Sylvia Smith -

Sylvia Smith is an American soul singer who released the 1975 album Woman of the World and scored a minor R&B hit with “Original Midnight Mama.”

Background

Sylvia Smith reached record listeners through the Glass House, a Detroit vocal group tied to the Holland–Dozier–Holland Invictus operation after the producers left Motown. The group began with Scherrie Payne, who led the original quartet with Ty Hunter, Larry Mitchell, and fourth singer Pearl Jones, who cleared out for Sylvia.

Smith sang with Payne, Hunter, and Mitchell on the 1972 Glass House album Thanks I Needed That. The group recorded the album at HDH Sound Studios in Detroit with Holland–Dozier–Holland production and engineer Ed Redd. “The Man I’ll Never Have” placed Smith in the lead position on a slow ballad with a sparse frame and controlled vocal range.

Invictus dissolved the Glass House after the 1972 album cycle. Payne entered The Supremes and Hunter joined The Originals. Meanwhile, Smith sang on the 1974 Four Tops album Meeting of the Minds.

Woman of the World

Sylvia Smith released her singular solo album, Woman of the World, in 1975 on ABC.

Smith sings mostly uptempo material in a disco-oriented soul setting, with ballads across part of the set. Michael Omartian arranged and conducted the album. Steve Barri and Omartian frame Smith’s full-voiced range with compact rhythm parts, brassy orchestration, and background voices.

“Original Midnight Mama” struts on a crisp backbeat as Smith cuts short phrases with quick vibrato turns. “Don’t Mistreat My Babies” hardens its complaint through clipped lead phrases and a blunt refrain. “Shape Your Arms Like a Cradle” slows the album to sustained vocal lines and cradle-shaped title imagery. “Breakin’ Up a Happy Home” lifts into brighter backing voices as brass accents answer the lead.

“Stop! I Don’t Need No Sympathy” snaps through refusal lines while short backing figures cut across the arrangement. “Superbad” leans on a taut rhythm figure and rises toward a harder chorus release. “I Don’t Need No Man” states its independence theme through plain-spoken lead phrases and firm title repetition. “Is This the Way Love’s Supposed to Be” returns to a satin-lined slow setting with close-set vocal support.

A1. “Original Midnight Mama” (3:50) – Mark Creamer
A2. “Did I Give Up Too Much Too Soon” (3:10) – Cloteal Cleveland
A3. “Don’t Mistreat My Babies” (2:51) – Jimmy Lewis
A4. “Shape Your Arms Like a Cradle (And Rock Me)” (4:26) – Cleveland, Larry Maxwell, Sylvia Smith
A5. “Breakin’ Up a Happy Home” (3:36) – Dennis Lambert, Brian Potter

B1. “Stop! I Don’t Need No Sympathy” (2:58) – Carl Davis, Sonny Sanders
B2. “Superbad” (2:57) – Dan Walsh, Michael Price
B3. “I Don’t Need No Man” (2:54) – Lewis
B4. “Is This the Way Love’s Supposed to Be” (4:13) – Cleveland, Smith
B5. “Woman of the World” (2:51) – Jerry Fuller

ABC credited Barri and Omartian as producers, Omartian as arranger and conductor, Sidney Sharp as concertmaster, and Howard Gale, Phil Kaye, and Roger Nichols as engineers.

Smith recorded with a session group that includes bassist Wilton Felder, drummer Ed Greene, guitarist David T. Walker, keyboardist Omartian, and saxophonist Ernie Watts. The album also includes bassist David Hungate, trombonist Lew McCreary, guitarists Ben Benay and Dean Parks, saxophonists Fred Selden and Jackie Kelso, trumpeters Chuck Findley and Paul Hubinon, percussionists Gary Coleman and Victor Feldman, and background vocalists Ginger Blake, Julia Tillman Waters, and Maxine Willard Waters.

Woman of the World appeared in a cover image that shows Smith standing against a brown field in a pale faux-fur coat, dark tights, and patterned shoes, with large black name type across the upper sleeve.

ABC lifted “Original Midnight Mama” as a 1975 single (b/w “Is This the Way Love’s Supposed to Be”), which reached No. 89 on the Cash Box Top 100 R&B.

Postlude

After Woman of the World, Sylvia Smith worked mostly outside the lead-artist frame. In 1977, she appeared among the backing voices on the Jack Ashford album Hotel Sheet. She also held vocal credits on Livin’ Proof (Livin’ Proof), Lalo Schifrin (No One Home), The Emotions (Sincerely), and David T. Walker (Ahimsa).

During the same period, Smith earned songwriter credits. Rose Royce recorded “You Blew It,” a Smith co-write with Michael Nash and Linda Thompson, on the 1982 album Stronger Than Ever. For her 1988 album Flirt, Evelyn “Champagne” King recorded “Stop It,” a song credited to Smith, Melvin “Wah Wah Watson” Ragin, and Guy Caman.

Smith resumed lead-artist releases on Qwest with the 1986 single “Don’t Wanna Be a Sometime Lover,” issued as a seven-inch and twelve-inch. The 1987 Qwest single “Heartbreaker” followed with Smith as writer and producer, Fred Jenkins as co-producer, Harold Childs as executive producer, and Bruce Forest on remix. Smith also co-produced the 1986 Billy Preston single “Since I Held You Close,” released on Motown.

Discography: