The Best of Sammi Smith [Varese]

by Sammi Smith

Overview

Sammi Smith was a difficult singer to categorize. Straddling the line between lush country-pop and idiosyncratic outlaw country, she didn't belong to either world, which didn't effect the quality of her music but at times could mean that she slipped through the cracks between critical acclaim and commercial sales. She didn't want either, but neither arrived at the level she deserved, as Varese Sarabande's excellent 1996 compilation The Best of Sammi Smith illustrates. Smith's big break came in 1971 with her rendition of Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through the Night." The song had been kicking around for several years and had been recorded many times before Smith's aching, wearily sensual version finally made it a crossover smash, bringing it to number one on the country charts and within the sights of the top of the pop charts. Her version wasn't just a hit, its production -- which managed to feel rich and opulent while retaining country grit and sexiness -- provided the template for the rest of her work on Mega, where she was given lush, layered arrangements that managed to place her husky yet nuanced vocals front and center. Which is right where they should be, since Smith's interpretations were original and unpredictable, finding new spins on familiar material (her take on "Long Black Veil" is one of the eeriest cuts; "City of New Orleans" doesn't sound shopworn in her hands; she turns the tables on Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again"; just when you think she's a little low-key, she cuts a mean rug on the Bob Wills standard, "My Window Faces the South") and cutting definitive versions of songs by writers like Kristofferson, Dallas Frazier, Wayne Carson, and Shel Silverstein, among others. As a vocalist, she was on par with anybody in the outlaw movement, but her music, as exploratory as it was, was closer to country-pop, which meant that some didn't give her the credit she deserved at the time. This collection restores her reputation by putting those Mega sides back in print (along with a couple of subpar singles cut for Cyclone in 1979) and proving that Smith was one of the most interesting female country voices of the '70s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	10/22/1996
Label:	Var?Se Sarabande / Varese
UPC:	0030206557428
Rank:	56672

Tracks

1. Help Me Make It Through the Night
2. He's Everywhere
3. Then You Walk In
4. For the Kids
5. Kentucky
6. I've Got to Have You
7. The Toast of '45
8. I Miss You Most When You're Right Here
9. City of New Orleans
10. The Rainbow in Daddy's Eyes
11. Long Black Veil
12. Cover Me
13. Today I Started Loving You Again
14. My Window Faces the South
15. What a Lie
16. The Letter

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sammi Smith   Primary Artist,Vocals

Technical Credits

Gene Dobbins   Composer
David Malloy   Composer
Sammi Smith   Composer
Johnny Wilson   Composer
Sanger D. Shafer   Composer
Jim Malloy   Producer
Merle Haggard   Composer
Mitchell Parish   Composer
Marijohn Wilkin   Composer
Danny Dill   Composer
Terry Skinner   Composer
Kris Kristofferson   Composer
Richard Rodgers   Composer
Jerry Livingston   Composer
Abner Silver   Composer
Todd Everett   Liner Notes
Dallas Frazier   Composer
J.L. Wallace   Composer
Bill Walker   Arranger
Jim Casey   Composer
Jean Whitehead   Composer
John Virgin   Composer
Daniel Hersch   Remastering
Lisa Sutton   Art Direction
Vincent Matthews   Composer
Shel Silverstein   Composer
Steve Goodman   Composer
Bill Inglot   Producer
Bonnie Owens   Composer
Fred Foster   Composer
Cary E. Mansfield   Compilation Producer
Wayne Carson   Composer
Johnny Morris   Producer