The "Fastest Girl Drummer In The World" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Mid-1950s and I remember watching this lady drummer perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in black and white on our small TV that sat on our living room table at 929 North Queen Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  My mom and dad just loved it, as did I.  Wasn't the first time she appeared on the show, having made several appearances which led to her signing an endorsement deal with Ludwig Drums and the Zildjian cymbal company.  I'm sure that most of you never heard of Viola Smith.

Viloa Smith as a member of her family's band.

She was born on November 29, 1912 in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin.  She had nine siblings, attended a rural schoolhouse and her father, Nicholas, ran a tavern and dance hall and played coronet professionally.  She grew up playing in a jazz band with her seven sisters which was known as the Schmitz Sisters Orchestra.  They performed at state fairs and toured the vaudeville circuit.  Eventually, most of her sisters married and left the band, but she continued on with another all-female band know as the Coquettes which rose to national fame in the 1930s.  Viola became the first female star of jazz drumming, performing at president Harry S. Truman's inauguration gala and worked with Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb.  Her showcase tune was a jazzy piece known as "Snake Charmer," in which she exhibited her virtuosity in a flashy solo.  Many called her the "female Gene Krupa" to which she would reply, "You mean he was the male Viola Smith. 

Then the bright lights of New York attracted her and she ended up studying timpani at the Julliard School and played with the snare drum virtuoso Billy Gladsone at Radio City Music Hall.  One night, a young Frank Sinatra talked about her during one of his performances which lead to more performances for her.  She eventually found a studio apartment in Midtown New York where she ended up living for 70 years.  It was during that time that she appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.  In 1966 she was a member of the Kit Kat Band that performed in the original production of "Cabaret."  After that performance ended she retired from performing and spent her time getting good at bridge.  

She later discovered that she was being hailed as a female pioneer of drumming which was a surprise to her.  "It's all amazing to me what I see now on the internet," she told "Tom Tom" drumming magazine.  In 2012 she moved to Southern California and lived there on a Christian commune in Costa Mesa, largely composed of older women, called the Piecemakers.  The origins of the group, which operates a country store that sells homemade quilts and crafts, dates to the 1960s.  Well, Viola Smith, the "fastest girl drummer in the world" died this past October 21 at her home in Costa Mesa at the age of 107.  It was said she had a drum stick in her hand when she died!  And, after reading about her, I remembered her from her performance on TV when I was a very young boy.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.