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ADAPTED FROM TUNAY NA BUHAY
PRODUCED FOR THE WEB BY
AYA TANTIANGCO AND KAELA MALIG
JANUARY 31, 2019
PEPE ALWAYS SEEMED BIGGER than his body. It was not uncommon to see him wandering around the hip places in Makati like Poblacion, now Pobs to the kids, with women on either side of him. Still dressed in ripped jeans and a jacket that hid the frail structure of his body, Pepe always looked ready to party.
He was born Joseph William Feliciano Smith on Christmas Day, 1947, an auspicious date for someone who would grow up to be something of a patron saint of Pinoy rock.
By the age of nine, Pepe already had people marching to the beat of his drum. He formed his first band, The Blue Jazzers, when he was 11 and he kept making music for the rest of his life.
Rock ‘n roll was always the way for this tisoy. Lolita Carbon, the iconic vocalist for Asin, was witness to Pepe’s natural swagger.
“Well, si Pepe kasi hindi pa tumutugtog... hindi pa 'yan tumutugtog may dating na talaga as a, you know, as Pepe Smith ‘no,” Lolita says.
Early on as a member of Eddie Reyes and the Downbeats, Pepe reached unimaginable heights. His band opened for the Beatles in concert in 1966, a lanky figure on the stage rocking with a passion to rival the frontman of the Rolling Stones.
“Kita ko siya, tapos basta nag-front siya or nagpunta sa harapan, vumocal, parang si Mick Jagger, gano'n. Mismo talagang siya unang-una makikita. Tisoy pa ‘di ba, maporma talaga,” says Ammi Maranan, the drummer of Asin.
But while being branded the “Mick Jagger of the Philippines” is a compliment, Pepe was a true original, helping create a solid foundation for Pinoy rock.
It came, in large part, to a creative mind that took advantage of inspiration wherever it may strike.
At 24, Pepe wrote the famous Juan Dela Cruz Band anthem “Himig Natin” while at the toilet in around 15 or 20 minutes.
Mike Hanopol, his friend and bandmate with Juan Dela Cruz, says Pepe wasn’t rigid about the process. Not the type to sit down and write a song, Pepe would just let the music and the words come to him on the spot.
“Bago matulog ‘yan, music, makikinig,” Mike says. “‘Pag-gising, tugtugan na naman.”
DESPITE THE AMERICAN NAME and the tisoy features, Pepe never set foot in the United States growing up. He spent his childhood in Angeles, watching planes and developing his lifelong fascination for them.
Pepe was born to William Smith, a US serviceman who was absent for most of Pepe's life. Pepe remembers him as being a stern figure who didn’t hesitate to hit him with a belt as a form of “discipline.”
His mother, Conchita Feliciano, also faded from the picture too soon. She died of hepatitis, leaving Pepe in the care of his grandparents.
All these helped shaped Pepe into the complex figure: happy-go-lucky, rebellious, and loving, sometimes all at the same time.
Those closest to him describe him as kind and sweet. And his five kids — Queenie, Sanya, Beebop, Desiderata, and Delta — are effusive in their praise of Pepe as a good father.
“Mahal siya ng mga anak niya, ‘yon ang masasabi ko. Gusto ko lang linawin na may Pepe Smith na alamat, may Pepe Smith na tao,” his friend Apa Ongpin says.
“‘Yong pagkatao niya, napakamalambing at mabait na tao siya at malapit siya sa lahat ng mga anak niya.”
Other friends remember him for his good nature.
“I would say he had no mean bone in his body,” Ramon “RJ” Jacinto says of Pepe. “He had a childlike goodness. Tuwing nagre-request ako na magperform siya, palagi siyang nando’n.”
Pepe spoke to Howie Severino for the I-Witness documentary “Pepe’s Myth” in 2006, where he candidly shed light on his view of the world.
“Gagamitin mo ‘yong popularity mo, pare, that’s wrong. ‘Yong tipong, ‘Hoy, ako si Pepe Smith, give me that.’ Eh ano ngayon kung si Pepe Smith ka?”
MAKE NO MISTAKE about it though: Pepe lived the rock ‘n roll lifestyle. He always seemed to walk on the wild side, playing a set in war-torn Vietnam during the war, surviving a car accident, and having not one, not two, but three strokes.
Pepe also had a brush with the law. He served time in prison in the '90s for allegedly dealing drugs, something he had continued to vehemently deny. Though he has admitted to using narcotics, Pepe asserted that he never sold drugs.
It was perhaps a testament to Pepe that after his prison stint, he went right back to making music and rolling with life.
Aside from music, Pepe also dabbled in acting. He appeared in indie films like Pepe Diokno’s “Above the Clouds” and with his family in the GMA News TV series “The Smiths.”
But while his films were screened in film festivals around the world, all the other side projects are a footnote to his true legacy. As Ammi Maranan of Asin put it, “Ipinanganak niya ‘yong Pinoy rock eh.”
THE TRIBUTES POURED IN shortly after his daughter Daisy broke news of his death at age 71 on January 28.
Interestingly enough, with his health issues and rock ‘n roll lifestyle, people who have not been as clued in to his life had long been not entirely sure whether he has passed on.
As Howie Severino noted in “Pepe’s Myth” back in 2006, people have always been remarking, “Buhay pa ba si Pepe Smith?”
Nowadays, there’s a permanent answer to that question. But as his fellow music legends see it, the question itself is beside the point.
“Si Pepe hindi talaga patay in terms of a cultural energy,” Joey Ayala says. “Nandiyan na ‘yong ispirito niya, nandiyan na sa atin ‘yan.”
Lolita Carbon echoes the sentiment. "Hindi na talaga mabubura sa isip ng tao si Pepe Smith," she says.
Such is the nature of legends. They seem to exist in another dimension, where the parties are wild and the music never stops playing.
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