Sara Smile

"Sara Smile" is a song written and recorded by the American musical duo Hall & Oates. It was released in January 1976 as the second single from their album Daryl Hall & John Oates. The song was the group's first Top 10 hit in the US, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100.

Hall & Oates version

"Sara Smile" was the second single released from Hall & Oates' 1975 self-titled album for RCA Records. Co-written by both halves of the duo, it was Hall & Oates's breakthrough single, with a #4 peak on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1976. It was written about Hall's then-girlfriend, Sara Allen. The couple was together for almost 30 years before breaking up in 2001.

Critical reception

Nathan Brackett and Christian Hoard, in the Rolling Stone album guide, referred to the song as a "love bead ballad," and Steve Pond of the Los Angeles Times cited it as an example of the duo's R&B influences. Following the success of "Sara Smile," the Atlantic Records label re-released the duo's previous single, "She's Gone."

Sara Smile (album)

Sara Smile is the third studio album by American country music singer Jimmy Wayne. It was released on November 23, 2009 by Valory Music Group, an imprint of Big Machine Records. The album's title track is a cover of Hall & Oates' 1976 single, as well as the first single from it. Dann Huff, Mark Bright and Nathan Chapman produced the album.

Content

Wayne co-wrote four of the album's tracks: "Just Knowing You Love Me," "Just Look at You," "I'll Never Leave You" and "Elephant Ears." The title track and lead-off single is a rendition of Hall & Oates' 1976 single, featuring backing vocals from the duo. Also included is the song "Things I Believe," which fellow country singer Keith Urban wrote with John Shanks, as well as "Belongs to You," previously released as a single by Canadian country band Emerson Drive on its 2009 album Believe. Additionally, "I'll Never Leave You" was a non-charting single released by Wayne to country radio in 2007, but was not included on a previous album.