Looks Like Stormy Weather 1969-1975 (CD)

UK collection. Sammi Smith sang soulful, melancholy country music. Her low, distinctively husky voice was built for sad songs, and she has been described as country music's Dusty Springfield. Compiled and annotated by Bob Stanley, "Looks Like Stormy Weather" is a collection built for winter nights. There was a compelling warmth to her voice that should have taken her out of country and into the Hot 100 - or even the UK charts - more than once, but her only real crossover moment came in 1971 when she scored the original hit version of 'Help Me Make It Through The Night'. DJ Ralph Emery recalled being in a motel room with Sammi one night in 1970 where she had sat and played him a whole bunch of Kris Kristofferson songs. At that point, neither the DJ nor Sammi had a clue what was around the corner for her or for her friend Kristofferson, who was then just the janitor at Columbia Records. 'Help Me Make It Through The Night' topped Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart for three weeks in 1971, peaked at #3 on Billboard's Hot 100, won "Single of the Year" and the "Best Country Song" at the CMA awards, and a Grammy for "Best Country Vocal Performance by a Female". Sammi's voice would have been new to most listeners - it's melancholic ache and sensuous depth suited the song's needs perfectly. Now signed to the tiny Mega label, she would record seven albums for them between 1970 and 1975, and the pick of them are the heart of this compilation.

Track List

1. I'm in for Stormy Weather
2. Manhattan Kansas
3. This Room for Rent
4. Saunders' Ferry Lane
5. But You Know I Love You
6. I've Got to Have You
7. Brownville Lumberyard
8. The Good-For-Something Years
9. I Was Just Fifteen
10. Cover Me
11. Birmingham Mistake
12. Jimmy's in Georgia
13. Long Black Veil
14. He Makes It Hard to Say Goodbye
15. Then You Walk in
16. When Michael Calls
17. The Toast of '45
18. I Miss You Most When You're Right Here
19. Sunshine
20. Today I Started Loving You Again
21. He's Everywhere
22. Help Me Make It Through the Night
23. Desperados Waiting for a Train
24. Texas 1947