Obituaries : * Steven D. Smith; Veteran Local Blues Guitarist

Steven Douglas (Buddy) Smith, a veteran blues guitar player and long a mainstay on the local music scene, was found dead Saturday morning after collapsing near his car in a K mart parking lot in Ventura. He was 46.

The Ventura County coroner’s office has not yet determined a cause of death, but foul play is not suspected. A coroner’s spokesman said the office will very likely make an announcement today.

Smith, who has played in numerous bands over his 30-year career, had recently been playing in the Ventura-Santa Barbara area with his own group, the Buddy Smith Band. On his off nights, Smith would often sit in with other local groups such as Patrick Landreville’s Blues Deluxe.

“He could’ve been the next guitar god,” Landreville said in a recent interview. “I’ve known him since the ‘60s, and I think he’s better than Stevie Ray Vaughan.”

Smith began his professional music career in 1962 when he didn’t get what he wanted for Christmas.

“I started playing guitar in 1960 after my dad died,” Smith once said. “I wanted a telescope for Christmas, but I got a guitar instead. By 1962, I was playing surf music and by 1963, I had my own band, the Corvairs, an eight-piece surf band. . . . I used to ditch school and go hang out with the deejays at KACY like Bob Eubanks. That’s the way it was growing up in Oxnard.”

During the mid-60s, many popular rock bands played in Oxnard, and Smith at that time was managed by the concert promoter, Jim Salzer, playing at the Starlight Ballroom in Oxnard. “We opened for Captain Beefheart, the Hollies, Them, the Swingin’ Medallions, the Leaves--all those ‘60s bands.”

Over the years, Smith played in a variety of other bands that he founded, opening for major acts playing in the area, including the Doors, Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead.

Smith attributed his local success to his distinctive style.

“I play blues with rhythm instead of rhythm and blues that’s danceable,” Smith said. “I know what the dancers want to hear. I like to give away my music to people who don’t play an instrument. I like to see people enjoy and feel what I feel in my songs.”

Smith is survived by two children in their early 20s, Monica Smith of San Diego, Shad Smith of Santa Barbara and his longtime girlfriend, Maggie Sullivan.

*

Dandridge, James L., 63, of Camarillo, retired jet mechanic. Conejo Mountain Memorial Park and Funeral Home, Camarillo.

Ventura County obituaries are published free of charge as a public service to readers. Obituaries are based on information provided by mortuaries.