''Connie Smith'' is the debut studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Connie Smith Connie Smith (born Constance June Meador; August 14, 1941) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Her contralto vocals have been described by music writers as significant and influential to the women of country music. A similarity h ...

. It was released in March 1965 on

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

and was produced by Bob Ferguson. The album included Smith's debut single, "

Once a Day "Once a Day" is a song written by Bill Anderson and recorded as the debut single by American country artist Connie Smith. It was produced by Bob Ferguson for her self-titled debut album. The song was released in August 1964, topping the ''Bil ...

". The song became her signature recording and biggest hit, reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' country songs chart. The album would also reach the top spot of the Top Country Albums chart in 1965, spending multiple weeks at the top of the chart. ''Connie Smith'' would be the start of a series of album releases by Smith on the RCA label for the next nine years.

Background and content

Connie Smith rose to country music stardom with the 1964 song "

". Penned by Bill Anderson, the disc topped the country chart and prompted her record label to release her debut studio album. The album was recorded at

RCA Studio B RCA Studio B was a music recording studio built in 1956 in Nashville, Tennessee by RCA Victor. Originally known simply as "RCA Studios," Studio B, along with the larger and later RCA Studio A became known in the 1960s for being an essential fac ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. Sessions were held between July and November 1964. The production for the album was performed by Bob Ferguson. It featured the background vocalists, The Anita Kerr Singers. Six of the songs on the album were written by singer-songwriter, Bill Anderson, including "Once a Day" and "Then and Only Then." Also included was Smith's cover of

Charlie Louvin Charles Elzer Loudermilk (July 7, 1927 – January 26, 2011), known professionally as Charlie Louvin, was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known as one of the Louvin Brothers, and was a member of the Grand Ole Opry ...

's " I Don't Love You Anymore". Additionally, singer and songwriter

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

composed the album's track, "Darling, Are You Ever Coming Home".

Release and reception

Smith's eponymous album was released in March 1965 on RCA Victor Records. It was the debut album in her career. It was issued as a

vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

album, with six tracks on each side of the record. ''Connie Smith'' peaked at number one on the

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales a ...

chart, spending 7 weeks on top of the albums chart, and 30 weeks overall. "Once a Day" was released in August 1964, and peaked at number one on November 28, spending eight weeks at the top spot. "Then and Only Then" was released as the follow-up single in early 1965, peaking within the Top 5 on the country charts. In addition, both songs also placed in the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

. A digital version of the original album was released in later years by

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

. The album was reviewed by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

and received five out of five stars. Reviewer, Dan Cooper called Smith's voice to be, "blowing through the Nashville Sound production like a down-home Streisand fronting The Lennon Sisters." Slipcue.com reviewed the album and gave it a positive review, calling the sound, "Nashville Girl Group at its best." The songs "Once a Day," "Tiny Blue Transistor Radio," and "I Don't Love You Anymore" as "classic examples of the style." The website later concluded by stating, "Them folks at the label could make a lot of people really happy if they just reissued this album whole, as is, and let us hear what Smith sounded like coming out the gate. A doozy."

Track listings

Original version

Digital version

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

of ''Connie Smith''. Musical personnel *

Harold Bradley Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Floyd Chance Floyd Taylor Chance (21 December 1925 – 11 April 2005), often credited as Lightnin' Chance, was an American session musician who played bass on many successful country and pop records, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. His bass playing can ...

– bass * Dorothy Dillard –

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

Ray Edenton Ray Quarles Edenton (November 3, 1926 – September 21, 2022) was an American guitar player and country music session musician. Early life Ray Edenton was born into a musical family on November 3, 1926, and grew up near Mineral, Virginia. His f ...

– guitar * Dolores Edgin – background vocals * Karl Garvin – background vocals * Priscilla Hubbard – background vocals *

Jerry Kennedy Jerry Glenn Kennedy (born 10 August 1940)Cusic, Don. (1998) "Jerry Kennedy". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, ed. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 277–278. is an American record producer, songwriter and guitar pla ...

– guitar *

Anita Kerr Anita Jean Kerr (née Grilli, October 13, 1927 – October 10, 2022) was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Eur ...

– background vocals * Jimmy Lance – guitar * Leonard Miller –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Weldon Myrick Weldon Myrick (born Weldon Merle Myrick; April 10, 1938 – June 2, 2014) was an American steel guitar player.steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

* Louis Nunley – background vocals * Harold Ragsdale – background vocals *

Hargus "Pig" Robbins Hargus Melvin Robbins (January 18, 1938 – January 30, 2022), known by his nickname "Pig," was an American session keyboard player. Having played on records for many artists, including John Stewart, Dolly Parton, Connie Smith, Patti Page, Lore ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

*Connie Smith - lead vocals, harmony vocals * William Wright – background vocals

Chart performance

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1965 debut albums Connie Smith albums Albums produced by Bob Ferguson (music) RCA Victor albums