Sammi Smith

Sammi Smith (1970)

Sammi Smith / smɪθ / (born August 5, 1943 as Jewel Fay Smith in Orange , California ; † February 12, 2005 in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma ) was an American country singer who had her greatest success in the 1970s.

Life

Sammie Smith entered the professional music business at the age of twelve. She married for the first time when she was fifteen. The marriage had three children. She was discovered during one of her performances by Marshall Grant , the bassist in the Johnny Cash backing band Tennessee Three , who recommended that she go to Nashville .

She recorded her first single in 1968. Two years later she reached a top spot on the country charts for the first time with He's Everywhere . With the next song - Help Me Make It Through The Night , written by Kris Kristofferson - she achieved one of the greatest country hits of all time. The single sold more than two million copies and earned it a Grammy and numerous other awards.

The singer with the smoky voice was considered one of Nashville's most promising talents in the early 1970s. However, Smith did not manage to build on their great success. It produced medium hits for a number of years, including 1975 Today I Started Loving You Again , but never made it to the top. In 1973 she left Nashville and joined the outlaws around Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson , with whom she performed for a number of years. In 1972 their son Waylon Payne was born, who also became a singer.

In the 1980s she campaigned for Indian rights and adopted two Apache children. She founded the band Apache Spirit , but the commercial success failed.

She died on February 12, 2005 in Oklahoma City at the age of 61.

Albums

• 1970 Help Me Make It Through The Night
• 1971 - Lonesome
• 1971 - Something Old, Something New
• 1973 - The Toast Of '45
• 1974 - The Rainbow In Daddy's Eyes
• 1975 - Sunshine
• 1975 - Today I Started Loving You Again
• 1977 - Mixed Emotions
• 1978 - New Winds-All Quadrants
• 1979 - Girl Hero
• 1996 - Best Of Sammi Smith