Jewel Smith, 61; Country Singer Won Grammy in 1971

Country singer Jewel “Sammi” Smith, 61, whose recording of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night” helped propel Kristofferson into the music business and helped earn her a Grammy as best female country vocalist for 1971, died Saturday.

Smith died at home in Oklahoma City after a long illness. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Smith was born in Orange, Calif., and grew up in Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona and Colorado. She began singing at 11 and had her own club act when she was 12. After an early marriage and four children, she divorced and moved to Nashville.

In 1967, she had her first hit, “So Long Charlie Brown.” Six years later, she moved to Dallas, where she joined the “Outlaw Movement” with Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Her recording of Merle Haggard’s “Today I Started Loving You Again” was a country staple in 1975.