Smith were discovered in an L.A. nightclub by none other than Del Shannon, who got them signed to ABC-Dunhill and arranged their smash hit cover of “Baby, It’s You.” They also boasted one of the best albeit largely unknown female singers of the ‘60s in the person of Gayle McCormick, who, with her blonde good looks and powerful, bluesy voice, seemed destined to lead Smith to big things (she did go on to record a series of solo albums for Dunhill).
Featuring three lead singers and a B-3 Hammond organ, their strongest asset was their most frequent vocalist, Gayle McCormick, an accomplished female blue-eyed soul belter. Most of their material consisted of covers of popular rock and R&B tunes, and they broke up after a couple of albums, though the singles "What Am I Gonna Do" (co-written by Carole King) and "Take a Look Around" made the middle of the charts. McCormick had a couple of small hits in 1971 and made a few albums in the early '70s as a soloist.
by Richie Unterberger
Tracks
1. Let's Get Together (Chet Powers) - 3:31
2. I Don't Believe (Jeffrey Thomas) - 3:41
3. Tell Him No (Rod Argent) - 3:26
4. Who Do You Love? (Ellas McDaniel) - 2:57
5. Baby It's You (Barney Williams, Burt Bacharach, Mack David) - 3:27
6. Last Time (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 5:35
7. I Just Wanna Make Love To You (Bob Wackett, Kenny Lynch) - 2:38
8. Mojaleskey Ridge (Dan Walsh, Kenny Lynch) - 2:33
9. Let's Spend The Night Together (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 3:53
10.I'll Hold Out My Hand (Al Gorgoni, Chip Taylor) - 3:03
11.You Don't Love Me (Yes I Know) (Willie Cobbs) - 3:21
12.Born In Boston (Alan Parker, Judd Huss, Larry Moss) - 2:42
13.Comin' Back To Me (Alan Parker) - 2:58
14.Feel The Magic (Alan Parker) - 2:38
15.Jason (Jud Huss) - 3:28
16.What Am I Gonna Do (Carole King, Toni Stern) - 2:52
17.Take A Look Around (Rick Cliburn, Jerry Carter) - 2:54
18.Since You've Been Gone (Alan Parker) - 3:34
19.Circle Man (Jud Huss) - 2:29
20.Minus-Plus (Larry Moss) - 4:18
Tracks 1-10 from A Group Called Smith 1969
Tracks 11-20 from Minus-Plus 1970
Smith
A Group Called Smith 1969
*Jerry Carter - Bass, Vocals
*Rick Cliburn - Guitar, Vocals
*Bob Evans - Drums
*Gayle McCormick - Vocals
*Larry Moss - Keyboards
With
*Alan Parker - Guitar, Vocals
*Larry Knechtel - Piano
Minus-Plus 1970
*Gayle McCormick - Vocals
*Alan Parker - Guitars, Vocals
*Jud Huss - Bass, Vocals
*Larry Moss - Keyboards
*Bob Evans - Drums
Thank you for all these postings. I discovered so many new for me (old from 60s, 70s) bands that I didn't know played such great music.
ReplyDeleteOne suggestion: can you link posts of the same band somewhere at the bottom of every post?