In her decades-long career – beginning when her first hit single, ‘Once A Day’, topped the country charts for eight weeks in 1964 – Connie Smith has been recognised as a key figure of the genre. In fact, Dolly Parton once said, “There’s really only three real female singers: Streisand, Ronstadt, and Connie Smith. The rest of us are only pretending.”
As well as Dolly, she’s won praise from other legends such as the late George Jones and Merle Haggard, released 53 albums and been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Now she’s back with her first new music in a decade, ‘The Cry of the Heart’, which is her third album produced by her husband Marty Stuart.
I recently had the privilege of speaking to Connie about the new record, her approach to songwriting, the addition of ‘Once A Day’ to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry, her recent Grand Ole Opry special and documentary, and more.
Your new album ‘The Cry of the Heart’ is out now – can you tell us a bit about that?
Well we actually had it done a couple of years ago, and then of course the pandemic hit and everything changed. So we were actually just waiting for a time to release it when everything settled down. So we’re excited to have it coming out now. I like it so much because it’s so much like the songs and the way I recorded back in the 60s, and that’s still my great love.
Is that consistent approach something that’s been important to you over your career? Or do you tend to try different things with each record?
No, I’ve never really done everything different. My heart’s still the same where music is concerned. I love any kind of good music but as far as my music I think this is what I need to be singing. I’ve had ’em tell me, “Well you can do more than country” and I’d say, “I don’t wanna do more than country”. And I don’t know that I could. But it’s just not where my heart is. So I’ve really enjoyed doing this.
Why did you call the album ‘The Cry of the Heart’?
Well actually David Frick that wrote the liner notes, he’s actually the one that came up with that title. Because people ask me what I think country music is and what it’s about, and I’ve always said I feel like country music is the cry of the heart. And he said, “That should be the title”. That’s the way we picked it. And it’s because I feel like anybody that’s singing country music, to me when I sing country music I’m releasing my heart to those that I’m singing to, and hopefully they can identify with some of it to make ’em feel better or not feel alone, or just get another perspective on things. It’s just, for me it’s a very important music.
This is your first album in ten years. Why did you decide this was the right time to make another album?
I don’t know why I waited so long. I’ve got five children and eight grandchildren and I’ve got a brand new – well she’s not quite brand new, she was born in October, in Norway, and I haven’t seen her yet because of everything. But she’s my first great-grandchild. And then Marty, he’s out on the road a lot. If he’s out very long I usually fly out and meet him, and I may sing a song or two or I may just watch and holler for him. But we don’t like to be apart too long at a time, so we do that. And then you know, you got the house and the groceries and the clean clothes and all that stuff. So I’d just been busy. I sing around the house and I sing at different places around town and stuff like that, and I don’t know why.
I just know that one day we got a song from Dallas Frazier, and he hadn’t written for several years and he started writing again a few years ago. I said, “I love that one, I wanna record it” and Marty said, “OK, do it, it’s time to start another album”. And so we did. And I think the last two albums Dallas has kind of been the catalyst to get that going [laughs]. Because I’ve recorded 72 of his songs over the last 50 something years.
So we started recording with that and we started looking for songs and got a couple of Carl Jackson songs who’s such a great writer and producer and singer and picker and everything you can name. And then Marty was available, because he’s been so busy among all of that time that I’m doing my thing. We still had to find time because I wanted him to produce this. It’s the third record that he’s produced for me and we enjoy it more and more all the time. And we had such great musicians. It just kinda happened and I’m so glad it did.
How is working with Marty as well as being married to each other?
Well it’s great. The first album we did we had to get to know each other. He had to get to know my likes and dislikes and I had to get to know how he worked, and so we just had that little adjustment period. But it’s gotten better and better the more we work together and the more we write together. We’ve written 40 or 50 songs together and the more we write together the easier it is. And we’ve been married for 24 years and we love each other, but also like each other a lot. And I admire his talent. He’s such a genius at what he does. And he has such a heart, and he deals with the musicians great. We like the same musicians. We have a lot in common. We definitely have our differences, but we have an awful lot in common, so that makes it good.
