Lonnie Smith: I went to this music store every day, Kubera Music Store, in Buffalo. And I used to sit and sit, until the closing time. One day, he closed the store, and he says, "Why do you come in every day to closing time?" I said, "Well sir, if I had an instrument, I could work. If I could work, I could make a living." And he says, "Come with me." He took me in the back where he had a house, and he opened the door, and I could hear the music. I saw a brand new Hammond B-3. He says, "If you can get this out of her, it’s yours."
Nick Spitzer: They are rather heavy and large to move, over 400 pounds, right?
LS: Yes. You ever see an ant move stuff on his back?
NS: Yeah, like a huge leaf.
LS: Yeah. I got my brothers, we got a pick-up truck. I got on the back and hugged that organ all the way to the house. It was snowing in Buffalo.
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LS: Now I’m still playing at this little club. I think it was called Little Paris. We got a job there, and they had an organ. A Spinet. Spinet is a baby organ. Thirteen pedals and whatnot. And what happened, Jack McDuff came by.
NS: Ahh!
LS: He said, "I heard you had a B-3." It wasn't in that club because I was still playing the Spinet because I didn't know anything about the B-3, right? It was brand new. Guess who the musician he was trying to rent it for? Lou Donaldson.
NS: Aha!
LS: I’m still waiting for my $25.
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LS: They had a club called the Bon Temps in Buffalo. Everybody used to come there, all the big acts. McDuff came, and I'd sit in. They were playing, and he slid over, and I kept playing the song.
NS: Nice.
LS: People loved it, and Joe Duke was there and George Benson.
NS: Great guitar player.
LS: Yeah, he was playing with Jack then. I loved George's playing. He says, "Hey man, let's get a group.” So we took off to New York.
NS: Were you ever sorry to leave Buffalo and your family and where you grew up?
LS: Are you kidding me, Nick? My father said, "You never did like this place." I wanted to get out of Buffalo.
NS: I’ve heard “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” this is “Shuffle Out of Buffalo.”
LS: Shovel, not shuffle!
NS: Shovel Out of Buffalo!
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LS: We got signed with Columbia Records about a week or two after we got to New York. John Hammond heard about us, and he came by. He wanted to sign us right on the spot.
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LS: Now, Lou Donaldson was recording. And he called George and I and Idris Muhammad on drums, and we played "Alligator Bogaloo." We locked in so beautifully
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