SMITH, SAMMI
(*1943)
SMITH, SAMMI (b. Jewel Fay S., Orange, Calif., August 5, 1943) Sammi Smith is a soulful, smoky-voiced singer best known for her (at the time shocking) cover of Help Me Make It Through the Night in 1971. Although born in California, Smith was raised in Oklahoma, where she began performing in local clubs when she was twelve years old. As a teen she was heard by Marshall Grant , who was then bassist for JOHNNY CASH in his famous Tennessee Three group. Grant recommended that she come to Nashville…