J. Smith (3:07)

J. Smith was the first song to be released from Travis’ sixth studio album Ode To J. Smith, regardless of the fact that it was not released as an official single. The song was released as a vinyl LP limited to 1000 copies, along with the tracks Get Up and Sarah on 30 June 2008. The song reached #1 in the BBC UK Indie charts on July 6, something unprecedented due to the low amount of vinyls pressed.

Fran Healy, the lead singer of Travis explained on Travis’ official website about the writing of J. Smith. He says, ” came from nowhere. The strange thing was, I knew immediately these chords were important in some way… When Neilly [Neil Primrose, the band’s drummer] arrived I played the chords and he played along and instantly played the pattern. It is the best drum line Neilly has ever done… Dougie, [Dougie Payne, bassist] then picked up the bass line like he’d been practising it all week… There isn’t a bit of fat on the song. Every note, every beat, is perfect.” He also adds that Paul McCartney and Luke Pritchard both complimented the song when they first heard it.