Was the process of narrowing down songs for this album challenging at all? Or did you find it came together very easily?
Each one that I would bring up or Marty would bring up, we either said, “yep, that goes with it” or we’d toss it out. And we’ve actually got about seven songs done for the next album. We’re not done yet! [laughs] But no, it wasn’t a hard thing at all to pick the songs. It is hard to drop one, but sometimes you do it the next time. And a couple of songs on this album were actually from television.
We did a show called The Marty Stuart Show, and two of these songs – we did six years of shows and 26 shows a year. That’s a lot of songs, and I just liked to do songs I’ve always wanted to sing, so that’s what I started doing. ‘A Million And One’ was straight off of the television. We didn’t change anything, we just took it off and put it on the record. And that was Marty’s idea. That was by Billy Walker years ago.
I also liked one called ‘All The Time’ that Jack Green had a big hit on, and that was straight off the television. The rest of them were recorded in the studio so it was a little bit of a mixture. Mick Conley, our engineer, he is so great and you’d never know the difference where they came from.
You’ve got two songs on the record you wrote with Marty. Do you have a typical approach to your songwriting, or does it change depending on the song?
Well with Marty and I, with his busy schedule and my schedule, it’s when we are together and not needing to refuel so we can go back out again, but we have time and we have an idea. So one of us will have an idea and then we’ll start. That’s the way our writing goes, I think. Then I went to town and Monty Holmes, he’s a great songwriter, he’s written a bunch of George Strait’s hits and I don’t know what else, but anyway. I wrote with him a couple of times, including one called ‘Three Sides’. I loved that idea. So both of them guys, to write with them is wonderful. It was a great experience. I want to write a monster song some time. I still wanna keep writing songs that make a difference. And hopefully ‘Three Sides’ will, because it’s pretty much ‘your side, my side and the truth’ [laughs]. I wanted to have something to say and that was good. I’m definitely not finished songwriting and I’m not ready to quit singing either.
Do you ever get writer’s block as a songwriter? And if so how do you deal with that?
Well I just do something else [laughs]. Because I think if it comes out of your head it’s usually not that good, and you have to be inspired and have an idea for a song. Sometimes it’ll start with you humming something or sometimes it’ll start with something you saw on television, a line or something. And sometimes I hear Marty – we’ve got a lot of guitars in the house and any time he walks past one he usually picks it up, and I hear him just fiddling around and say “ooh I like that melody”. And sometimes we’ll start a song that way. And sometimes he’ll come in with one he started and once in a while he’ll come in with one he started and we just mix it up. It really isn’t a hard thing, because if it is we just go on to something else.
You’ve released 53 albums before this one. What’s been your secret to keeping things going in the music scene for so long?
Well actually I didn’t. I went 20 years without an album, then I went 10 or 12, 13 years without another one. But when I started in 1964 we would cut three albums a year and a single every three months. And that went on for nine years with my first label, and then when I was with the next company I did a couple of them a year. So back then there was a lot more records cut. They weren’t as expensive to cut and they weren’t as elaborate as they are today. And of course when I started it was only mono, there was no stereo, and there was no fixing – if you messed up something you just had to do it again. And I had great musicians so there wasn’t much messing up on their part. So it worked out good. It just was easier back then than it would be today, and I loved it. It was one of my favourite things to do so I never complained about it.
Congratulations on ‘Once A Day’ being selected for the National Recording Registry. How did you react when you found out?
Oh I was so excited. I couldn’t believe that. It was the only country song that was listed this year and what an honour to be the one to represent country music in the Library of Congress. Marty and I had done a show up there one day, just he and I, he played guitar and I sang and we talked back and forth – just a real kind of living room thing up there. Really enjoyed it. And I hadn’t been back since then, but I loved it. And so when they told me I was gonna be on the Registry I thought, “look at the other people on there!” Like Louis Armstrong and Kermit the Frog and folks like that [laughs].
