Looks Like Stormy Weather 1969-1975
Excellent ‘best of’ from the outlaw country singer born Jewel Faye Smith. Had Sammi Smith sung soul or pop, she’d be as celebrated as Dusty. Instead she used her deep, rich tones to bring to life country songs, mostly heartbreak or penitent ones written by such giants as Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard. The first named provided Smith’s only crossover hit: her version of his Help Me Make It Through The Night from 1971 is intoxicating and fuelled with desperate desire. Other benchmarks on this compilation, which focuses on her Mega label years, include the staggeringly sad I Miss You Most When You’re Right Here and He Makes It Hard To Say Goodbye, the first delivered in an intimate sob, the second maudlin lowing. The previously unissued Desperados Waiting For A Train and Texas 1947, both written by Guy Clark, hold real sway too.