8th April 2023
MY FRIEND NEIL’S 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
On the 7th April 2013 I received the news that my friend Neil ‘Smithy’ Smith had passed away.
It was typical of Smithy that he put me in a compromising situation, because I had to make the choice of flying down to Sydney from up here in Queensland, or negotiate the buying of the property where I now live: I would have had to sacrifice the purchase to afford the cost of travel and accommodation.
Two weeks prior to his passing I had phoned him with Birthday wishes and also to see how he was going as he had been diagnosed with cancer at least twelve months before.
Always the optimist, he told me he had it beat and changed the subject.
Unbeknown to me, a group of well wishers, supporters and fans had invited him to the stage to do a couple of AC/DC songs for his birthday: Neil was the original bass player with the band before they hit the world stage.
At his birthday bash, he had to be assisted to the stage and was full of pain killers, I found out later.
Neil’s Last Birthday Bash:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZaiAYHT7Jo
THE HISTORY:
My neighbour back then Glen was Albino and went to a live-in Catholic blind school a few suburbs away. It was here that Glen met Neil and on weekends when the boys could go home, Glen chose to assist Neil on the train trip to Neil’s home, south of Sydney: Neil was colour blind and on more than one occasion nearly got killed at a pedestrian crossing because he couldn’t tell red from green.
After leaving the blind school and attending a regular Catholic school in our area Glen became more accessible and so I got to see him more.
It was Glen who taught both Neil and myself how to play guitar and from that, we formed a band. Glen played lead, Neil rhythm and I played bass. A friend within Smithy’s circle joined us as drummer and in the late sixties we played dances in the shadow of the Beatles style of music, mostly around the southern Sydney area.
After I left the band due to work commitments, Neil became the bass player but when the drummer left, both Neil and Glen took up jobs as musicians in other people’s bands.
Neil, Glen and I remained friends until I moved to Queensland where I had no phone service and where my only means of contact was emails and internet: The communication was almost impossible for Glen. I lost contact with Glen, but after getting a phone service, was able to rekindle phone connection with Neil.
Many a night I was woken by Neil with the latest of a string of jokes or news of some kind. He needed to talk as it was a way he sorted out thoughts and answered his own questions.
He started up a shop for musicians at the old Supermarket complex in Neutral Bay selling guitars and amplifiers etc on consignment and did extremely well.
He also became an agent for a paint called Rock Hard, thought I know very little about that side of his life.
So it was that when he passed away ten years ago today/tomorrow, a part of me died with him.
He came to me psychically the week after his death in a state of euphoria, saying he had never felt so Free and Easy: The name I used for my later duet with another musician.
With his death came a mountain of condolence messages, news reports and video clips of when Neil played with both AC/DC and another band Rose Tattoo. I’ve put links below for those wanting to view his popularity.
Here are some of those messages from on line sites, starting with his death notice:
SMITH, Neil Stanley.
Passed away on April 7, 2013. Late of Freshwater. Aged 63 years. Loved father of Vaughan, Adam, Jorja and Allyson. Also remembered by Tanya and Judy. Cherished brother of Doug, Rosemary and Peter.
Family and friends are warmly invited to a Mass of Christian Burial for NEIL at St Marys Catholic Church, Whistler Street, Manly, on Friday (April 12, 2013) at 10.30 a.m.
Malcolm Young AC/DC:
I will miss Neil all the way back from AC/DC playing at Victoria Park in 1973 and all the rehearsals.
We worked hard trying to be rock stars and Neil was very much a good mate then and helped us form the group and our direction.
How did we ever fit Noel Taylor’s helmet on his big head?
I remember he forgot his dark glasses that day at Victoria Park.
He hated the helmet idea but we went with it and the crowed roared from atop the pool house roof. Over the years I’ve often recalled that day in 1973.
RIP Neil.
Duncan & Julie:
God’s just been sold a second hand Jands touring concert rig!! On ya Smithie 🙂 the biz will be quieter without you mate.
Unknown Contributor:
Smithie will paint the outside of god’s house with “Rockhard” paint (Neils’s private company) and the PA system in heaven will have no problems from this point forward! We will miss you here.
Vale Neil Smith: https://www.cxnetwork.com.au/vale-neil-smith/
LINKS TO SPECIFIC BLOGS:
Sam’s Story
Split Soul System
Other Links Of Interest:
My email address: petesyc@gmail.com
Eric Leigh Pink: https://worldwidepredictions.com/
Allie Dreams Down Under: https://www.youtube.com/c/EllieDreamsDownUnder
On The Light Path, The Road Forward 