"Cute 'N' Country" was what they called Connie Smith, and the description certainly fit. Her super-stardom in the 1960s was a storybook tale: a housewife from Ohio, she performed only as an amateur until she was discovered by Nashville songwriter Bill Anderson, and was quickly signed to RCA in 1964. From then on, her life was a string of #1 hit records, until she gradually dropped out of the Music City limelight, choosing to concentrate on her family and her religion. Smith has recently reemerged with a new album on Warner Records, co-produced with her new husband, country singer, Marty Stuart.
What's wonderful about the early stuff by Connie Smith is her unflaggingly rural voice -- she is a for-real country singer. Despite recording during the height of the Nashville Sound, and working in the midst of the most ornate countrypolitan studios, she hung onto the rough, twangy edges of her voice. Even more remarkable was the stylistic pairing of this country-girl voice with the girl-groupish perky pop arrangements from producer Bob Ferguson... the combination could have been disasterous, but instead it was heavenly. The world is still waiting for a proper Connie Smith retrospective -- but here's a look at what's out there for now...
Source: http://www.slipcue.com/music/country/countryartists/conniesmith.html
