The Essential Connie Smith

Compilation album by Connie Smith

Released

April 1996

Recorded

July 16, 1964 – April 11, 1972

Genre

Country, Nashville sound

Length

50:41

Label

RCA Records

Producer

Bob Ferguson (original sessions)
Ethel Gabriel
Steve Lindsey

Connie Smith chronology

Live in Branson, MO, USA
(1993)

The Essential Connie Smith
(1996)

Connie Smith Sings Her Hits
(1997)

The Essential Connie Smith is a compilation album by the American country artist Connie Smith. It was released in April 1996 by RCA Records and was produced by Bob Ferguson and Ethel Gabriel. The album is a collection of Smith's major hits between 1964 and 1972.

Background

The Essential Connie Smith contains twenty tracks of material that Smith had recorded for RCA Records. Of the tracks, nineteen were singles ("How Great Thou Art" was the only exception), including Smith's biggest hit, "Once a Day", which spent eight weeks at #1 on the Billboard Country Chart in 1964 and 1965. The album also includes Smith's other well-known hits such as, "Cry, Cry, Cry", "Burning a Hole in My Mind", "Just One Time", "I Never Once Stopped Loving You", "The Hurtin's All Over", "If It Ain't Love (Let's Leave It Alone)" and her cover version of Marty Robbins's "Ribbon of Darkness". The Allmusic critic, Thom Jurek, called the album's production "classic" and credited Smith's original producer, Bob Ferguson and country artist, Bill Anderson for making the compilation, "one of the best collections in the RCA Essential series to come down the pike".^[1]^[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[3]
CD Universe	^[4]

The Essential Connie Smith gained mainly positive reviews from music critics. The Allmusic reviewer, Thom Jurek gave the compilation five out of five stars, giving it the "album pick" from Smith's other compilations. Jurek praised Smith's voice, stating, "Connie Smith is perhaps the only female singer in the history of country music who can truly claim to be the heiress to Patsy Cline's throne. It's not that there aren't many amazing vocalists in the field, and plenty of legends among them. But in terms of the pure gift of interpretation of taking virtually any song and making it a country song of class and distinction, Smith is it." Jurek further said that all of the album's tracks were "pure honey and silk".^[1]

The album received a less positive review from Slipcue.com, which called it a "tepid retrospective". The reviewer said, "Yeah, it's got a few of the good ones on it, but not enough. If you've never heard Connie Smith before, and you're curious -- yes, this is pretty much the place to start."^[5] CD Universe gave it four and a half out five stars, saying, ""...The early, swinging sides have stood the test of time....and the closing `How Great Thou Art' points to her future born-again gospel career--as well as being a truly moving delivery of the song..."^[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Once a Day"	Bill Anderson	2:17
2.	"Nobody But a Fool (Would Love You)"	Anderson	2:30
3.	"I Can't Remember"	Anderson, Becki Anderson	2:29
4.	"Cry, Cry, Cry"	Shirley Wood	2:33
5.	"Then and Only Then"	Anderson	2:33
6.	"If I Talk to Him"	Dolores Edgin, Priscilla Mitchell	2:26
7.	"Ain't Had No Lovin'"	Dallas Frazier	2:27
8.	"The Hurtin's All Over"	Harlan Howard	2:49
9.	"I Never Once Stopped Loving You"	Anderson, Jan Howard	2:50
10.	"You and Your Sweet Love"	Anderson	2:54
11.	"Cincinnati, Ohio"	Anderson	2:11
12.	"I'll Come Runnin'"	Connie Smith	2:06
13.	"Burning a Hole in My Mind"	Cy Coben	2:23
14.	"Run Away Little Tears"	Frazier	2:29
15.	"Ribbon of Darkness"	Gordon Lightfoot	2:40
16.	"Just One Time"	Don Gibson	2:30
17.	"Just for What I Am"	Frazier, Arthur Leo Owens	2:26
18.	"Love Is the Look You're Looking for"	Rose Lee Maphis	2:11
19.	"If It Ain't Love (Let's Leave It Alone)"	Frazier	2:29
20.	"How Great Thou Art"	Stuart K. Hine	4:14

Personnel

Connie Smith – guitar, lead vocals

Technical personnel

Wade Jessen – liner notes
Deb Mahalannobis – design
Benny Quinn – digital remastering

References

1 2 Jurek, Thom. "The Essential Connie Smith > Review". allmusic. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
↑ "Charts & awards". allmusic. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
↑ Allmusic review
↑ CD Universe review
↑ "Connie Smith Discography - - Joe Sixpack's Guide to Hick Music". Slipcue.com. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
↑ "Essential Connie Smith CD". cd universe. Retrieved August 17, 2009.

Connie Smith

Albums Singles

Solo studio albums	Connie Smith Cute 'n' Country Miss Smith Goes to Nashville Connie Smith Sings Great Sacred Songs Born to Sing Downtown Country Connie Smith Sings Bill Anderson Soul of Country Music I Love Charley Brown Sunshine and Rain Connie's Country Back in Baby's Arms I Never Once Stopped Loving You Where Is My Castle Just One Time Come Along and Walk with Me Ain't We Havin' Us a Good Time If It Ain't Love and Other Great Dallas Frazier Songs A Lady Named Smith God Is Abundant That's the Way Love Goes I Never Knew (What That Song Meant Before) I Got a Lot of Hurtin' Done Today/I've Got My Baby On My Mind Connie Smith Sings Hank Williams Gospel Joy to the World The Song We Fell in Love To I Don't Wanna Talk It Over Anymore Pure Connie Smith New Horizons Connie Smith Long Line of Heartaches

Collaborative studio albums	Young Love Sunday Morning with Nat Stuckey and Connie Smith Love Never Fails

Other albums	Connie in the Country Love Is the Look You're Looking for Dream Painter Connie Smith Now Live in Branson, MO, USA

Compilation albums	The Best of Connie Smith The Best of Connie Smith, Vol. 2 My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own City Lights: Country Favorites Connie Smith's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 The Best of Connie Smith Greatest Hits on Monument The Essential Connie Smith Connie Smith Sings Her Hits

See also	Marty Stuart Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Grand Ole Opry RCA Victor Records

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