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If you are a TRUE country music lover of
a certain age, think back with me a moment. If you had to name
someone off the top of your head in terms of a male artist who
dominated country charts through the 60's, the person you were
most likely to hear when you turned on the Philco AM car radio,
or from your local diner/laundromat/pool hall's nifty old card-flipping-2-inch-thick-
button jukebox, would probably be Buck Owens, with his 8 billion
#1 songs from that era. Now think what the female equivalent
of this would be, and you may very well pick . . . "Connie
Smith."
Her rise was staggeringly meteoric. One
day she was a young lady who thought she'd try her luck in Nashville,
and was blessed to be given the song "Once A Day."
5 weeks later she was the proud singer of the TOP song of the
year, and an already classic fixture on the Grand Old Opry. Yet,
for someone who went from nobody to top phenomenon in 5 scant
weeks, after a wonderful career and many other classic songs
such as "The Hurtin's All Over," she just chose to
fall off the face of the earth. Not from drugs or burn-out or
any of those other common super-career reasons. She raised her
kids until they were grown instead.
This reviewer, who worshiped the memory
of her previous work (and even has a karaoke trophy for "Once
A day" to prove it), and her occasional appearances on specials,
couldn't wait to get this album. The one square millimeter of
trepidation I had - Is this as good as the old stuff? Did she
get good material? - was BLOWN AWAY, bigger than a clay pigeon
at a trap shoot, as soon as she opened her mouth on the first
song. And while the opening cut isn't a mopey, sad song, yours
truly again WEPT for a brief moment before I turned my stereo
up to ear-battering levels and started dancing about my house.
Wept threefold I did - for the nostalgia of remembering listening
to sounds like this in my parent's old truck (on said Philco
AM radio) on the way to Grandma's, for just how damn good music
makes me feel, and finally, wept because I bet this album doesn't
stand a chance for the retarded modern country DJ who might not
even have a clue WHO Connie Smith is - much less play any of
these stunning 10 tracks enough to make them a hit.
After all of this preaching, there isn't
much to say about these 10 songs without being repetitive. "How
Long" was written by the artist with her husband/producer
Marty Stuart (a dandy purveyor of REAL country music in his own
right), along with the Dean of Songwriters, Harlan Howard. Needless
to say the song is not only a masterpiece, its rhythm even wonderfully
recalls her perennial "Once A Day." The only song on
the album NOT co-written by Ms. Smith is the should-be-classic
"You Can't Take Back a Teardrop." All of the songs
are gloriously produced, staggeringly sung and absolute gems.
To go through all the other eight tracks would be superfluous
(Just RUN and get this ALBUM!! PLEASE!!!), but some lyrics stand
out as to why this album is so quintessentially classic, pure,
wonderfully REAL country music that noting them should hammer
the point home. From "Love's Not Everything" is the
stunning "It's just a crazy dream that breaks your heart
in two/ And if that's what true love brings/ Then Love's Not
Everything." From the stunning final cut, an almost folky
sounding story song entitled "A Tale From Tahrarrie,"
" Mother oh mother/ He asked for my hand In the Fall/ But
oh mother/ You said child to be wary/ When a sweet talking man
comes to call."
These 10 cuts are a stunning triumph for
all of country music. Perhaps Dolly Parton's quote sums it all
up. "There's really only three female singers in the world:
Streisand, Ronstadt and Connie Smith. The rest of us are only
pretending." And I admire you Pam, I worship you Reba, I
love you Tanya, and I love you too Dolly, but after listening
to this I think maybe you're right.
I don't know who needs to buy this album
more - people who love real country music, or people who have
only listened to country since the early 80's and THINK they
know what country music is all about. Oh well, forget that dilemma!
ALL of you go buy it. Now! Immediately! PLEASE!!
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