Shuggy Ray Smith – “Ruth from Duluth”

This little tune, purportedly released in December of 1965, is about a “little pretty girl” from Duluth who “eats corn on the cob through a picket fence.” Enjoy.

There are plenty of references to Shuggy Ray Smith on the internet, but not a lot of details about his life and career. His music catalog appears to consist of roughly five seven-inch records:

“Hotchie-Kootchie Man” / “Cause I’m Cryin'” (Kammy)
“My Momma Didn’t Raise No Fool” / “The Hitch-Hiking Hippie” ‎(Pzazz)
“Little Tommy’s Letter” / “Ruth From Duluth” (Tower)
“The Hitch-Hiking Hippie” / “Pappa and Santa Claus” (Pzazz)
“Either You or the Bottle” / “My Momma Didn’t Raise No Fool” (Pzazz)

To add some confusion, there are at least two other Ray Smith’s who had records out in the same era, and there’s one single available online by simply “Shuggy Smith” titled “Dum-Ditty Dum Dum.” Also, a song called “Welcome to the Party of Broken Hearts” is attributed to Shuggy Ray Smith in a catalog of music copyright entries from 1967.

2 Comments

Elisa Bohon Yount Wilson

about 5 years ago

Shuggy Smith and Shuggy Ray Smith were the same person. His actual name was Oscar Chatfield Smith. He wrote many songs but sold the rights to most of them.

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