R.I.P.: Smith Singer Gayle McCormick

Gayle McCormick, lead singer of the Los Angeles-based psychedelic blues-rock band Smith, died of cancer on Tuesday, March 1.

She was 67.

Smith’s 1969 cover of the 1961 Shirelles hit “Baby It’s You,” a song co-written by Burt Bacharach, peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, three spots higher than the Shirelles’ version. The band’s debut album, A Group Called Smith, made it to #17 on Billboard’s pop albums chart. Smith released one more album, 1970’s Minus-Plus, and McCormick then went solo.

The St. Louis-born singer put out a trio of albums during the first half of the 1970s, and found her biggest solo success with the 1971 single “It’s a Cryin’ Shame,” which peaked at #44 on the Billboard chart.