Did you know ‘Once A Day’ was a special song when you recorded it?
Well when I first started recording I liked to warm up good and do a couple of songs and the one I felt was gonna be the best one we tried to cut it third. Sometimes you get surprised, but that’s when we tried to cut the one we were really counting on. And that was just my deal of my voice getting ready – it’s best by the third song, because we cut four or five a day on our session. So ‘Once A Day’ was the one we were counting on. And then once it was cut it was pretty obvious that of all the ones that we’d cut that’s the one to release as a single. And it sure didn’t let us down. It was my first record, it went to number one for eight weeks and even went in the Hot 100 for the pop charts. I was covered by four other people, but I was fortunate enough to get the record. And I have to say fortunate because Merle Haggard, his first couple of records were covered and he didn’t get that, and he’s Merle Haggard!
You recently had a show at the Grand Ole Opry to celebrate your career. How was it to be there and have that celebratory event?
It was really awesome. And I was comfortable with the fact that Marty was there. I was a little uncomfortable because I was doing songs off the album that I hadn’t done since I recorded them. And also I’m one of the long haulers. I had a really severe case of Covid in January and I’m still going to rehab a couple of days a week, so I wasn’t sure how my voice was gonna work. But lots of people were praying for me and it turned out better than I thought it would, so it was good. But I hadn’t sung in almost a year. So it was scary, but it was wonderful.
How are you finding being back out performing after the pandemic?
Well it’s getting more natural. Like I say I’m still going to therapy. I coughed for three and a half months so it played havoc with my voice, so I’m working on that. But I’m getting to feel a little bit more like me. I did the Opry last weekend and it felt more normal after all this time. So it’s getting there. I’m getting more endurance. They said it’ll last twelve months and I said, “well thank goodness it won’t be a year!” [laughs] But I’m really doing well. I’m grateful for all the prayers.
You also recently released a mini-documentary about your life. How did that come about and what was that experience like?
Well that was my husband. We just went back through stuff that we had. Like I say he’s a genius at what he does, so he put that together mostly. That was his work – while I was recuperating he was working.
I saw online that The Wandering Hearts cut a song you and Marty wrote recently. How did you find working with them?
Well Marty recorded with them, I didn’t get to work with them. But they’d been on the Opry and I love those guys. I think they’re very talented and great people. So they’re just friends. And then to have them do their own version of that song – that’s a real honour.
Is championing that next generation of musicians something that’s important to you?
Absolutely. We watched on YouTube Cole Clark and the Quarantine Kids – if you haven’t seen them you need to check ’em out. And then there’s a family called the French Family. Camille, his wife, is from New Zealand and Stuey’s from Australia, and they’ve got their kids and their boy’s gonna be a master guitar player like his daddy one of these days. He’s very good. And they got a little girl that sings so precious. It’s two great families that we’re really rooting for.
What song do you wish you’d written?
How To Break A Heart, probably. I wish I’d written that.
What’s coming up for you in the next six months or so?
Well this album is the focus at the moment, and getting well. That’ll be about another six months from where I’m standing. So I’ve got plenty to keep me busy and plenty to be excited about. And then Marty’ll be in and out on the road, and he’s starting to hit it really heavy. Everyone’s going back out on the road again so he’s got a busy one coming up. We’ve really enjoyed being together throughout the pandemic and being at home, and we wanted to come out of this better than when we went into it. That’s been our goal and still is. So hopefully I’ll be more productive now than I was before.
You mentioned earlier you’ve started work for the next record already. Can you give us any clues about that?
Well there’s one my daughter’s singing on with me. A couple of records ago all three of my daughters sang with me on a gospel song, but this one is a country song that she did the harmony on. And my youngest daughter – all my kids can sing but none of them have really gotten in the business. My oldest son, when he went to Europe, he was a musician but now he’s a specialist in child psychology so he doesn’t do as music as he did. But he writes great songs as well.
Connie Smith’s new album, ‘The Cry of the Heart’, is out now on Fat Possum Records.
