The Essential Connie Smith

by Connie Smith

Overview

Connie Smith is perhaps the only female singer in the history of country music who can truly claim to be the heiress to Patsy Cline's throne. It's not that there aren't many amazing vocalists in the field, and plenty of legends among them. But in terms of the pure gift of interpretation of taking virtually any song and making it a country song of class and distinction, Smith is it. This collection, which covers the first eight years of her career from 1964, when she was "discovered" by Bill Anderson, to the turn of that decade in 1972, includes 20 tracks of pure honey and silk. Smith, who hails from Ohio, may not have the pedigree of Loretta Lynn or Tammy Wynette, but she nonetheless possesses that mercurial "thing" that Cline did: the ability to take the most blatantly country & western song and turn it into a thing that does not betray itself, yet has plenty of urban pop appeal. Here are the hits, "Once a Day," "Cry, Cry, Cry," "Burning a Hole in My Mind," "Just One Time," "I Never Once Stopped Loving You," "The Hurtin's All Over," "If It Ain't Love (Let's Leave It Alone)," and the amazing "Ribbon of Darkness" among them. The set ends with the great standard "How Great Thou Art," which is mindblowing in its rousing spirit. With classic production by Anderson and Bob Ferguson, this is one of the best collections in the RCA Essential series to come down the pike. The only problem is that once heard, the listener will be scouring the bins of used vinyl stores for all of Smith's classics. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	04/16/1996
Label:	Bmg / Sony Music / Sony Music Entertainment
UPC:	0886919808827
Rank:	45489

Tracks

1. Once a Day
2. Nobody But a Fool (Would Love You)
3. I Can't Remember
4. Cry, Cry, Cry
5. Then and Only Then
6. If I Talk to Him
7. Ain't Had No Lovin'
8. The Hurtin's All Over
9. I Never Once Stopped Loving You
10. You and Your Sweet Love
11. Cincinnati, Ohio
12. I'll Come Runnin'
13. Burning a Hole in My Mind
14. Run Away Little Tears
15. Ribbon of Darkness
16. Just One Time
17. Just for What I Am
18. Love Is the Look You're Looking For
19. If It Ain't Love (Let's Leave It Alone)
20. How Great Thou Art

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Connie Smith   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals

Technical Credits

Susan Eaddy   Art Direction
Connie Smith   Composer
Don Gibson   Composer
Ethel Gabriel   Producer
Jan Howard   Composer
Rose Lee Maphis   Composer
Dolores Edgin   Composer
Stuart K. Hine   Composer
Harlan Howard   Composer
Gordon Lightfoot   Composer
Bob Ferguson   Producer
Cy Coben   Composer
A.L. Owens   Composer
Shirley Wood   Composer
Dallas Frazier   Composer
Benny Quinn   Digital Remastering
Deb Mahalanobis   Design
Betty Anderson   Composer
Priscilla Mitchell   Composer
Wade Jessen   Liner Notes
Steve Lindsey   Compilation Producer
Bill Anderson   Composer