''A Woman's Hand'' is a

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American country singer Jean Shepard. It was released in September 1970 by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

and was her sixteenth studio album. The collection of ten tracks featured a series of cover tunes by male country artists. Some of the songs were new material. Among them were its three singles: " Then He Touched Me", " I Want You Free" and the title track. Of the three, "Then He Touched Me" was its highest-charting, reaching the top ten on the US country chart. ''A Woman's Hand'' was reviewed positively by both ''

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'' and ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' magazines.

Background, recording and content

Jean Shepard was one of the first female country artists to find commercial success as solo act. Between the 1950s and 1970s, Shepard continuously made the country music popularity charts. In the late sixties, Shepard made the transition from working with Kelso Herston to aspiring record producer Larry Butler. Under his production, Shepard reached the top 20 with 1969's " Seven Lonely Days" and then reached the top ten with 1970's " Then He Touched Me". The latter would be featured on Shepard's ''A Woman's Hand'' LP. ''A Woman's Hand'' was Shepard's second studio album produced by Larry Butler. The project was recorded at the Columbia Studios (located in Nashville, Tennessee) in July 1969. The album project contained a total of ten tracks. Several of the songs on the album were covers of country hits by male performers. This included songs by Bill Anderson ("I'll Live for You"), Buck Owens ("Maybe If I Close My Eyes It'll Go Away") and

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

(" I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)"). Among its new songs was "Then He Touched Me", which was written by

George Richey George Richey (born George Baker Richardson; November 30, 1935 – July 31, 2010) was an American songwriter and record producer. He was born in Arkansas, but raised in Malden, Missouri. Career Richey was a mainstay of the Nashville country music ...

and Norro Wilson.

Release, critical reception and singles

''A Woman's Hand'' was released by Capitol Records in September 1970. It was Shepard's sixteenth studio album in her career. Capitol distributed the album as a vinyl LP, with five songs on either side of the record. The project received positive reviews from music magazines following its release. ''

'' wrote, "Emotion, tenderness and sincerity are spelled out in the voice of Jean Shepard as she sings these fine tunes." ''

'' magazine wrote, "A woman's hand can do a lot, but when the woman is Jean Shepard, her voice can do a lot more as is evidenced by this beautifully overpowering LP." A total of three singles were included on ''A Woman's Hand''. The first single released was "Then He Touched Me" in December 1969. The song became her ninth top ten single on the US ''Billboard''

country songs Country song may refer to: *National anthem, known as a "country song" in some languages * "Country Song" (Jake Bugg song), a 2011 song by British singer songwriter Jake Bugg * "Country Song" (Pink Floyd song), an untitled song by Pink Floyd from th ...

chart, peaking at number eight. March 1970 saw the release of the title track as the second single. It was rose to the US ''Billboard'' country top 30, peaking at number 23. The third and last single released was "I Want You Free" in July 1970. It was also a top 30 US country chart single, peaking at number 22.

Track listing

Release history

References

{{Jean Shepard 1970 albums Albums produced by Larry Butler (producer) Capitol Records albums Jean Shepard albums