“Help Me Make it Through the Night”
Sammi Smith
Written by Kris Kristofferson
Billboard
#1 (3 weeks)
February 13 – February 27, 1971
I’m not going to call this a “Maybe it Was Memphis” situation and suggest that Sammi Smith is the only singer who has any business singing “Help Me Make it Through the Night.”
It’s one of those universally appealing compositions that works in so many musical contexts and is so accessible to a wide range of singers even beyond the country genre. So many worthy versions of it exist and are worth singing out. (The Bonus Beats section in the comments is going to be lit.)
But I will say that this was the exactly perfect singer to deliver the definitive country hit version of it. Sammi Smith’s controlled phrasing and mature delivery are critical to maintaining the song’s delicate balance between power and surrender.
That opening lyric change from “Take the ribbon from your hair” to “Take the ribbon from my hair” establishes right away that this one night stand is happening to meet her needs. The tear-in-the-throat delivery on the Tammy Wynette version once she hits the chorus robs the song of the unique power that comes from delivering this line with unabashed certainty: “I don’t care what’s right or wrong.”
She really doesn’t in that moment. She’s going to get what she needs and that’s that. It was the right delivery for the right moment, as the sexual revolution was beginning to awaken and women were becoming more assertive about their own needs, including physical gratification.
It’s the Smith recording that would go on to influence records like Lee Ann Womack’s “I May Hate Myself in the Morning” and Ashley McBryde’s “One Night Standards.” Her entire recorded output remains influential to multiple generations of country singers, especially those of the female outlaw variety. And while she never had another No. 1 hit, she had a somewhat consistent career, regularly visiting the top twenty every other year or so through the early eighties.
“Help Me Make it Through the Night” gets an A.
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I’m embarrassed to admit the first version I heard of this song was… Ray Stevens. Who did it in the style of Spike Jones and his city slickers.
I took a deep dive into the discography of Sammi Smith as I loved her voice. I’ll whole heartedly recommend her debut album and “The Toast of 45” but she was trying to replicate this song’s success as many of her albums don’t have much variety with rare up tempo numbers and can all blend together with all the ballads.
This is without a doubt an A+ song but I also love her versions of “Long Black Veil” and “Today I Started Loving You Again”. Great unique vocalist.
Fabulous song – fabulous singer – fabulous arrangement A++
I discovered Sammi Smith during her Columbia days purchasing several of her 45s and continued to track her career thereafter. While “Help Me Make It Through The Night” was her biggest hit, I think her best albums came after her run as a hitmaker. None of them have made their way to CD but they can still be found in used record stores (they will usually go for $30-$40).
Unfortunately for Sammi, her label Mega wasn’t much of a label – it spent little on promoting its artists and folded in 1976. Rumors abounded that the label was formed as a tax write-off and while I don’t know if the rumors were true, it seems possible. She had the biggest chart version of Merle Haggard’s “Today I Started Loving You Again” reaching #9 in 1975. With real promotion behind it, it might have reached #1 (it hit #1 in some markets).
Strangely enough it doesn’t seem that Sammi spent much, if any, time re-recording her hits for subsequent labels. The song appears on the 1987 Derrick album WITH LOVE but I have never seen a copy of the album, so it might have licensed the Mega Recordings.
I never got to see her perform live, but I just missed. In November 2004 she was booked to appear at the Florida Sunshine Opry in Eustis, FL in January 2005 – I purchased a ticket at that time. In late December the gig was cancelled (for unexplained health reasons) and she passed away in February 2005.
First, yes it’s an easy “A+”. A masterpiece song and performance. However, as good as this was Sammie was not an influence on the generations to come. It’s possible she could have been had she had a bit more success. It’s always a bit sad when a great singer is not able to land regular great material. I will say that I agree that Tammy’s version was not very good which is surprising as you would think this would have been one she could have knocked out of the park. Any song that is great should be able to be done by more than one artist and this song is a good example. Timeless
I agree Sammi’s version is the definitive one. A lesser know version is by Mariah Carey, who covered it for an indie movie where she played a struggling country singer:
Interesting version. I can’t say I will ever listen to this version again, but it’s actually pretty good.
Yeah, definitely not saying it’s the best version, just found it interesting. Since she plays someone who isn’t a superstar singer in the movie, I think they purposely used a ‘rougher’ vocal that actually works for the song. She also wrote a song with Willie Nelson for the movie.
