[3] In the early 1960's, Smith appeared on TV Gospel Time, a show designed to appeal to black audiences.

She first won notice singing with Big Tiny Little in the early 1970s, but became internationally known in 1974 when she played Bessie Smith (to whom she is of no relation) in Dick Hyman's Satchmo Remembered at Carnegie Hall.

[2] Smith then launched a solo career, performing with the New York Jazz Repertory Orchestra, Tyree Glenn (1973), Yank Lawson (1987), and the World's Greatest Jazz Band, in addition to recording numerous solo albums.

[4] The liner notes to the CD reissue of Only You Can Do It, featured laudatory remarks from jazz critics Rex Reed, Leonard Feather, Richard Sudhalter, and John S. Wilson.

The album, produced by Ben Arrigo for GPRT Records, featured the compositions of Gladys Shelley.