Just for What I Am

Connie Smith belongs in the top tier of all country singers. Or, as Dolly Parton once said, ''There's only three real female singers: Barbra Streisand, Linda Ronstadt, and Connie Smith. The rest of us are only pretending.'' What earned her the respect of her peers and sales that number in the millions? Clarity. Emotion. Sheer power. And some of the era's greatest songs.

This 5-CD set includes all of Connie's recordings from February 1968 through November 1972. It follows Bear Family's Born To Sing set that comprised all of Connie's RCA recordings from 1964 until '67. Included here are enduring hits like Run Away Little Tears, Just One Time, Where Is My Castle? and If It Ain't Love (Let's Leave It Alone), as well as How Great Thou Art, one of the most requested of all Smith songs. And included in their entirety are prized Connie Smith LPs, including her duet collaborations with Nat Stuckey and Dallas Frazier and her modern sacred song collection Come Along And Walk With Me. This set also includes a book incorporating Barry Mazor's full-length exploration of the intersection of Connie's music and life during these years, previously unseen photos from Connie's own collection, and a detailed discography by Richard Weize.