 Born in Helena, Arkansas, Smith learned to play harmonica at age seventeen after moving to Chicago.Smith's influences included listening to 78's and the KFFA King Biscuit radio show, some of which were broadcast from Helena's Miller Theater, where he saw guitar player Joe Willie Wilkins, and harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson II.On a Chicago visit in 1953 his mother took him to hear Muddy Waters at the Zanzibar club, where Henry Strong's harp playing inspired him to learn that instrument.