Sammi Smith was born Jewel Fay Smith August 5, 1943 in Orange County, California and is best known for her 1971 country/pop crossover hit “Help Me Make it Through the Night” which was written by Kris Kristofferson.
Sammi spent her childhood living in various southwestern states and at the age of eleven she dropped out of school and began singing professionally in nightclubs. Sammi married at the age of fifteen and eventually had four children.
In 1967 Sammi moved to Nashville, Tennessee at the urging of Johnny Cash who had gotten wind of her talent. She was soon signed to Columbia Records and she produced her first minor hit in 1968 titled “So Long, Charlie Brown, Don’t Look for Me Around.”
In 1970 Sammi moved to Mega Records where after another minor hit, she struck gold with her 1971 hit “Help Me Make it Through the Night.” Her sultry rendition pushed the song to the top of the country charts and also became a top ten pop hit earning Sammi a gold record and a Grammy in 1972. She also won the title Best Female Country Vocal Performance in the same year.
After the success of her hit, Sammi continued to have more success on the country charts. In 1973 she moved to Dallas, Texas with Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson to become a country “outlaw.” Sammi enjoyed several modest hits while with Mega including “Then You Walk In” and “Today I Started Loving You Again” before signing with Elektra Records in 1975. While with them she produced several chart songs like “Days that end in Y” and “Loving Arms.”
In 1979 Sammi signed with Cyclone Records and had a top ten country hit with “What a Lie” from her album Girl Hero. In 1980 Sammi recorded for Sound Records where she had her last top twenty hit in 1981 with “Cheatin’s a Two-Way Street.” Her last country hit came in 1986 with “Love Me All Over.”
Sammi died on February 12, 2005 at her home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at the age of 61. To mark her long career, a tribute album was released in her honor on September 26, 2006 titled Help Me Make It through the Night: The Memorial Album. It featured all of her biggest hits from the 1970s.