Bob Smith & the Common People (R. Harlan Smith)

Robert Harlan Smith (born November 6, 1939 in Central Butte, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian country music singer, record producer and record label executive. He is known as a founder of the Canadian country music label Royalty Records, and for his performances and recordings both as a solo artist and as a duo with his wife Chris Nielsen.

Moving to Edmonton in the early-1960s he formed his first small band under his original name Bob Smith. The band was called Two Sharps and a Flat.

In 1967 Bob Smith decided to form a country band known as Bob Smith and the Common People. The band consisted of Bob Smith - vocalist & rhythm guitar, Bob Clarke (of Wes Dakus and the Rebels fame) – band leader & lead guitar, Ray Martineau – drums, Ray Norman – bass. Bob Smith and the Common People became one of Alberta’s most popular bands,

He is a two-time Juno Award nominee for Best Country Male Vocalist at the Juno Awards of 1977 and the Juno Awards of 1979, and Smith and Nielsen were nominated together as Best Country Group or Duo at the Juno Awards of 1981. He was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame as a builder in 2005.