This is what the white supremacists think Cowboy Carter sounds like.
If this is the only song Sammi Smith is remembered for, it’s one hell of a song to have as your legacy. Simply exquisite. Not much else for me to say.
Your commentary is spot on. How the fabulous Sammi Smith with her sultry, soulful voice did not have a longer list of top country hits or a more celebrated singing career baffles me. This one is a contender for greatest country single of all time.
Sammi landed on Columbia Records at a time when Columbia’s sister label Epic were overrun with good female singers – Lynn Anderson, Tammy Wynette, Barbara Mandrell, Barbara Fairchild, the Carter Family, Tanya Tucker, Arlene Hardin, Jody Miller with more to follow. Sammi just never had had a chance – she was low priority and while she had some decent singles that charted regionally, Columbia never issued an album on her. A few years after leaving Columbia, a nine-song album was released on budget label harmony – it’s quite good, albeit of short playing time.
I had actually never heard Tammy Wynette’s version of this song before, just this one and Willie Nelson’s. His version was also good, even if it was not on this level.
Okay here it finally is. There’s a lot to cover, no pun intended.
Bonus Beats:
Elvis Presley covered “Help Me Make It Through the Night” for his 1972 album Elvis Now. Here’s that version:
https://youtu.be/gU9Vh5h_fXo
“Help Me Make It Through the Night” has a history in soul music as well as country, as the Percy Sledge version was the first to be released, before Kristofferson’s original recording. But instead of that, I’ll link the even better version that Gladys Knight and the Pips recorded for their 1971 album Standing Ovation. This version reached the pop top 40 and the R&B top 20, and it was a top 10 hit in the UK, leading to a performance on Top of the Pops. Here’s that performance:
https://youtu.be/AOmJoacBUOg
Here’s Norah Jones performing the song live, although I’m not sure when:
https://youtu.be/ocReUIHoI4s
And here’s Norah performing the song with Kristofferson himself for the 2023 Willie Nelson 90th birthday special, as Nelson had a hit with the song later on (the performance starts about 3 minutes in):
https://youtu.be/_QH6ITCkfAc
I feel there’s just too much ground to cover with “Help Me Make It Through the Night” and the artists who’ve covered it, so rather than describe and link them all, I’m just gonna list all the other notable artists whose covers you can listen to online:
Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash
Willie Nelson
Glen Campbell
Olivia Newton-John
Percy Sledge
John Holt (writer of “The Tide Is High”)
Michael Buble and Loren Allred
Tyler Childers
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Adams
Anne Murray
Tammy Wynette
Charley Pride
Engelbert Humperdinck
Joan Baez
The Highwaymen (with Kristofferson)
Bobby Bare
Jeannie C. Riley
Waylon Jennings
Tina Turner (both with and without Ike)
Harry Dean Stanton
Loretta Lynn
Martina McBride
Ray Stevens
Sheb Wooley
Ray Price
Lorrie Morgan (both solo and with Kristofferson himself)
Lady A
Johnny Paycheck
LeAnn Rimes
Deana Carter
Jerry Lee Lewis
Lynn Anderson
Jeannie Seely
Bobby Darin
Jessica Chastain (for the George and Tammy soundtrack)
Joe Simon
Peggy Lee
Melba Montgomery
Kelly Jones with Stereophonics
Jerry Wallace
Brenda Lee, as a duet with Kristofferson himself
Wilson Pickett
Jim Nabors
Pat Monahan (yes, the guy from Train)
Mel McDaniel
Wayne Newton
Andy Williams
Ken Boothe
O.C. Smith
Eddy Arnold
Foster and Allen
Vikki Carr
Skeeter Davis
Dottie West
Ferlin Husky
Paul Carrack (of Ace, Squeeze, and Mike + the Mechanics)
Johnny Mathis
Mark Lindsay (of Paul Revere and the Raiders)
Freddy Weller
Jerry Vale
And those are just from artists on Spotify
That list of artists who have covered the song is the greatest testament to its eternal appeal and significance.
I wish I had something more to offer other than it is spectacular and special.
I am pretty sure David Cantwell and Bill Friskics Warren had it at the top of their list ranking the top 500 country music singles of all time.