Penned by Bill Anderson, the disc topped the country chart and prompted her record label to release her debut studio album.

Additionally, singer and songwriter Willie Nelson composed the album's track, "Darling, Are You Ever Coming Home".

[5] "Once a Day" was released in August 1964, and peaked at number one on November 28, spending eight weeks at the top spot.

Reviewer, Dan Cooper called Smith's voice to be, "blowing through the Nashville Sound production like a down-home Streisand fronting The Lennon Sisters.

The songs "Once a Day," "Tiny Blue Transistor Radio," and "I Don't Love You Anymore" as "classic examples of the style."

The website later concluded by stating, "Them folks at the label could make a lot of people really happy if they just reissued this album whole, as is, and let us hear what Smith sounded like coming out the gate.