Sweet, Sweet Smile
"Sweet, Sweet Smile" | ||||
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Single by Carpenters | ||||
from the album Passage | ||||
B-side | "I Have You" | |||
Released | February 18, 1978 | |||
Recorded | 1977 | |||
Genre | Country pop | |||
Length | 3:01 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Songwriter(s) | Otha Young; Juice Newton | |||
Producer(s) | Richard and Karen Carpenter | |||
Carpenters singles chronology | ||||
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"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, 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. Richard Carpenter would acknowledge the Carpenters' career decline: "I think if someone else had done ['Sweet, Sweet Smile'] at that time, it would have been a bigger hit."[1] [2]
"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: "Sä Oot Niin Kultainen", was recorded by Lea Laven for her 1978 album Aamulla rakkaani näin.
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
Chart (1978) | Peak position |
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US Billboard Hot 100 | 44 |
US Billboard Easy Listening | 7 |
US Billboard Hot Country Singles | 8 |
Canadian Singles Chart | 33 |
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[3] | 7 |
Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 6 |
Oricon (Japanese) Singles Chart | 59 |
UK Singles Chart | 40 |
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] | 100 |
US Cash Box Top 100 [5] | 42 |
West Germany (Official German Charts)[6] | 22 |
References
- ^ Rock Hill Herald 21 April 1981 p. 59
- ^ John ToblerThe Complete Guide to the Music of the Carpenters (1997); Omnibus Press, London; ISBN 0-7119-6312-6; p.81
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1978-04-15. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
- ^ David Kent (1993). Australian Charts Book 1970—1992. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Cash Box" (PDF). Worldradiohistory.com. 1978-04-22. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Carpenters – Sweet, Sweet Smile" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
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- Karen Carpenter
- Richard Carpenter
- Offering (Ticket to Ride) (1969)
- Close to You (1970)
- Carpenters (1971)
- A Song for You (1972)
- Now & Then (1973)
- Horizon (1975)
- A Kind of Hush (1976)
- Passage (1977)
- Christmas Portrait (1978)
- Made in America (1981)
- Voice of the Heart (1983)
- An Old-Fashioned Christmas (1984)
- Lovelines (1989)
- As Time Goes By (2001)
- Live in Japan (1975)
- Live at the Palladium (1976)
- The Singles: 1969–1973 (1973)
- The Singles: 1974–1978 (1978)
- The Very Best of the Carpenters (1982)
- Yesterday Once More (1984)
- Only Yesterday (1990)
- From the Top (1991)
- Interpretations: A 25th Anniversary Celebration (1995)
- Love Songs (1997)
- Reflections (1998)
- The Singles: 1969–1981 (2000)
- The Essential Collection: 1965–1997 (2002)
- Carpenters Perform Carpenter (2003)
- Gold: 35th Anniversary Edition (2004)
- The Ultimate Collection (2006)
- 40/40 (2009)
- Carpenters with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2018)
- Time (1987)
- Karen Carpenter (1996)
- Pianist, Arranger, Composer, Conductor (1998)
- "Looking for Love"
- "Ticket to Ride"
- "(They Long to Be) Close to You"
- "We've Only Just Begun"
- "Merry Christmas, Darling"
- "For All We Know"
- "Rainy Days and Mondays"
- "Superstar"
- "Bless the Beasts and Children"
- "Hurting Each Other"
- "It's Going to Take Some Time"
- "Goodbye to Love"
- "Sing"
- "Yesterday Once More"
- "Top of the World"
- "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)"
- "I Won't Last a Day Without You"
- "Please Mr. Postman"
- "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town"
- "Only Yesterday"
- "Solitaire"
- "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)"
- "I Need to Be in Love"
- "Goofus"
- "All You Get from Love Is a Love Song"
- "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft"
- "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"
- "Sweet, Sweet Smile"
- "I Believe You"
- "Touch Me When We're Dancing"
- "(Want You) Back in My Life Again"
- "Those Good Old Dreams"
- "Beechwood 4-5789"
- "Make Believe It's Your First Time"
- "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore"
- "Little Altar Boy"
- "Honolulu City Lights"
- "Something in Your Eyes"
- "If I Had You"
- "Ave Maria"
- "The Rainbow Connection"
- "Let Me Be the One"
- "A Song for You"
- "This Masquerade"
- "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"
- "Can't Smile Without You"
- "I Just Fall in Love Again"
- "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again"
- "Where Do I Go from Here"
and specials
- Make Your Own Kind of Music (1971)
- Live at the BBC (1971)
- Very First TV Special (1976)
- Space Encounters (1978)
- A Christmas Portrait (1978)
- Music, Music, Music (1980)
- Gold: Greatest Hits (1991 VHS / 2002 DVD)
- Interpretations (1995 VHS / 2003 DVD)
- Close to You: Remembering The Carpenters (1998)
- Only Yesterday: The Carpenters Story (2007)
- Discography
- Songs
- John Bettis
- Tony Peluso
- If I Were a Carpenter
- Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
- The Karen Carpenter Story
- Classic Carpenters
Category
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