Best Of Sammi Smith

Product Information

Sammi Smith wasn’t without a label for long and in 1969 signed to Mega Records. The label had just been founded that year by insurance executive Harry Pratt and Brad McCuen who previously was an executive at RCA. Their new label was the perfect platform for Sammi Smith, as music started to find a wider audience within the country music community. Help Me Make It Through The Night’ topped Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart for three weeks in 1971, peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100, won “Single of the Year” and the “Best Country Song” at the CMA awards, and a Grammy for “Best Country Vocal Performance by a Female”. Sammi’s voice would have been new to most listeners – its melancholic ache and sensuous depth suited the song’s needs perfectly. There was a compelling warmth to her voice that should have taken her out of country and into the Hot 100 – or even the UK charts – more than once, but her only real crossover moment came in 1971 when she scored the original hit version of ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’. DJ Ralph Emery recalled being in a motel room with Sammi one night in 1970 where she had sat and played him a whole bunch of Kris Kristofferson songs. At that point, neither the DJ nor Sammi had a clue what was around the corner for her, or for her friend Kristofferson, who was then just the janitor at Columbia Records. Filename C:\Rips\Sammi Smith - Looks Like Stormy Weather 1969-1975 (2022) [FLAC]\24 - Texas 1947.wav

Sammi SMITH - Looks Like Stormy Weather 1969-1975 CD at Juno Sammi SMITH - Looks Like Stormy Weather 1969-1975 CD at Juno

Sadly, Sammi Smith never crossed over into the mainstream and her music wasn’t heard by the wider audience it deserves. However, belatedly music fans are starting to discover the delights of her music, especially the seven albums she recorded for Mega Records between 1970 and 1975. They’re a reminder of Sammi Smith at the peak of her powers when she looked like she was going to become one of the giants of country music and go on to forge a career in mainstream music. Sadly, that remained tantalisingly out of reach for the late Sammi Smith who died on February the ’12th’ 2005 aged just sixty-one. Ace Records new compilation It Looks Like Stormy Weather 1969-1975 is a fitting tribute to a truly talented and much loved singer who effortlessly breathed life, meaning and emotion into soul-baring confessionals as she brought the powerful and poignant lyrics to life.

Release

Help Me Make It Through The Night " a été en tête du classement des meilleurs singles country de Billboard pendant trois semaines en 1971, a atteint la troisième place du classement Hot 100 de Billboard, a remporté le titre de " single de l'année " et de " meilleure chanson country " aux CMA Awards, ainsi qu'un Grammy pour la " meilleure performance vocale country par une femme ". La voix de Sammi aurait été nouvelle pour la plupart des auditeurs - sa douleur mélancolique et sa profondeur sensuelle convenaient parfaitement aux besoins de la chanson.

SAMMI SMITH-IT LOOKS LIKE STORMY WEATHER 1969-1975. SAMMI SMITH-IT LOOKS LIKE STORMY WEATHER 1969-1975.

Filename C:\Rips\Sammi Smith - Looks Like Stormy Weather 1969-1975 (2022) [FLAC]\18 - I Miss You Most When You're Right Here.wav Sammi Smith sang soulful, melancholy country music. Her low, distinctively husky voice was built for sad songs, and she has been described as country music’s Dusty Springfield. Compiled and annotated by Bob Stanley, “Looks Like Stormy Weather” is a collection built for winter nights. In March 1970, Ray Price placed a bizarrely jaunty version of Help Me Make It Through The Night on his 'For The Good Times' LP, but it had yet to be released when Smith made her recording, so it's unclear where Smith heard it. Kristofferson was in her circle, so it's possible that he pitched it to her. After Smith came to Nashville from her home in California in 1967, Frank Jones signed her to Columbia. One year after Columbia dropped her, Brad McCuen signed her to Mega Records. McCuen had been with RCA since 1948, but when his mentor, Steve Sholes, died, McCuen was let go. Mega had no shortage of money for a start-up. McCuen hired engineer Jim Malloy to produce Sammi Smith's and Mega Records' first LP in May 1970. Looks Like Stormy Weather” includes the best of Sammi’s three early Columbia singles, the Bobbie Gentry-like ‘Brownsville Lumberyard’. As a bonus, it also features a pair of previously unissued songs in ‘Desperados Waiting For A Train’ and ‘Texas 1947’, both written by the great Guy Clark. Share Filename C:\Rips\Sammi Smith - Looks Like Stormy Weather 1969-1975 (2022) [FLAC]\03 - This Room For Rent.wav

Tracklist

A year after the release of her debut, Sammi Smith who had married second husband Jody Payne, returned with her sophomore album Lonesome in September 1971. Again, it was produced by Jim Malloy who brought about the best in country music’s rising star.