Lonely Hearts Club | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | February 1978 | |||
Recorded | August 1977 | |||
Studio | Jack Clement Recording (Nashville, Tennessee) | |||
Genre | ||||
Label | United Artists | |||
Producer | Larry Butler | |||
Billie Jo Spears chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from If You Want Me | ||||
|
Lonely Hearts Club is a studio album by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. It was released in February 1978 via United Artists Records and contained 11 tracks. The album featured mostly new recordings, which included three singles: the title track, "I've Got to Go" "'57 Chevrolet". All three recordings reached the top 20 of the American country chart, while also reaching top positions in Canada. The album itself reached the American country albums chart. Lonely Hearts Club was met with positive reviews from critics.
Billie Jo Spears reached the peak of her career while recording for United Artists Records in the 1970s. She topped the country charts with "Blanket on the Ground" (1975) and had three top ten singles with "What I've Got in Mind" (1976), "Misty Blue" (1976) and "If You Want Me" (1977). A string of top 20 singles followed through the decade, including "Lonely Hearts Club". [3] The song would serve as the title for Spears's 1978 studio album. The project was recorded in August 1977 at the Jack Clement Recording Studio, located in Nashville, Tennessee. The sessions were produced by Larry Butler. [4]
Lonely Hearts Club consisted of 11 tracks. [1] Featured were five songs written by Larry Butler: the title track, "There's More to a Tear (Than Meets the Eye)", "That's the Way It Is", "The Lovin' Kind" and "I've Got to Go". Songwriter Roger Bowling co-wrote the latter recordings with Butler, along with solely writing the track "'57 Chevrolet". Spears herself contributed to the writing of "There's More to a Tear (Than Meets the Eye)". [4] The album project was described as having both traditional country and pop sounds. [5] [2]
Lonely Hearts Club was released by United Artists Records in February 1978. It was the thirteenth studio album of Spears's career. The label distributed it as a vinyl LP and a cassette. [4] [6] The album was met with positive reviews. Cashbox magazine praised the production of Larry Butler in their review: "Larry Butler manages to dress up country music with pop flavor without destroying the basic feel'." They also described Spears as a "versatile vocalist" who often recorded material with a "strong storyline". [2] Alan Cackett of Country Music People magazine called it "her most commercial album so far". Cackett also noted that Spears's vocal delivery was stronger on the album: "For the first time since she left Capitol, Billie Jo is allowed to use the full scope of her voice on an album without the listener having to strain to hear it through layers of instrumental work." [5]
Lonely Hearts Club entered America's Billboard Top Country Albums chart in April 1978. It reached its peak position of 46 on the chart and spent three weeks on Billboard in total. It was Spears's second to last album appearance on the Billboard country survey. [7] A total of three singles were spawned from the Lonely Hearts Club. The title track was the first single issued for the intended project. United Artists first released it in December 1977. [8] It reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in America [9] and number nine on Canada's RPM Country chart. [10] "I've Got to Go" was released as the second single in March 1978. [11] The single reached number 17 on the Billboard country chart and number 26 on the RPM country chart. [9] [10] "'57 Chevrolet" was then issued as the final single in July 1978. [12] It reached number 16 on the Billboard country songs chart and number 12 on the RPM country tracks chart. [9] [10]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Lonely Hearts Club" | 2:41 | |
2. | "There's More to a Tear (Than Meets the Eye)" |
| 2:48 |
3. | "That's the Way It Is" |
| 3:04 |
4. | "The Lovin' Kind" |
| 3:20 |
5. | "Last Night Ev'ry Night" |
| 2:35 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "I've Got to Go" |
| 2:37 |
2. | "'57 Chevrolet" | R. Bowling | 2:48 |
3. | "Lover's Reunion" |
| 3:36 |
4. | "His Little Something on the Side" |
| 2:39 |
5. | "All the Love I Have to Give You" | E. Bruce | 2:03 |
6. | "The Last Rose of Summer" | J. Chesnut | 2:57 |
All credits are adapted from the liner notes of Lonely Hearts Club. [4]
Musical personnel
|
| Technical personnel
|
Chart (1978) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Top Country Albums (Billboard) [13] | 46 |
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Germany | February 1978 | Vinyl LP | United Artists Records | [14] |
New Zealand | [15] | |||
North America | [4] | |||
United Kingdom |
| [6] | ||
Billie Jo Spears was an American country music singer. She was known for a series of singles whose characters often represented women in assertive positions. Among these recordings was a song about sexual harassment, and a song about rekindling sexual desire ".
The discography of American country artist, Billie Jo Spears, contains 24 studio albums, 14 compilation albums, one video album, 53 singles, one charting song and has appeared on one album. Spears's first singles were issued at United Artists Records before switching to Capitol Records. The 1969 single, "Mr. Walker, It's All Over", reached the top ten on the American and Canadian country songs charts. An album of the same name followed that reached the top 30 on the American country albums chart. Her remaining years with Capitol Records failed to prove any further commercial success. The label issued four more studio albums by Spears through 1971, along with four more top 40 singles.
Blanket on the Ground is a studio album by American country artist, Billie Jo Spears. It was released in February 1975 via United Artists Records and contained ten tracks. It was the seventh studio album of Spears's music career and her first with the United Artists label. The disc featured mostly ballads, many of which were cover tunes. The album was anchored by its title track, which topped the American country chart and became a pop commercial success in several countries. The disc itself reached the top five of the American country albums chart as well. AllMusic later gave the disc four out of five stars.
Billie Jo is a studio album by American country artist, Billie Jo Spears. It was released in October 1975 via United Artists Records and contained ten tracks. A mixture of new recordings and cover tunes were featured on the disc. Among them were the singles, "Stay Away from the Apple Tree" and "Silver Wings and Golden Rings". Both singles reached the top 20 of the North American country charts in 1975. The album itself reached the top 50 of the American country albums chart. It was the eighth studio album of Spears's career and her second with the United Artists label.
I Will Survive is a studio album by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. It was released in May 1979 via United Artists Records and contained ten tracks. It was the fifteenth studio album of her career. The album project was contained new recordings, along with several cover tunes. Among these covers was Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive". Spears's version was released as the album's lead single, reaching the top 50 of the UK pop chart, the top 30 of the American country chart and the top ten of the Canadian country chart. It was followed by two more singles that year. The album was given positive reviews by critics.
"What I've Got in Mind" is a song written by Kenny O'Dell that was originally recorded by American country artist, Billie Jo Spears. It was released as a single in 1976 and became a top single in the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was one of top ten singles Spears had during the decade. It was issued on Spears's studio album of the same name in 1976.
"Sing Me an Old Fashioned Song" is a song originally recorded by American country artist, Billie Jo Spears. It was composed by Larry Henley and Johnny Slate. It was first issued as an album track on Spears's 1976 studio album What I've Got Mind. It was then spawned as the third single from the album that year. It was distributed outside of North America, where it reached charting positions in several countries.
What I've Got in Mind is a studio album by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. It was released in June 1976 via United Artists Records and was the ninth studio album of her career. The disc contained a total of ten tracks, mixing both original recordings with cover tunes. Among its tracks were three singles: the title track, "Misty Blue" and "Sing Me an Old Fashioned Song". Both the title song and "Misty Blue" reached the top five of the North American country charts. "Sing Me an Old Fashioned Song" was released overseas where it made chart positions internationally. The album itself reached the top ten on the American country albums chart and the top 50 of the UK Albums chart. Country Music People gave the disc a positive review.
"I'm Not Easy" is a song first recorded by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. Written by David Chamberlain and Jim Vest, it was released as a single in 1977 and became top 20 charting country single in the United States. The song also served as the title track to Spears's 1976 studio album.
I'm Not Easy is a studio album by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. It was released in November 1976 via United Artists Records and contained 11 tracks. The disc featured many ballads, along with some uptempo tracks. Of its tracks, two singles were spawned: "Never Did Like Whiskey" and the title track. Both reached top 20 positions on the American country charts between 1976 and 1977. The disc itself charted on the American country albums chart and received mainly positive reviews from music publications.
If You Want Me is a studio album by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. In the United Kingdom, the album was titled as Every Time I Sing a Love Song It was released on United Artists Records in June 1977 and contained ten tracks. Most of the album's material were new recordings, along with some cover tunes. It was the twelfth studio album of her career. Two singles were included on the disc: the title track and "Too Much Is Not Enough". Both reached the top ten and top 20 of the North American country charts in 1977. The album itself also charted on the American country albums survey. It received mixed reviews from critics.
"Lonely Hearts Club" is a song originally recorded by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. It was composed by Gene Simmons, Roger Bowling and Larry Butler. It was released as a single via United Artists Records in 1977, reaching the top 20 of the American country chart and the top ten of the Canadian country chart. It served as the title track of Spears's 1978 studio album.
"I've Got to Go" is a song originally recorded by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. It was written by Roger Bowling and Larry Butler. Released as a single in 1978 by United Artists Records, the song reached the top 20 of the American country chart and the top 30 of the Canadian country chart. It was spawned from Spears's 1978 studio album titled Lonely Hearts Club.
"'57 Chevrolet" is a song written by Roger Bowling that was originally recorded by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. It was released as a single by United Artists Records in 1978 and reached the top 20 of the American and Canadian country songs charts. It was also included on Spears's 1978 studio album titled Lonely Hearts Club. It was reviewed positively by critics following its release.
"Love Ain't Gonna Wait for Us" is a song originally recorded by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. Written by Larry Butler and Ben Peters, the song was released as a single by United Artists Records in October 1978. It reached the top 30 of the American country chart later in the year and served as the title track for Spears's 1978 studio LP. It was given a positive review from Record World magazine.
"Livin' Our Love Together" is a song written by Ben Peters that was originally recorded by American country artist, Billie Jo Spears. It was released as a single by United Artists Records in 1979 and reached the top 40 of the North American country charts. It was included on Spears's 1979 studio album I Will Survive. The track was given favorable reviews following its release.
"Rainy Days and Stormy Nights" is a song written by Charlie Craig that was originally recorded by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. The track was one of three singles spawned from her 1979 studio album titled I Will Survive. The song reached the top 30 of the American country chart and the top 20 of the Canadian country chart.
Love Ain't Gonna Wait for Us is a studio album by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. It was released in October 1978 via United Artists Records and contained ten tracks. The disc featured mostly new recordings, along with several cover tunes. It featured a country pop production, overseen by Larry Butler. Two singles were spawned from the album: the title track and a cover of "Yesterday". It received a positive reception from Cashbox magazine.
"Standing Tall" is a song co-written by Larry Butler and Ben Peters. It was originally recorded by American country music artist Tammy Wynette on her 1978 album Womanhood. One of its most notable version is a version recorded by Billie Jo Spears shortly afterward. It was first cut for Spears's 1978 album and was re-recorded and released as a single in 1980. Spears's second version reached the top 20 of the American country chart and the top ten of the Canadian country chart. "Standing Tall" would later be re-recorded by several artists, notably Lorrie Morgan, who released her version as a single in 1995.
Standing Tall is a studio album by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. It was released in February 1980 via United Artists Records and contained ten tracks. The collection contained cover songs along with new material. Of its new recordings were two singles: the title track and "Natural Attraction". The title tune was a top 20 single on the American country chart and a top ten single on the Canadian country chart. The album reached the top 70 of the American country albums chart and received positive reviews from critics.