Smith’s counterpart is now in the able hands of Gary Carter – “the man who’s keeping the steel guitar alive,” Smith proclaims. I often say she has pedals in her throat – she’s part steel guitar.” Smith agrees: “If I were an instrument, I’d want to be a steel guitar.” She can pull you up out of your chair with some of those notes she bends. “She says Weldon gave her the Connie Smith sound. “ “Connie is one of the best friends the steel guitar has ever had,” according to Stuart. It fills up and makes a complete circle out of the sonic proceedings.” Their version of Mel Tillis’ “All the Time” is a case in point.Īnother key element of Smith’s sound is the steel guitar, handled for years by studio stalwart Weldon Myrick (1938-2014), beginning with his first session: her “Once a Day. “Connie’s voice covers that upper register so naturally, and Pig puts a foundation under her, that left hand of his is just gargantuan. “The truth is neither one of them has ever varied from who they are and what they do,” he says. “I try and do it from my heart because if you don’t, it don’t mean anything.” Stuart says the bond runs deep between Connie and Robbins – “her secret weapon” – both inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012. “It’s just the way I get my heart out,” she says. The way he plays just lifts me up and I feel more when Pig’s playing.” And for Connie Smith, singing is all about feeling. “I love the depth and timbre of his playing. “I sing better when Pig’s playing,” Smith confesses. “I heard ‘A Million and One,” Stuart says, “and it’s like, “ Ah, there’s the start of a record!” Seven years later, the gut-punching track kicks off The Cry of the Heart with that soul-stirring Smith voice, a cappella, before being joined by musical titans.Īmong them: king of the Nashville A-team, pianist Hargus “Pig” Robbins, who’s accompanied Smith since the mid-sixties. On an episode broadcast in 2014 – during its eighth and final season – Connie joined Marty and his band the Fabulous Superlatives onstage for “A Million and One,” a 1966 hit for her fellow Grand Ole Opry member Billy Walker. In addition to the new composition by the songwriter whom Stuart calls Connie’s “muse that makes it all spark” – she’s cut 72 Frazier songs to date – another tipping point was a live track from The Marty Stuart Show. One day, a Dallas Frazier song drifted in, and all of a sudden she had that look in her eye, and it was time to go!” What was it about Frazier’s “I Just Don’t Believe Me Anymore” “The words to that song and the way the melody sweeps,” Smith says, “I think it’s just a perfect song!” “She makes a record when she’s ready and nothing pushes her in that direction until she’s in the mood and space to do it and the songs are right. “Here’s what I learned about loving and living and working with Connie,” Stuart explains. Now, the powerful new Cry of the Heart marks the couple’s third classic-country collaboration, and Smith’s first album in a decade. They not only made a great album, they fell in love and married another well-received Stuart-produced Smith LP followed in 2011. But Smith takes her time and makes her public wait: First, after a decade of stardom, she stepped back to raise her five children, before returning to the studio in the late ‘90s with master musician, recording artist, and producer Marty Stuart. The RCA single, recently selected by the Library of Congress for its National Song Registry, set the template for Smith’s aching contralto that still sends chills down the spine, all these decades later. The deeply emotive vocal style of Connie Smith has never wavered since her national debut in 1964 with the smash C&W hit, “Once a Day” – a chart-topper for eight weeks. Dolly Parton and the late George Jones and Merle Haggard have all sung her praises.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |