Pure Connie Smith is the thirtieth studio album by American country music artist Connie Smith. The album was released in November 1977 on Monument Records and was produced by Ray Baker. It was Smith's first album for the Monument label, after leaving Columbia Records earlier in the year.
| Pure Connie Smith | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1977 | |||
| Studio | Woodland Sound Studios and Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville, Tennessee | |||
| Genre | Country pop | |||
| Length | 28:34 | |||
| Label | Monument | |||
| Producer | Ray Baker | |||
| Connie Smith chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Pure Connie Smith | ||||
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Background
Pure Connie Smith contained ten tracks of new material. The only cover version included on the release was Dottie West's top-20 single "When It's Just You and Me". The album was recorded in a different format than any of Smith's previous albums; most of its material had a softer country pop sound. After signing with Monument in 1977, Smith's musical style moved towards not only country pop, but also slow tempo adult contemporary and upbeat disco. Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine reviewed Smith's 1993 compilation Greatest Hits on Monument (which included three songs from Pure Connie Smith) and criticized her musical sound under Monument, stating, "This is commercial music that doesn't really work. It has a state-of-the-art production that dates instantly, walks the line between crossover pop and country-pop rather clumsly [sic], and lacks good material."[1]
Slipcue.com reviewed Pure Connie Smith and gave it a more positive review, calling the album Smith's "swinger album" and further explaining that the album had a "much looser, casual sense of morality in evidence".[2] The release was issued on a 12-inch LP album, with five songs on each side of the record.[3]
Release
Pure Connie Smith only spawned one single. The album's first track, "Coming Around", was released as a single in March 1977, only becoming a minor hit in the United States. The song peaked outside the top 40, reaching number 58 on the Billboard Magazine Hot Country Songs chart shortly after its release.[4] Pure Connie Smith itself failed to chart on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, as all of Smith's albums for the label "stiffed" according to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic.[1]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Coming Around" | Red Lane | 2:27 |
| 2. | "That's What Loving You Can Do" | Don Gibson | 2:10 |
| 3. | "Don't Treat Me Like a Stranger" | Dave Loggins | 2:55 |
| 4. | "Scrapbook" | Tupper Saussy | 3:52 |
| 5. | "Every Move You Make (Is Saying Goodbye)" | Steve Collom | 2:30 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "It Pleases Me to Please You" | Dave Loggins | 3:20 |
| 2. | "I Don't Want to Be Free" | Paul Craft | 2:15 |
| 3. | "When It's Just You and Me" | Kenny O'Dell | 3:39 |
| 4. | "You and Love and I" | Sanger D. Shafer, Warren Robb | 2:45 |
| 5. | "Lovin' One Day at a Time" | Kenny Walker | 2:41 |
Track listing
- Grady Martin, Jerry Stembridge, Reggie Young, Robert Thompson, Ray Edenton, George Jackson — guitars
- Bob Moore, Tommy Cogbill, Leon Rhodes — bass
- Lloyd Green — steel guitar
- Kenny Buttrey, Kenny Malone — drums
- Charlie McCoy — harmonica
- Shane Keister, Ron Oates — piano
- Sheldon Kurland, Carl Gorodetzky, Roy Christensen, Steven Maxwell Smith, Virginia Christensen, Samuel Terranera, Marvin D. Chantry, Gary Vanosdale, John Allan Catchings, Ann R. Migliore, Lennie Haight, George Binkley III, Byron T. Bach — strings
- Johnny Gimble — mandolin
- The Lea Jane Singers, The Nashville Edition — background vocals
David McKinley, Rex Collier, Hank Williams, Ronnie Reynolds, Ronnie Dean — engineers[5]
Sales chart positions
- Singles
| Year | Song | Chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| US Country | ||
| 1977 | "Coming Around" | 58 |
References
- ^ a b Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "Greatest Hits on Monument > Review". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ "Connie Smith Discography - Joe Sixpack's Guide to Hick Music". Slipcue.com. Archived from the original on 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Pure Connie Smith by Connie Smith". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ "Charts & awards > Greatest Hits on Monument". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ Pure Connie Smith (Media notes). Connie Smith. Nashville, Tennessee: Monument Record Corporation. 1977. MG7609.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)