Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers (March 21, 1929 – July 23, 1993)[1] was a Chicago blues guitarist and singer.
He was a member of Howlin' Wolf's backing band and worked with Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Bo Diddley, Ike Turner, J. T. Brown, Freddie King, Little Johnny Jones, Little Walter, and Willie Dixon.
[2][3] His younger brother, Abe (born Albert, January 2, 1939 – November 20, 2010), was the bluesman Little Smokey Smothers, with whom he is sometimes confused.
In the early part of the 1950s, Smothers played alongside his cousin Lester Davenport and with Arthur "Big Boy" Spires, Earl Hooker, Henry Strong, and Bo Diddley.
His album Smokey Smothers Sings the Backporch Blues, produced by Sonny Thompson, with Freddie King on lead guitar on some tracks, was released in 1962.