No pretending with stunning country queen Connie Smith

Husband Marty Stuart captured this black and white image of then-recent bride Connie Smith cradling a vintage RCA Studio B microphone during Nashville sessions for her self-titled comeback studio album in the fall of 1997. Photography by Marty Stuart

Marking seven decades as a recording artist, Country Music Hall of Famer Connie Smith achieved her footing in Nashville in the shocking aftermath of Patsy Cline’s death. She became an illustrious member of the Grand Ole Opry at age 23 in 1965, less than a year after her debut single, “Once a Day,” stormed the charts for an unprecedented eight-week stay at the “Toppermost of the Poppermost” to coin a phrase uttered by former Beatle John Lennon.

Written by Whisperin’ Bill Anderson and approved by guitar extraordinaire Chet Atkins, “Once a Day” maintained a 25-year unbroken streak as the first debut single in country music history by a female artist to reach number one.

Smith’s authoritative, no-nonsense, alto mined the depths of country’s bruised soul, no doubt paving the way for 38 Top 40 country singles in a 15-year period, many on Elvis Presley’s longtime recording label, RCA Victor.

Twenty landed snugly inside Billboard’s Country Top Ten, including such countrypolitan jewels as “Ain’t Had No Lovin’”, “The Hurtin’s All Over”, “I Never Once Stopped Loving You,” “Just One Time”, “Ain’t Love a Good Thing,” and a country disco-ish cover of the Bee Gees’ “I Just Want to Be Your Everything.”

A new label unable to thoroughly promote her records, the onslaught of Urban Cowboy…