Sammi Smith

Jewel Fay "Sammi" Smith (August 5, 1943 – February 12, 2005) was an American country music singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 1971 crossover hit "Help Me Make It Through the Night", which was written by Kris Kristofferson. She became one of the few women in the outlaw country movement during the 1970s.

Early life Sammi Smith was born in Orange County, California, but spent her childhood in Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona and Colorado. She dropped out of school at the age of 11 and began to sing professionally in nightclubs. She was 15 when she married Floyd L. "Bobby" White, one of the best-known steel guitar players of his day. (White was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1990.) They had three children. She had her first divorce in 1966. She eventually had two more marriages. In 1967, Johnny Cash's bass player Marshall Grant discovered her singing in the Someplace Else Night Club in downtown Oklahoma City. At first, record companies were uncomfortable with the song's honest sexuality, which was new for country music, but DJs tested the song and the response from listeners was enormous. The song had been composed by Kris Kristofferson, who had recorded the only other previous version of the song. After Smith's hit, the song was covered by Gladys Knight & the Pips and Elvis Presley; both versions achieved more modest chart success.

In 1972, Sammi Smith won a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance that year, and Kristofferson took songwriting awards.

Critics David Cantwell and Bill Friskics-Warren called "Help Me Make It Through the Night" "a watershed event in the history of Nashville and country music" and placed it at No. 1 in their book Heartaches by the Number: Country Music's 500 Greatest Singles. "The dynamic country soul of the recording — thanks, for starters, to producer Jim Malloy and arranger Bill Walker — revealed the influences of a generation of Nashville music makers who had grown up listening not only to country music but also to rock & roll, jazz, pop, R&B, and even classical music," they wrote. "A crossover smash, 'Help Me Make It Through the Night' signaled country's belated arrival in the rock and soul era."

After "Help Me Make It Through the Night" After the success of her hit, Smith had more success on the country charts. In 1973, Sammi moved to Dallas, Texas, with Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson to become a country "outlaw". Smith had an ongoing friendship with Jennings and Nelson for the rest of her life.

Smith had success with the Mega Records label until 1975. She reached Billboard'''s Hot Country Singles Top 10 twice after the success of "Help Me Make It Through the Night" with "Then You Walk In" (1971) and Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again" (1975), her last top 10 hit. In 1972, "I've Got to Have You" was a successful country hit, and it broke onto the pop charts at No. 77. Smith continued to score Top 40 country hits like "The Rainbow in Daddy's Eyes" (1974) and "Long Black Veil" (1974).

Grammy Awards 1972: Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Help Me Make It Through the Night" 1998: Grammy Hall of Fame for "Help Me Make It Through the Night"

Award nominations CMA Awards 1971: Album of the Year for Help Me Make It Through the Night 1971: Female Vocalist of the Year