Huey ‘Piano’ Smith, session man and hit maker, dead at 89

By HILLEL ITALIE
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Huey ‘Piano’ Smith, a top New Orleans session man, has died. Smith backed Little Richard and Lloyd Price among other early rock stars and with his own group made the party favorites “Don’t You Just Know It” and “Rockin’ Pneumonia and Boogie Woogie Flu.” Smith was 89. A New Orleans native who performed nationwide but always came back to Louisiana, Smith was just 15 when he began playing professionally and in his 20s was on hand for such hits as Smiley Lewis’ “I Hear You Knocking.” In 2000, Smith received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and he was honored a year later by the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame.