Sammi Smith

SAMMI SMITH
 
 
Sammi Smith  (born Jewel Faye Smith; August 5, 1943 – February 12, 2005) was an American country music singer and songwriter.  She is best known for her 1971 country-pop crossover hit “Help Me Make It Through the Night”, which was written by Kris Kristofferson.  She became one of the few women in the outlaw country movement during the 1970s.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 

Kris Kristofferson is probably better known as a songwriter – such as Janis Joplin’s posthumous hit song, “Me and Bobby McGee”, plus “For the Good Times” (a hit by Ray Price, among others), “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” (recorded by Johnny Cash) and “Help Me Make It Through the Night” (Sammi Smith’s version being the most successful), which were all #1 hits on one Billboard or Canadian chart or other – or as an actor in dozens of films, such as Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, A Star Is Born, the Blade films, and The Motel Life.  He has a rough-and-tumble reputation as a hard-liver, and in part, that fuels his interest in spiritual matters.  Jesus has clearly been on his mind over the years; his album names include Jesus Was a Capricorn (simply an observation that Christmas Day falls within that astrological sign). 

 

(July 2014)

 

Last edited: March 22, 2021