"Sweet, Sweet Smile" is a C&W

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...

 song composed by Otha Young

Otha Young

Otha Young was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and the longtime musical partner of Grammy-Award winning country-pop artist Juice Newton....

 and Juice Newton

Juice Newton

Judith Kay "Juice" Newton is an American Pop music and Country singer, songwriter and guitarist...

 introduced by the Carpenters

The Carpenters

Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...

 on their 1977 album Passage. The track features drummer Ronnie Tutt

TCB Band

The TCB Band was a group of professional musicians who formed the core rhythm section of Elvis Presley’s band from August 1969 until his death in 1977. TCB stands for Taking Care of Business, a personal motto Presley adopted in the early 1970s...

 who regularly backed Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

.

"Sweet, Sweet Smile" is one of the few songs recorded by the Carpenters which was chosen by Karen Carpenter

Karen Carpenter

Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...

 rather than Richard Carpenter

Richard Carpenter (musician)

Richard Lynn Carpenter is an American pop musician, best known as one half of the brother/sister duo The Carpenters, along with his sister Karen Carpenter. He was a producer, arranger, pianist and keyboardist, and occasional lyricist, as well as joining with Karen on harmony...

. Juice Newton and her bandleader Otha Young had written "Sweet, Sweet Smile" for Newton herself to record but Newton's label Capitol Records

Capitol Records

Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

 was not interested in the song. Newton's manager, who was a friend of the Carpenters, was playing the demo

Demo (music)

A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

 of "Sweet, Sweet Smile" at his home while Karen Carpenter was visiting. Karen Carpenter liked the song and brought it to the attention of her brother Richard Carpenter

Richard Carpenter (musician)

Richard Lynn Carpenter is an American pop musician, best known as one half of the brother/sister duo The Carpenters, along with his sister Karen Carpenter. He was a producer, arranger, pianist and keyboardist, and occasional lyricist, as well as joining with Karen on harmony...

 who'd recall: "I liked it immediately...now there's one that, to me, should have done better than it did" referring to the track's January 1978 release as the third single from Passage. Acknowledging the Carpenters' career decline, Richard Carpenter would add: "I think if someone else had done ['Sweet, Sweet Smile'] at that time, it would have been a bigger hit."

"Sweet, Sweet Smile" fell short of the Top 40 with a #44 peak on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 but gave the Carpenters the sole C&W chart

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 hit of their career rising as high as #8 C&W; on the Billboard Easy Listening chart "Sweet, Sweet Smile" reached #7.

A translation of "Sweet, Sweet Smile": "Der Mann auf einem Seil", served as the B-side

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 of Wencke Myhre

Wenche Myhre

Wenche Synnøve Myhre , in some countries known as Wencke Myhre, is a Norwegian singer and actress who has had a great number of hit songs since the 1960s in the Norwegian, German as well as the Swedish markets and languages.She got her first recording contract with composer and producer Arne...

's 1978 German hit "Lass mein Knie, Joe" ("It's a Heartache

It's a Heartache

"It's a Heartache" is a country rock song that was recorded separately by Bonnie Tyler and Juice Newton in 1977. Tyler's version charted in the UK in November 1977 and both versions charted in the United States in 1978. The song was also recorded by Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes in 1978, but it...

") (#16). A Finnish rendering: "Sä Oot Niin Kultainen", was recorded by Lea Laven for her 1978 album Aamulla rakkaani näin.

In 2011, Juice Newton

Juice Newton

Judith Kay "Juice" Newton is an American Pop music and Country singer, songwriter and guitarist...

released her own, newly recorded version of "Sweet, Sweet Smile" as a bonus track on her "The Ultimate Hits Collection" album.

Chart performance

Chart (1977)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	44
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	7
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	8
Canadian Singles Chart	33
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	6
Oricon (Japanese) Singles Chart	59
UK Singles Chart	40