I was once a sound engineer,

for the Grateful Dead?

One night when my son Eric was playing a solo gig at a bar downtown that was once called SouthSide, I met someone who thought he knew me. This bar was locate on the south side of Dauphin Street in Mobile, Alabama. Since then it has changed names a couple of times. 

During this time SouthSide had initiated a Thursday night special program they called “Drinking with Lincoln”. The patrons would be charged $5 at the door and the rest of the night they could buy Draft beer for One "Lincoln" Penny each. When young people find a deal like that, it seems their natural inclination is to drink as much as physically possible. After all, it is only a PENNY a glass!

Drinking with Lincoln nights were pretty rowdy. There was a raised area where the controls were located for running the sound for bands . There was a steady stream of local, regional and even some national acts that came through and booked at this venue. When Eric did his solo gigs he ran his own sound from the stage but he had me to climb up the steps and into the sound area so that I could enjoy his show while remaining in a safe spot which had a clear view of the stage. 

So everyone was partying and dancing and enjoying themselves, Eric was playing and I was in the sound area chilling out and enjoying both the show on the dance floor as well and the one on the stage.

I looked towards the door and noticed two couples entering. They were dressed as though they were returning from a semi-formal event. They were a little older as well and stood out from the casually clad college age kids who were there. Suddenly one of the guys in this group that just entered, looked up and saw me. He was pointing at the balcony above and talking to his group when he looked up straight at me and he appeared to recognize me. He was very excited as he guided his group to the steps leading up to the sound platform. I looked very hard at this guy and as far as I could tell, I had never seen him before. I could not understand why he appeared to know me well and was pure giddy to see me.

As they worked their way over to where I was, he motioned for me to come down. I stepped down to the floor where they were and he hugged me with such love and happiness, then he began to introduce me to his friends.

He told them I was a fantastic sound engineer and that I had run sound for many big name bands but most often for The Grateful Dead. I explained to them and him that this was a mistake, I never ran sound for any band, I was just up there for safety purposes. He said, “She is just being modest and doesn’t want the attention but I am telling you guys this is the woman who ran sound for the Grateful Dead for years. She is top notch, as good as they get". All four of them stood and applauded me. I said "no this is a mistake", he told me to just accept the attention for the wonderful work I had done.

What could I do? I was tired, I wanted to go back up and sit down for my son’s show, so by that point I just curtsied and smiled as I headed up the steps to the sound board.

Later when they prepared to leave the bar, they all turned and waved to me, I smiled and waved back; still confused about it all.

For years after that, I would see him occassionally at gigs and I tried to convince him I did not ever run sound, period. He never believed me.

So if you ever hear the rumor that Juanita Smith once ran sound for the Grateful Dead, 

know that the person telling you this is either drunk, high or misinformed.