Connie's Country is the twelfth studio album by American country music artist, Connie Smith. The album was released in April 1969 by RCA Records and was produced by Bob Ferguson. It was Smith's first album release in 1969 and contained the single, "Ribbon of Darkness," which became a major hit.
Background
Connie's Country was recorded at the RCA Victor Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, between February 1967 and December 1968. The album consisted of twelve tracks of newly recorded material by Smith. Some of songs on the album were cover versions, including Perry Como's "Seattle", Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again", and Marty Robbins's "Ribbon of Darkness". The album was released on a 12-inch LP album, containing six songs on each side of the record. The album was reviewed by Allmusic, which gave it a rating of four and a half out of five stars,[2] a higher rating than her previous two albums in 1968 (I Love Charley Brown and Sunshine and Rain). In addition, unlike any of Smith's previous albums, none of the songs were written by Bill Anderson or Dallas Frazier, who had written many of Smith's previous hits.
Release
Connie's Country only released one single, her cover version of "Ribbon of Darkness." Released in February 1969, the song became a major hit in the United States, reaching #13 on the Billboard MagazineHot Country Songs chart, while also becoming her first #1 single on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart. The album itself also reached a peak position. Connie's Country reached a peak of #14 on the BillboardTop Country Albums chart upon its official release in 1969.[3]
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