Sammi Smith

Jewel Fay "Sammi" Smith (August 5, 1943 – February 12, 2005) was an American country music singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 1971 crossover hit "Help Me Make It Through the Night", which was written by Kris Kristofferson. She became one of the few women in the outlaw country movement during the 1970s.

Sammi Smith was born in Orange County, California, but spent her childhood in Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona and Colorado. She dropped out of school at the age of 11 and began to sing professionally in nightclubs. She was 15 when she married Floyd L. "Bobby" White, one of the best-known steel guitar players of his day. (White was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1990.) They had three children. She had her first divorce in 1966. She eventually had two more marriages. In 1967, Johnny Cash's bass player Marshall Grant discovered her singing in the Someplace Else Night Club in downtown Oklahoma City. After Grant's discovery, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee. When Johnny Cash learned of her talent, he helped her get signed with Columbia Records. Her first minor country hit was in 1968, titled "So Long, Charlie Brown, Don't Look for Me Around". In 1971, she married her second husband, Jody Payne. They had one child, singer/actor/musician Waylon Payne.

"Help Me Make It Through the Night" was Sammi Smith's career hit and the one that made her famous. She had been one of the rare women in the "outlaw country" movement sweeping country music in the 1970s. At this time, country was moving in two directions: "outlaw" and a more mainstream pop sound. However, "outlaw country" was short-lived, with country taking on a distinctly pop cast by the end of the 1970s. Smith remained with the "outlaw" sound throughout the 1970s.

In 1970, Smith signed with a new label Mega Records and her first hit for her new label was called "He's Everywhere", which made the top 25 on the country charts. In 1971, she struck gold with "Help Me Make It Through the Night". The song immediately became a No. 1 hit on the country charts and No. 8 on the Billboard U.S. pop chart. It sold over two million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in April 1971. At first, record companies were uncomfortable with the song's honest sexuality, which was new for country music, but DJs tested the song and the response from listeners was enormous. The song had been composed by Kris Kristofferson, who had recorded the only other previous version of the song. After Smith's hit, the song was covered by Gladys Knight & the Pips and Elvis Presley; both versions achieved more modest chart success.

In 1972, Sammi Smith won a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance that year, and Kristofferson took songwriting awards.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.