Country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singer Jimmy Wayne

Jimmy Wayne

Jimmy Wayne Barber is an American country music singer and songwriter. He released his self-titled debut album in 2003 on the DreamWorks Records label. Four singles were released from it, including "Stay Gone" and "I Love You This Much", which both reached Top Ten on the Billboard country charts...

 released a cover version

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 in 2009, with backing vocals from Hall & Oates. This version debuted at #51 on the Hot Country Songs chart dated October 3, 2009 and serves as the title track for Wayne's third album, Sara Smile

Sara Smile (album)

-Album:-Singles:...

. It became Hall & Oates' first single to chart on the country charts.

Critical reception

Sam Gazdziak of The 9513 gave the song a thumbs-down, saying that it was "almost reverential" to the original and that Wayne's vocals showed R&B influences, but added that it "has no business being played on a country radio station." Bobby Peacock of Roughstock gave a more positive review, also saying that it was well-sung but not country-sounding, but adding that it was a "refreshing change of pace" from the "bombast of Do You Believe Me Now

Do You Believe Me Now

Do You Believe Me Now is the second studio album of American country music singer Jimmy Wayne. It was released on August 26, 2008. The album is also Wayne's first album in five years and his debut for Valory Music Group, a subsidiary of Big Machine Records...

," Wayne's last album. Thom Jurek described the cover favorably in his review of the album, saying that Wayne "basically apes Hall's lead vocal[…]note for note" but "pulls it off in spades."

Chart performance

Jimmy Wayne's version of "Sara Smile" debuted at #51 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in September 2009. After seven weeks on the country chart, the song peaked at #31 in December 2009.
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Chart (2009)	Peak position

External links

• [ Sara Smile] at AllMusic