Verdelle Smith

Verdelle Smith, born Asbury Verdelle Smith in 1939 in Petersburg, Florida, is an American soul singer and actress. After moving to Neptune, New Jersey at age one, she graduated from Asbury Park High School in 1958 and later earned a humanities degree from Touro College in the 1980s. Verdelle Smith’s music career began in New York City, where she partnered with Billy Byrd in a song‑and‑dance act that toured Catskill hotels before securing a contract with Columbia Records; their first release was "Juanito" in 1965. Her breakthrough came in 1966 with the single "Tar and Cement", an English adaptation of Adriano Celentano’s Italian hit "Il ragazzo della via Gluck", which reached Number Two in Australia and Number Thirty‑Eight in the United States. That same year she released the album (Alone) In My Room on Capitol Records, featuring "In My Room" and "Walk Tall", the latter reaching Number Fifty‑Seven in Canada. Verdelle Smith also recorded "I Don't Need Anything" and "If You Can't Say Anything Nice" in 1966. Her career included appearances with the Harlem Y Drama Workshop, earning the Most Promising Actress award in 1965 and a Best Supporting Actress nomination in 1966. Originally released in France as The Complete Recordings in 2005, the compilation was reissued by The Omni Recording Corporation in 2013 as Tar and Cement-The Complete Recordings 1965–1967.

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