''Soul of Country Music'' is the ninth studio album by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

singer

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 December 1967 via RCA Victor and contained 12 tracks. The album included mostly covers of previously-recorded songs. It received mixed reviews from critics following its release and reached the top ten of the American country albums chart.

Background

Prior to the ''Soul of Country Music'', Connie Smith had reached peak career success with a series of top ten country singles like " Then and Only Then" (1965), " If I Talk to Him" (1965), "

Ain't Had No Lovin' "Ain't Had No Lovin'" is a single by American country music artist Connie Smith. Released in May 1966, the song reached #2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the U ...

" (1966) and " The Hurtin's All Over" (1967). These songs were fueled by the success of Smith's 1964 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 '' Bi ...

", which spent eight weeks at the top of the country chart. The RCA Victor and Camden labels had previously released eight studio albums and one compilation album of her material. The sessions held for these projects between 1966 and 1967 were backed by string instrumentation to provide a "middle of the road" pop-inspired sound. For the ''Soul of Country Music'', RCA chose to bring Smith back to a "small group context again", according to writer

Colin Escott Colin Escott (born August 31, 1949) is a British music historian and author specializing in early U.S. rock and roll and country music. His works include a biography of Hank Williams, histories of Sun Records and The Grand Ole Opry, liner note ...

. For the project, strings were removed and replaced by traditional country instrumentation, including the fiddle.

Recording and content

The sessions for the ''Soul of Country Music'' were held over the course of three days: May 24, May 25, and May 26, 1967. The recording sessions took place at the RCA Victor Studio, located in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

and were overseen by producer Bob Ferguson. 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 desc ...

for the album were written by

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

. A total of 12 tracks comprised the project. The album contained cover versions of songs first recorded by other performers. Its country covers were George Jones's "

Walk Through This World with Me ''Walk Through This World with Me'' is an album by American country music artist George Jones released in 1967 (see 1967 in country music) on the Musicor Records label. Background The song "Walk Through This World With Me" would become a number ...

Jack Greene Jack Henry Greene (January 7, 1930 – March 14, 2013) was an American country musician. Nicknamed the "Jolly Greene Giant" due to his height and deep voice, Greene was a long time member of the Grand Ole Opry. A three-time Grammy Award nomin ...

's " There Goes My Everything",

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting '' The Glen Campbell Good ...

's " Burning Bridges",

Rex Griffin Alsie "Rex" Griffin ( – ) was an American country musician and songwriter. Biography Early years Griffin was born in Gadsden, Alabama as the second of seven children to Marion and Selma Griffin. He grew up on a farm and received little scho ...

's " The Last Letter",

Jean Shepard Ollie Imogene "Jean" Shepard (November 21, 1933 – September 25, 2016) was an American honky-tonk singer-songwriter who pioneered for women in country music. Shepard released a total of 73 singles to the Hot Country Songs chart, one of which ...

's " If Teardrops Were Silver", Warner Mack's "Surely" and

Claude Gray Claude Gray (born January 26, 1932) is an American country music singer-songwriter and guitar picker best known for his 1960 hit "Family Bible," which has been covered by many different artists. Gray's other hit, "I'll Just Have Another Cup Of ...

's "

Family Bible Family Bible may refer to: * Family Bible (book), a Bible handed down through a family * Family Bible (Willie Nelson album), ''Family Bible'' (Willie Nelson album), 1980 * Family Bible (song), "Family Bible" (song), a song written by Willie Nelson ...

". It also included a cover of the

Ames Brothers The Ames Brothers were a singing quartet, consisting of four siblings from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop music hits. Biography The Urick brothers were born in Malden, Massachusetts. ...

's " It Only Hurts for a Little While".

Wynn Stewart Winford Lindsey Stewart (June 7, 1934 – July 17, 1985), better known as Wynn Stewart, was an American country music performer. He was one of the progenitors of the Bakersfield sound. Although not a huge chart success, he was an inspiration t ...

reached the top of country chart a week after Smith cut his single "

It's Such a Pretty World Today "It's Such a Pretty World Today" is a popular song released in 1967, written by songwriter Dale Noe. Wynn Stewart version The song was originally a country music single by singer Wynn Stewart. Although Stewart had previously hit the Top 40 on th ...

Release and reception

''Soul of the Country Music'' was first released in December 1967 on the RCA Victor label. It was the ninth studio collection of Smith's music career and her eighth with RCA Victor (

RCA Camden The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westin ...

had issued one studio album of her songs). The project was originally distributed 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 ...

, containing six songs on both sides of the record. Decades later, it was re-released to digital and streaming sites through

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 Entertainmen ...

. ''Soul of Country Music'' spent eighteen weeks on the American '' Billboard''

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 ...

chart, peaking at the number seven position in April 1968. It was Smith's final LP to place on the chart in her career. The album received mixed reviews following its release. ''Billboard'' magazine criticized Smith's delivery and the album's production. "Except for one song–"It Only Hurts for a Little While"–the rest of the songs on this album sound sound as if Connie Smith wasn't too interested in them when she recorded them. Perhaps one should blame her producer for not demanding her best effort," the publication commented. Dan Cooper of

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 databa ...

gave the album three out of five stars. "More of the same unearthly sound, but this has Smith covering -- at times burying -- other singers' hits. Her version of Rex Griffin's 'The Last Letter' is almost literally to die for," he stated.

Track listings

Vinyl version

Digital version

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the

of ''Soul of Country Music'' and the biography booklet by Colin Escott titled ''Born to Sing''. Musical personnel * 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 us ...

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 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 strin ...

Buddy Harman Murrey Mizell "Buddy" Harman, Jr. (December 23, 1928 – August 21, 2008) was an American country music session musician. Career Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Harman played drums on over 18,000 sessions for artists such as Elvis Presley, Jerry ...

– drums * Russ Hicks – steel guitar * Priscilla Hubbard – background vocals *

Roy Huskey Jr. Roy Milton Huskey (December 17, 1956 – September 6, 1997) was a prominent American upright bass player in country music from Nashville, Tennessee. Huskey performed alongside musicians such as Chet Atkins, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Vince ...

– bass * Louis Nunley – background vocals * Charles Justice – fiddle * Dean Porter – guitar *

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, Lor ...

–

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 keybo ...

* Connie Smith – lead vocals * Lamar Watkins – guitar * William Wright – background vocals Technical personnel * Bob Ferguson – Producer * George Jones – Liner Notes * Jim Malloy – Engineer

Chart performance

Release history

References

Footnotes

Books

* {{Authority control 1967 albums Albums produced by Bob Ferguson (music) Connie Smith albums RCA Victor albums