Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1977
Sweet, Sweet Smile
Buy Sweet, Sweet Smile now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
"'Sweet, Sweet Smile'" is a C&W song composed by Otha Young and Juice Newton introduced by the Carpenters on their 1977 album 'Passage'. The track features drummer Ron Tutt who regularly backed Elvis Presley.
"Sweet, Sweet Smile" is one of the few songs recorded by the Carpenters which was chosen by Karen Carpenter rather than Richard Carpenter. Juice Newton and her bandleader Otha Young had written "Sweet, Sweet Smile" for Newton herself to record but Newton's label Capitol Records was not interested in the song. Newton's manager, who was a friend of the Carpenters, was playing the demo of "Sweet, Sweet Smile" at his home while Karen Carpenter was visiting. Karen Carpenter liked the song and brought it to the attention of her brother Richard Carpenter who'd recall: "I liked it immediately...now there's one that, to me, should have done better than it did" referring to the track's January 1978 release as the third single from 'Passage'. Acknowledging the Carpenters' career decline, Richard Carpenter would add: "I think if someone else had done ['Sweet, Sweet Smile'] at that time, it would have been a bigger hit."'Rock Hill Herald' 21 April 1981 p. 59 John Tobler'The Complete Guide to the Music of the Carpenters' (1997); Omnibus Press, London; ; p.81
"Sweet, Sweet Smile" fell short of the Top 40 with a #44 peak on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 but gave the Carpenters the sole C&W chart hit of their career rising as high as #8 C&W; on the 'Billboard' Easy Listening chart "Sweet, Sweet Smile" reached number 7.
A translation of "Sweet, Sweet Smile": "Der Mann auf einem Seil", served as the B-side of Wencke Myhre's 1978 German hit "Lass mein Knie, Joe" ("It's a Heartache") (#16). A Finnish rendering: "S Oot Niin Kultainen", was recorded by Lea Laven for her 1978 album 'Aamulla rakkaani nin'.
In 2011, Juice Newton released her own, newly recorded version of "Sweet, Sweet Smile" as a bonus track on her 'The Ultimate Hits Collection' album.
Chart performance
References
Category:1977 singles
Category:The Carpenters songs
Category:Songs written by Otha Young
Category:1977 songs
Category:A&M Records singles
Buy Sweet, Sweet Smile now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1977