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Soul of Country Music

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Soul of Country Music
Studio album by
Connie Smith
ReleasedDecember 1967
RecordedMay 24–26, 1967
StudioRCA Victor Studio
GenreCountry[1]
Length31:33
LabelRCA Victor
ProducerBob Ferguson
Connie Smith chronology
The Best of Connie Smith
(1967) 		Soul of Country Music
(1967) 		I Love Charley Brown
(1968)

Soul of Country Music is the ninth studio album by American country singer Connie Smith. 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'" (1966) and "The Hurtin's All Over" (1967). These songs were fueled by the success of Smith's 1964 debut single "Once a Day", which spent eight weeks at the top of the country chart.[2] The RCA Victor and Camden labels had previously released eight studio albums and one compilation album of her material.[3] 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.[4] For the Soul of Country Music, RCA chose to bring Smith back to a "small group context again", according to writer Colin Escott. For the project, strings were removed and replaced by traditional country instrumentation, including the fiddle.[5]

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 and were overseen by producer Bob Ferguson.[6][7] The liner notes for the album were written by George Jones.[7][5] A total of 12 tracks comprised the project.[7] 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, Jack Greene's "There Goes My Everything", Glen Campbell's "Burning Bridges", Rex Griffin's "The Last Letter", Jean Shepard's "If Teardrops Were Silver", Warner Mack's "Surely" and Claude Gray's "Family Bible". It also included a cover of the Ames Brothers's "It Only Hurts for a Little While".[5][7] Wynn Stewart reached the top of country chart a week after Smith cut his single "It's Such a Pretty World Today".[5]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

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 had issued one studio album of her songs). The project was originally distributed as a vinyl LP, containing six songs on both sides of the record.[7] Decades later, it was re-released to digital and streaming sites through Sony Music Entertainment.[8] Soul of Country Music spent eighteen weeks on the American Billboard Top Country Albums chart, peaking at the number seven position in April 1968. It was Smith's final LP to place on the chart in her career.[9]

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.[10] Dan Cooper of AllMusic 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.[1]

Track listings

Vinyl version

Side one[7]
No.TitleWriter(s)Original artistLength
1."Don't Keep Me Lonely Too Long"Melba MontgomeryMelba Montgomery2:29
2."Surely"Peggy WhittingtonWarner Mack2:19
3."The Last Letter"Rex GriffinRex Griffin4:00
4."Burning Bridges"Walter ScottJack Scott2:31
5."I'm Your Woman"Jean ChapelJean Chapel2:41
6."There Goes My Everything"Dallas FrazierJack Greene2:54
Side two[7]
No.TitleWriter(s)Original artistLength
1."It Only Hurts for a Little While"
Ames Brothers2:08
2."Family Bible"
  • Walt Breeland
  • Paul Buskirk
  • Claude Gray
Claude Gray3:16
3."If Teardrops Were Silver"Don WayneJean Shepard2:09
4."Walk Through This World with Me"
  • Kay Savage
  • Sandy Seamons
George Jones2:20
5."It's Such a Pretty World Today"Dale NoeWynn Stewart2:22
6."Touch My Heart"
Ray Price2:13

Digital version

Soul of Country Music (download and streaming)[8]
No.TitleWriter(s)Original artistLength
1."Don't Keep Me Lonely Too Long"MontgomeryMelba Montgomery2:32
2."Surely"Peggy WhittingtonWarner Mack2:23
3."The Last Letter"GriffinRex Griffin4:04
4."Burning Bridges"Walter ScottJack Scott2:35
5."I'm Your Woman"ChapelJean Chapel2:45
6."There Goes My Everything"FrazierJack Greene2:57
7."It Only Hurts for a Little While"
  • David
  • Spielman
Ames Brothers2:12
8."Family Bible"
  • Breeland
  • Buskirk
  • Gray
Claude Gray3:20
9."If Teardrops Were Silver"Don WayneJean Shepard2:13
10."Walk Through This World with Me"
  • Savage
  • Seamons
George Jones2:23
11."It's Such a Pretty World Today"NoeWynn Stewart2:26
12."Touch My Heart"
  • Mayhew
  • Paycheck
Ray Price2:14

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the liner notes of Soul of Country Music[7] and the biography booklet by Colin Escott titled Born to Sing.[6]

Chart performance

Chart (1967–1968) Peak
position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[11] 7

Release history

Region Date Format Label Ref.
North America December 1967 Vinyl RCA Victor Records [7]
2010s
  • Music download
  • streaming
 Sony Music Entertainment [8]

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c Cooper, Dan. "Soul of Country Music: Connie Smith: Songs, reviews, credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  2. ^ Bush, John. "Connie Smith: Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  3. ^ Escott, p. 17-25.
  4. ^ Escott, p. 23-25.
  5. ^ a b c d Escott, p. 26.
  6. ^ a b Escott, p. 44.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Smith, Connie (December 1967). "Soul of Country Music (LP Liner Notes and Album Information)". RCA Victor. LSP-3889.
  8. ^ a b c "Soul of Country Music by Connie Smith". Apple Music. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Connie Smith chart history (Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  10. ^ "Album reviews: Country Spitlight". Billboard. Vol. 80, no. 1. January 6, 1968. p. 53.
  11. ^ "Connie Smith Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 9, 2022.

Books

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