On this day (November 28) in 1964, Connie Smith was atop the Hot Country Songs chart with “Once a Day,” her debut single. The track held the No. 1 position for eight consecutive weeks, setting multiple records. One of those records stood for almost 50 years.
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Bill Anderson wrote “Once a Day,” which put Smith on the map. However, that wasn’t his only connection to the beginning of her long career. He heard Smith perform during an Ohio talent contest in 1963. Her rendition of Jean Shepard’s “I Thought of You” brought her the prize. It also caught the ear of the Nashville veteran. He helped her secure a recording contract with RCA. Then, he assigned members of his backing band to play on her first recordings.
According to Songfacts, Anderson initially wrote the song with a male singer in mind. However, when Smith showed interest in cutting the song, he was more than happy to let her have it. Then, the song made history,
How Connie Smith Made History with “Once a Day”
A new artist having a major hit with their debut single is rare. It is even more uncommon for that debut single to spend more than a single week at the top of the chart. In short, “Once a Day”–the combination of Connie Smith’s voice and Bill Anderson’s writing–was lightning in a bottle.
The song made Smith the first female country artist to reach the top of the chart with her debut single. She was the only woman to achieve that feat until Trisha Yearwood’s debut single, “She’s in Love with the Boy,” went to No. 1 in 1991.
The song’s eight-week run atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart made Smith the woman with the longest-running No. 1. She held this record for nearly 50 years. Taylor Swift broke the record in 2012 when “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” spent nine weeks at the top of the chart.
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