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Margo Smith
(84), singer-songwriter.
Born Bette Lou Miller into a farming family in Mutual, Ohio, USA on April 9, 1939, Margo Smith graduated from Urbana High School in 1957 where she had performed with a vocal trio The Apple Sisters, perfecting a yodelling style modelled on her idol Bonnie Lou, while picking up vocal and performing skills by watching "Midwestern Hayride" out of nearby Cincinnati.
She graduated from Ohio's Wittenberg University in 1961, taking up her first post as a teacher in Dayton that same year. She frequently performed for her own students as well as at PTA meetings, and soon was appearing at local events as well as on radio stations across Ohio. In 1965, she married banker Ken Smith, and the couple moved to Carlisle, Ohio, where in 1971 under the name Bette Smith, she recorded her first album "I'm A Lady". This contained eight of her own songs and was released on the Nashville North Records imprint. However, she also continued her teaching career at Westlake Elementary School in New Carlisle, but after the birth of her second child, Holly, the couple decided to move to Nashville on the invitation of 20th Century Fox Records, who promptly released her first single, the self-composed "There I Said It" under the name Margo Smith.
Her stay with 20th Century Fox Records however was short-lived. The single "There I Said It" reached the Billboard Top Ten, and her first album, titled "Margo Smith" (comprising 10 of her own songs and produced by Jim Vienneau) also charted, but just after her second single "Paper Lovin'" had been released to critical acclaim, 20th Century Fox announced the closure of their Nashville division.
Quickly signing with Warner Bros Nashville and assigned to producer Norro Wilson, she recorded a countrified cover version of Brotherhood of Man's UK pop hit, "Save Your Kisses for Me" which made the Billboard Country Top Ten, as did her follow-ups, the self-penned "Take My Breath Away" and "Love's Explosion". By now, Norro Wilson was encouraging her to release country-style cover versions of such pop songs as "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" (written by Benny Davis and Murray Mencher and a hit for Connie Francis in 1962), "It Only Hurts for a Little While" (penned by Fred Spielman and Mack David, and a hit for the Ames Brothers in 1956) and "Little Things Mean a Lot," (a hit for Kitty Kallen in 1954 and penned by Edith Lindeman and Carl Stutz,). Each of these topped the Billboard Country Top 40 leading her to be named ASCAP’s “Country Musical Artist Of The Year”.
However, by 1979, convinced that the housewife image being projected of her was starting to wear, she released "Still A Woman", with provocative lyrics which were quite a change from her usual style. By now, she had divorced, and was projecting a new sexy, sultry style which she was later to describe as ill-advised. "Still A Woman", and the similarly-themed trio of "If I Give My Heart to You", "Shuffle Song" (her final Top 20 hit) and "He Gives Me Diamonds and Chills", did chart but in 1982, Warner Bros released her from her contract. That year, she married her new manager Richard Cammeron, and together they formed the indie label Cammeron Records, while Margo reverted to her original less-controversial image. Although she never reached the Billboard Top 20 again, her singles continued to land in the lower half of the charts, including "Please Tell Him That I Said Hello", "All I Do Is Dream of You", "Everyday People" (with Tom Grant), and "Echo Me". She also reverted to her earlier image of "The Tennessee Yodeller" and released a number of well-received TV albums including "The Best of the Tennessee Yodeller".
In 1990, she formed with her daughter Holly Watson, a vocal duo ("Margo Smith & Holly") and the act released two albums of Christian material on Homeland Records which received heavy airplay on Christian radio stations, leading to them being nominated for the "Vocal Duo of the Year" award at the annual Christian Country Music Awards.
In the 2000's, having moved some years earlier to The Villages in Florida, she started mentoring upcoming yodellers. One of these, Taylor Ware, went on to perform in the finals of NBC's "America's Got Talent" in 2006, while Margo herself released a tape teaching aspiring singers how to develop their yodelling talents. By now, she had released 20 albums and 37 singles, and was continuing to tour. In 2019, at the age of 80, she played a sell-out show at the Eisenhower Recreation Center in The Villages, and two years later, was still performing with her daughter Holly, to raise money for the provision of food for poor children.
In Franklin, Tennessee, USA, on January 23, 2024, following a stroke.
© Jim Liddane
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