Connie Smith

===1964–1967: "Once a Day" and peak success===
[[File:Connie Smith--Nashville Concert--1964.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Smith performing for a crowd of 5,000 people, August 1964.]]
After signing Smith to RCA, [[Chet Atkins]] found himself too busy with other artists. Instead he enlisted [[Bob Ferguson (music)|Bob Ferguson]] to act as Smith's producer. The pair developed a close professional relationship and Ferguson remained her producer until she departed from RCA. "I couldn't have asked for a better person to work with. He is one of the finest men I've ever known," Smith later said.{{sfn|Escott|2001|p=10}} Smith's first session took place on July 16, 1964, where she recorded four songs. Three of these tracks were written by Bill Anderson, who agreed to write material for Smith.{{sfn|Escott|2001|p=38}} Two days later, Smith made her debut on the ''[[Grand Ole Opry]]''.{{sfn|Escott|2001|p=12}} One of the four songs recorded on July 16 was "[[Once a Day]]", which was chosen to be Smith's debut single. "Once a Day" was released in August 1964 and reached number one on the ''[[Billboard Magazine]]'' [[Hot Country Singles]] chart on November 28. It remained at the number one position for eight weeks between late 1964 and early 1965.<ref name="whitburn">{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008|publisher=Record Research, Inc.|year=2008|pages=387–388|isbn=978-0-89820-177-2}}<!--|accessdate=2009-10-06--></ref> "Once a Day" became the first debut single by a female country artist to reach number one. For nearly 50 years the single held the record for the most weeks spent at number one on the ''Billboard'' country chart by a female artist.<ref>{{cite web|last=White|first=Dan|title=Terri Gibbs, The Singer Who Happens to be Blind|url=http://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=105182|publisher=Faith Writers|access-date=August 13, 2010}}</ref>

Smith started performing more regularly with "Once a Day"'s success. Bill Anderson briefly served as her manager, but was replaced by Charlie Lamb. Smith made her first network television appearance in October 1964 on ABC's ''[[The Jimmy Dean Show]]''.{{sfn|Escott|2001|pp=14-16}} In March 1965, RCA Victor released her [[Connie Smith (album)|self-titled debut album]]{{sfn|Escott|2001|p=15}} It also reached the number one spot, spending a total of seven weeks at the top of the ''Billboard'' [[Top Country Albums]] chart.<ref name="Country Albums">{{cite magazine |title=Connie Smith chart history (Country Albums) |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/connie-smith/ |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=10 May 2022}}</ref> Dan Cooper of ''[[Allmusic]]'' gave the disc a positive reception and described Smith as "a down-home [[Barbra Streisand|Streisand]] fronting [[The Lennon Sisters]]."<ref>{{cite web|last=Cooper|first=Dan|title=''Connie Smith'' > Overview|url={{AllMusic|class=album |id=r123098|pure_url=yes}}|website=Allmusic|access-date=August 13, 2010}}</ref>

