Joseph Coleman Smith (May 17, 1934 – September 5, 1998), who performed and recorded under the name Sonny Knight, was an American singer, songwriter and author.
He enrolled at Los Angeles State College intending to pursue an academic career, but became interested in the music business and, according to one source, visited the Mesner brothers at Aladdin Records to sell them a song, "Vicious, Vicious Vodka", that he had written for his idol, Amos Milburn;[1] Milburn recorded the song in 1954.
[1] After a couple more unsuccessful singles, recorded again as Sonny Knight, producer Robert "Bumps" Blackwell partnered him with songwriter Dorinda Morgan.
[1][9] It was based on his own experiences in the music business in the 1950s, and received generally good reviews, remaining in print for over 25 years.
But.. driven by its bitterness, Smith's story runs away from itself..."Knight died in Hawaii in 1998 at the age of 64, following a stroke two years earlier.