Joey ‘Pepe’ Smith, Pinoy rock icon, 71

MANILA, Philippines — The opening chords were simple enough: E major 7, A major 7. But little did Joey “Pepe” Smith know when he wrote Ang Himig Natin during a Rizal Park concert in the early years of martial law that the song would forever change the face of original Pilipino music.

The Pinoy rock icon died yesterday morning at an undisclosed hospital and will no longer rock you except in vinyl, CDs and dusty cassette tapes. He was 71.

“Everyone, we need your prayers for my Papa, Joseph Smith,” Daisy Smith-Owen posted an appeal on Facebook from Australia where she is based early yesterday morning.

Barely two hours later there was an update: “Thank you for everything, Papa Bear ko. Thank you for being the best dad in the world. I know you are in the best place now. No more pains, Papa. I will see you in a few days. I love you to the moon and back.”

True to his title, Pepe lived a colorful rather “rocky” life like most icons in his league, a roller-coaster life that went up and down, sometimes spinning out of control but which he always survived beautifully, thanks to his music.

Details of Pepe’s life will not be chronicled in this story, although most of it was dramatized in the 2014 movie “Above The Clouds” directed by his namesake, Pepe Diokno, starring Pepe Smith himself as the grandfather and Ruru Madrid as his grandson.

It was as if the rock star was living out the lyrics of one of his songs, Mamasyal sa Pilipinas: “Pupunta ako sa Baguio/para magpalamig ng ulo.”

“What I remember most about Piyaps (my favorite moniker for him) is his playfulness and the childlike way he saw the world,” Pepe Diokno told The STAR yesterday. “While shooting ‘Above the Clouds,’ we were traveling from Baguio to Sagada, and we had stopped somewhere in between. He got down from his van and I caught him looking at the majestic Mountain Province view with a pair of vintage binoculars – those tiny ones – and he kept saying, ‘Thank you, Lord. Thank you.’ He was so grateful to be alive and see that view. I’ll always remember this because it teaches me – and all of us – how to live. I’ll miss you, Piyaps. Maraming salamat for your music, your talent, your passion, you generosity. Your memory will always fill me with joy.”

Born Joseph William Feliciano Smith in Angeles City to a Filipino mother, Conchita Feliciano, and a US serviceman father, Edgar William Smith, Pepe was eight years old when his parents separated. After his mom died of hepatitis, Pepe and his brother Raymond were raised by their maternal grandmother in Kamuning, Quezon City.

At age nine, Pepe learned how to play the drums and at 11, he formed his own band called The Blue Jazzers with his friends in Kamuning as members, later changing the band’s name to The Villains and then to The Surfers when they played in Vietnam for six months during the war.

It didn’t take long before Pepe became known as The Mick Jagger of the Philippines, after the vocalist of the Rolling Stones that Pepe idolized. With a new band called The Downbeats, Pepe and the members front-acted for the Beatles’ July 1966 live concert at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

At the start of the ’70s Smith was with Asian super band Speed, Glue and Shinki that played gigs in Japan and released a now collectible LP – long-playing record as it was called then.

In the same decade, Pepe joined the Pinoy rock group Juan dela Cruz as lead vocalist and drummer, together fellow legendary rockers Wally Gonzalez (guitar) and Mike Hanopol (bass). It was the band that paved the way for Pinoy rock bands in the country, honing their chops mostly in seedy dives in Olongapo City and Angeles frequented by American servicemen.

Among the band’s classic songs were Himig Natin, Beep Beep, Balong Malalim, Maskara, Titser’s Enemy No. 1, Kagatan, No Touch, Panahon, Divisoria, Nakatagong Mata, Rock & Roll sa Ulan, Rock & Roll sa Mundo and many more.

Their concert at the old University of the Philippines theater resulted in a live album, “In Session,” featuring songs like Kagatan and Summer Wind and ushered in the age of jeproks, or hiping kulelat (hippie come lately).

In a 2011 interview in The STAR, Pepe’s daughter Sanya said of her father, “Pepe is a cool dad and astig in a funny and fatherly way. In his children’s eyes, Pepe is the perfect package.”

Ramon Jacinto, founder of dzRJ, the country’s rock ‘n’ roll radio station, said, “Pepe Smith lived the life of a true rocker, performing music for the love of it, not just for the money. Pepe always said he was inspired, always listened to and supported dzRJ as the radio station that gave many Pinoy rock artists their first on the air exposure, thereby legitimizing the music of the streets. dzRJ coined the word Pinoy Rock. Pepe and I helped each other carry the banner of ROCK N ROLL and he never refused any request of mine to perform in concerts and vice versa. I am happy I performed in his last concert at Amoranto. I will surely miss Pepe and his golden heart. Watch out for tributes to PEPE on RJTV and RJFM as we have a lot of his work and interviews captured on video in our archives.”

As of press time, it was not yet announced where the wake would be and when Pepe will be laid to rest. – With Juaniyo Arcellana