Bill Anderson fulfilled his promise to RCA Victor and continued writing Smith's next single releases.{{sfn|Escott|2001|p=14}} Producer Bob Ferguson and steel guitar player [[Weldon Myrick]] created a "high" and "punchy" production that Ferguson thought would sound pleasing on car radios.{{sfn|Escott|2001|p=18}} "I thought it was an awfully thin sound, but it wound up being very popular," Myrick recalled.<ref name="Myrick">{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Peter |title=Famed steel player Weldon Myrick dies at 76 |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2014/06/03/famed-steel-player-weldon-myrick-dies/9908649/ |access-date=10 May 2022 |work=[[The Tennessean]] |date=June 3, 2014}}</ref> In 1965, RCA issued Smith's follow-up single written by Anderson titled "[[Then and Only Then]]", which reached number four on the ''Billboard'' country songs chart.<ref name="allmusicbio"/> It was followed by another Anderson-written top 10 single titled "[[I Can't Remember]]".<ref name="whitburn"/> In October 1965, the latter song appeared on ''[[Cute 'n' Country]]'', Smith's second studio album.{{sfn|Escott|2001|pp=17-18}} Although she disliked the name of the LP,{{sfn|Escott|2001|p=18}} it became her second disc to top the ''Billboard'' country albums chart.<ref name="Country Albums"/> She had additional top five ''Billboard'' country singles through early 1966 with Anderson's "[[Nobody But a Fool (Would Love You)]]" and [[Priscilla Mitchell]]'s "[[If I Talk to Him]]".{{sfn|Escott|2001|p=19}} In 1965, Smith became a member of the ''Grand Ole Opry'' radio show.<ref name="Opry">{{cite web|title=Opry Member: Connie Smith|url=http://www.opry.com/artists/s/Smith_Connie.html|publisher=[[Grand Ole Opry]]|access-date=August 16, 2010|archive-date=June 18, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618055019/http://www.opry.com/artists/s/Smith_Connie.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1966, Ferguson felt pressured from RCA headquarters to market Smith's sound toward "middle-of-the-road" [[country pop]] material. Smith was against the pop production but nevertheless agreed to try it. The pair did several sessions featuring a string instrumentation. The style appeared on her next studio releases ''[[Born to Sing (Connie Smith album)|Born to Sing]]'' (1966) and ''[[Downtown Country]]'' (1967). Both albums featured full orchestras in the background and cover versions of singles by pop artists of the time.{{sfn|Escott|2001|pp=22-23}} Featured on the LPs were the singles "[[Ain't Had No Lovin']]" and "[[The Hurtin's All Over]]", which both reached the ''Billboard'' country top five.<ref name="whitburn"/> During this time, Smith appeared in several country music vehicle films, where she performed many of her current hit recordings.{{sfn|Escott|2001|pp=20-21}} In 1966, she appeared in the films ''[[Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar]]'' and ''[[The Las Vegas Hillbillys]]'', the latter of which starred [[Jayne Mansfield]]. In 1967, she appeared in ''[[The Road to Nashville]]'' and ''[[Hell on Wheels (1967 film)|Hell on Wheels]]''.{{sfn|Bufwack|Oermann|2003|p=294}} Smith's touring schedule also increased. In 1966, she formed her own touring band named the Sundowners and later married the band's guitar player Jack Watkins.{{sfn|Escott|2001|p=28}}

In February 1967, RCA's subsidiary budget label [[RCA Camden|Camden]] released Smith's next studio LP titled ''[[Connie in the Country]]''. The LP included covers of popular country recordings of the era and "[[Cry, Cry, Cry (Connie Smith song)|Cry, Cry, Cry]]", a single by Smith that reached the top 20.<ref name="whitburn"/>{{sfn|Escott|2001|p=22}} In May 1967, RCA released an album of songs written solely by Bill Anderson titled ''[[Connie Smith Sings Bill Anderson]]''. Smith later commented that "it was an honor, not a favor" to record an album of all Anderson tunes. It included covers of Anderson's hits such as "[[City Lights (Ray Price song)|City Lights]]" and "[[That's What It's Like to Be Lonesome]]".{{sfn|Escott|2001|p=24}} Included on the album was "[[Cincinnati, Ohio (song)|Cincinnati, Ohio]]", which Smith released as a single and brought the song to the ''Billboard'' country top five.<ref name="whitburn"/> Its success later inspired the city of Cincinnati, Ohio to declare its own Connie Smith Day in June 1967.{{sfn|Escott|2001|p=24}} Smith remained at her commercial zenith through 1967 with a continued series of top 10 recordings.<ref name="allmusicbio"/> Her further hits included the "[[I'll Come Runnin' (Connie Smith song)|I'll Come Runnin']]", "[[Burning a Hole in My Mind]]", "[[Baby's Back Again]]" and "[[Run Away Little Tears]]".<ref name="whitburn"/> Three of these recordings were included on Smith's 1967 album ''[[I Love Charley Brown]]'', which reached the country LPs top 20.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Connie |title=''I Love Charley Brown'' (LP Liner Notes and Album Information) |journal=[[RCA Records|RCA Victor]] |date=April 1968 |id=LSP-4002}}</ref>