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"Sweet, Sweet Smile"
Single by Carpenters
from the album Passage
B-side"I Have You"
ReleasedFebruary 18, 1978
Recorded1977
GenreCountry pop
Length3:01
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)Otha Young; Juice Newton
Producer(s)Richard and Karen Carpenter
Carpenters singles chronology
"The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"
(1977) 		"Sweet, Sweet Smile"
(1978) 		"I Believe You"
(1978)

"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
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

References

  1. ^ Rock Hill Herald 21 April 1981 p. 59
  2. ^ John ToblerThe Complete Guide to the Music of the Carpenters (1997); Omnibus Press, London; ISBN 0-7119-6312-6; p.81
  3. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1978-04-15. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  4. ^ David Kent (1993). Australian Charts Book 1970—1992. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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