Forty years ago, Mike was one of my buddies in junior high school. Then I moved away, and we didn’t see each other for 34 years.
When we finally met up again after all those years, Mike gave me a CD of songs he liked. One of the tunes was familiar, but I couldn’t come up with the name or the artist. It turned out to be “Baby, It’s You” by Smith, a No. 5 single in the latter part of 1969.
Dig around for some information on Smith, and the phrase “one-hit wonder” keeps popping up. That, and continuing appreciation for Gayle McCormick’s earthy, bluesy lead vocals.
One day, I found Smith’s debut album in the dollar bin at my local record store. “A Group Called Smith” is chock full of nice covers, including “Baby, It’s You.” Certainly worth tracking down, but we’ll get to those another day.
Smith’s second LP, “Minus-Plus,” also found in the dollar bin that day, has more original material. One such tune made a run into the middle of the Top 40 in the last week of February 1970. Here in Green Bay, it was one of 20 “hit-bound” singles on WDUZ, which as 1400 AM ranked only a Big 14 on its chart.
“Take A Look Around,” Smith, from “Minus-Plus,” 1970. It’s out of print.
This song was written by guitarist Jerry Carter and bass player James Richard Cliburn. That raises a little mystery, because Carter and Cliburn appeared on the first Smith album but not the second. McCormick and drummer Bob Evans were the only holdovers, surrounded by a new set of guitarists.
So I wonder whether Smith wasn’t McCormick surrounded by session musicians. After all, one of their producers was Steve Barri, who recruited musicians to play his songs in another band. You may have heard of that band. The Grass Roots. But the story goes that Smith was discovered by Del Shannon in a Los Angeles nightclub in the late ’60s.
Regardless, it was the last song to chart for Smith, which broke up shortly thereafter. McCormick went on to a brief solo career, then is said to have returned to her native St. Louis and left the music business.
One last thing: This week marks the third anniversary for AM, Then FM. Thanks, everyone.
AM, Then FM 
happy blogiversary!
I loved “Baby, It’s You.” I heard this version before I heard the cover by The Beatles. Smith’s is far superior. I know I have the 45 stashed somewhere. Happy anniversary.
Nicely done, Jeff…I look forward to your thoughts, musical and otherwise, daily.
I bought Smith’s first album, not because of finely crafted pop artistry, but because I was a teenage boy and there was a hot girl on the cover. Is it any different today?
Gayle McCormick’s voice is great–that’s what first got me to listen to them. Really soulful—I was actually thinking of soulful singers today as I watched a Soul Train special on Aretha Franklin (Centric TV—new station to me). Love the REAL soulful R&B stuff. Smith’s rhythm section was hot and funky too…although not familiar with the second LP….gonna listen now!!!
The Texas Gal frequenty listens to Smith – both albums burned onto a CD – as she drives to work. She also digs Gayle McCormick’s solo albums. I love “Baby, It’s You” as well, partly because it has one of the great screams in pop/rock history when McCormick lets go on the chorus.
Congrats on making it through the Terrible Twos.