{"id":16686,"date":"2019-07-15T15:44:10","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T21:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/?p=1809050"},"modified":"2019-07-15T15:44:10","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T21:44:10","slug":"the-amazing-rhythm-aces-russell-smith-dies-at-70","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/music-news\/the-amazing-rhythm-aces-russell-smith-dies-at-70\/","title":{"rendered":"The Amazing Rhythm Aces\u2019 Russell Smith Dies at 70"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:ao:image:cmt.com:678201?width=1200&amp;height=675&amp;.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"byline\">by <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/author\/shelburnec\/\" title=\"Posts by Craig Shelburne\" rel=\"author\">Craig Shelburne<\/a><\/span> <span class=\"date\">36m ago<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n<p>Russell Smith, best known as the leader of the Amazing Rhythm Aces, has died from cancer in Franklin, Tennessee. He was 70.<\/p>\n<p>The band\u2019s signature hits include \u201cThird Rate Romance\u201d and \u201cAmazing Grace (Used to Be Her Favorite Song).\u201d The band received a 1975 Best New Artist Grammy nomination, while their 1976 single, \u201cThe End Is Not in Sight (The Cowboy Song),\u201d won a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. Smith, who was born in Nashville, composed all three of these songs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9ENImCD-q6g?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9ENImCD-q6g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>After the band\u2019s pop career had ended, Smith continued to contribute to country music. He charted a 1984 country single with Capitol, as well four others on Epic between 1988 and 1989, but none of these cracked the Top 30.<\/p>\n<p>In 1986, Don Williams earned a No. 1 hit with \u201cHeartbeat in the Darkness,\u201d which Smith co-wrote with Dave Loggins. A year later, Smith returned to the top with T. Graham Brown\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Go to Strangers,\u201d written with J.D. Martin. He secured another No. 1 with Ricky Van Shelton\u2019s \u201cKeep It Between the Lines\u201d in 1991, follow by Randy Travis\u2019 \u201cLook Heart, No Hands\u201d in 1993.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Gc3EVDD8qhU?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Gc3EVDD8qhU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>Smith\u2019s other notable country cuts include Sammy Kershaw\u2019s 1994 remake of \u201cThird Rate Romance,\u201d as well as John Conlee\u2019s \u201cOld School\u201d (1985), Highway 101\u2019s \u201cHonky Tonk Heart\u201d (1989), and Mel McDaniel\u2019s \u201cBig Ole Brew\u201d (1982), as well as Pam Tillis\u2019 \u201cDo You Know Where Your Man Is\u201d (1993) and Tanya Tucker\u2019s \u201cDancing the Night Away\u201d (1977). His songs were also recorded by John Anderson, Rosanne Cash, Crystal Gayle, Lee Greenwood, George Jones &amp; Vern Gosdin, Barbara Mandrell, The Oak Ridge Boys, Kenny Rogers, George Strait, and Travis Tritt.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D10157609068496004%26id%3D145892981003&amp;width=500\">www.facebook.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <\/noscript><\/div>\n<hr>\n<p><em>Photo used by permission: SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE \u2014 Episode 18 \u2014 Pictured: Musical guest The Amazing Rhythm Aces perform on May 10, 1980.<\/em> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/1809050\/the-amazing-rhythm-aces-russell-smith-dies-at-70\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: CMT News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Craig Shelburne 36m ago Russell Smith, best known as the leader of the Amazing Rhythm Aces, has died from cancer in Franklin, Tennessee. He was 70. The band\u2019s signature hits include \u201cThird Rate Romance\u201d and \u201cAmazing Grace (Used to Be Her Favorite Song).\u201d The band received a 1975 Best New Artist Grammy nomination, while [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-12 13:56:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}