th May 2005 |publisher=Vandergraafgenerator.co.uk |date=6 May 2005 |access-date=18 March 2013}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.judge-smith.com/gallery/16-London-Cobden-Club-06-05-2005.php|title=Judge Smith - 6 May 2005 - London - Cobden Club|website=www.judge-smith.com}}

A DVD recording of a concert by Smith in Guastalla, Italy, Live in Italy 2005, was released on DVD on 20 March 2006.{{cite web |url=http://www.lolproductions.it/default.aspx?uid=10&lang=en |title=LoL Productions s.n.c |publisher=Lolproductions.it |access-date=18 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321210535/http://www.lolproductions.it/default.aspx?uid=10&lang=en |archive-date=21 March 2013 }}

2006 also saw the release of The Vesica Massage, an album of instrumental music designed for use by massage therapists.

In October 2007 Smith released a two-song single CD, "The Light of the World" / "I Don't Know What I'm Doing", under the name of The Tribal Elders. This band consisted of Judge Smith, David Jackson, John Ellis, Michael Ward-Bergeman and Rikki Patten.

In January 2008 the full-length album Long-Range Audio Device was released, under the name of L-RAD, a collaboration between Judge Smith and American artist Steve Defoe. Defoe is a founder of The Larry Mondello Band, who released numerous cassette tapes of their lo-fi music in the 1980s and 1990s.

In May 2009 Smith performed the premiere of his second songstory, The Climber (written in 2005). The work was performed with a Norwegian male-voice choir, the Fløyen Voices, and no other instruments apart from a double bass, at USF Verftet in Bergen, Norway.{{cite web|url=http://www.judge-smith.com/wp/product/the-climber-cd/ |title=The Climber CD « Judge Smith |website=www.judge-smith.com |access-date=4 June 2017}} A studio recording was released on 17 May 2010.

Between 2007 and 2011 Smith and David Jackson performed their piece The House That Cried six times live in Italy, with a choir and orchestra.

Smith released his third songstory, Orfeas, on 9 May 2011. It is a retelling of the ancient myth of Orpheus, performed by seven separate ensembles, each playing an entirely different kind of music.{{cite web|url=http://www.judge-smith.com/wp/product/orfeas-cd/ |title=Orfeas CD « Judge Smith |website=www.judge-smith.com |access-date=4 December 2017}} It features performances by, amongst others, John Ellis (as George Orfeas), Lene Lovich (as Eurydice) and David Jackson (as the saxophone player in the George Orfeas Band).

Smith's album Zoot Suit was released 17 March 2013, a collection of songs, produced by David Minnick. The album includes a duet with Lene Lovich, a studio recording of "Been Alone So Long", an extract from The Book of Hours, and a goodbye of sorts to recording, "I'm Through".{{cite web|url=http://www.judge-smith.com/wp/product/orfeas-cd/|title=Orfeas CD « Judge Smith|website=www.judge-smith.com|access-date=4 June 2017}}

In 2013, Smith published his first book, "The Universe Next Door", about life after death. It is subtitled "Book One of the Judex Trilogy". Book Two, "The Vibrating Spirit", was published in 2014.{{cite web |url=http://www.judge-smith.com/wp/books/ |title=Books « Judge Smith |website=www.judge-smith.com |access-date=4 June 2017 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

2016 saw the release of the CD Requiem Mass, Smith's setting of the Latin Mass for the Dead, with lyrics in Latin. The Requiem Mass was originally written in 1975. It features performances by The Crouch End Festival Chorus, conducted by David Temple, a four-piece rock band, and baritone lead singer Nigel Richards.{{cite web|url=http://www.lunakafe.com/moon248/en248c.php |title=Luna Kafé e-zine - Judge Smith: Requiem Mass |website=www.lunakafe.com |access-date=4 November 2017}}

• Democrazy (a collection of recordings from 1968–1977, 1991)
• Dome of Discovery (1993, remastered version available on iTunes only, 2006)
• Curly's Airships (songstory, double CD, 2000)
• The Full English (2005)
• Live in Italy 2005 (DVD, 2006)
• The Vesica Massage (2006)
• The Light of the World (two-song CD single, 2007, as The Tribal Elders)
• Long-Range Audio Device (2008, as L-RAD)
• The Climber (songstory, 2010)
• Orfeas (songstory, 2011)
• Zoot Suit (2013)
• Requiem Mass (2016)
• Towers Open Fire (2020, with Brakeman)
• The Solar Heresies and the Lunar Sequence (2020)
• Old Man in a Hurry (2021)

• The Universe Next Door – Book One of the Judex Trilogy (2013)
• The Vibrating Spirit – Book Two of the Judex Trilogy (2014)
• The Universe is Made of Voices – The replacement of the previous two books with additional material, restructuring the original planned trilogy into one book (2017)
• The Collected Lyrics of Judge Smith - Masters of Art ({{ISBN|978-1-3999-8893-3}}, 2024)

{{reflist}}

• Christopulos, J., & Smart, P. (2005). Van der Graaf Generator, The Book: A History of the Band Van der Graaf Generator 1967 to 1978. Phil and Jim Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0955-1337 01}}
• Odriozola, Ricardo (2024). Cannonball! The music, words and images of Judge Smith. Musikproduktion Hoeflich (MPH, München). {{ISBN|978-3-00-079158-1}}

• {{Official website}}
• [http://www.judge-smith.com/wp/musicography/ Judge Smith Musicography]
• {{discogs artist}}

{{Van der Graaf Generator}}

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Category:1948 births

Category:Living people

Category:English male singers

Category:English male singer-songwriters

Category:English drummers

Category:British male drummers

Category:Van der Graaf Generator members

Category:People educated at Oundle School