"Beautiful Lies" is a song written by

Jack Rhodes Andrew Jackson "Jack" Rhodes (January 12, 1907 – October 9, 1968) was an American country music producer and songwriter, with songwriting credits on over 625 released songs. Several of his songs became hit records, including "A Satisfied Mind" ...

and recorded by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer

Jean Shepard Ollie Imogene "Jean" Shepard (November 21, 1933 – September 25, 2016) was an American honky-tonk singer-songwriter who pioneered for women in country music. Shepard released a total of 73 singles to the Hot Country Songs chart, one of which ...

. It was released in September 1955 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 ...

as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

. It became Shepard's fifth top ten single on the US country chart in her career and was given positive reception by critics.

Background, recording and content

Jean Shepard recorded a pair of duets with

Ferlin Husky Ferlin Eugene Husky (December 3, 1925 – March 17, 2011) was an early American country music singer who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky-tonk, ballads, spoken recitations, and rockabilly pop tunes. He had two dozen top-20 hit ...

in 1953 ("

A Dear John Letter "A Dear John Letter", or "Dear John" is the name of a popular country music song, written by Billy Barton, Fuzzy Owen and Lewis Talley. It was popularized by Ferlin Husky and Jean Shepard, and was a crossover country-pop hit in 1953. The song p ...

" and " Forgive Me, John") that both became commercial successes. As a solo artist, she had her first commercial success with 1955's "

A Satisfied Mind "A Satisfied Mind" is a song written by Joe "Red" Hayes and Jack Rhodes. Hayes explained the origin of the song in an interview: "The song came from my mother. Everything in the song are things I heard her say over the years. I put a lot of thou ...

". This would be followed the same year by "Beautiful Lies". The song was composed by

. The song's main character insists he tells her words she wants to hear even if he does not believe them himself. Shepard recorded the track at

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

Capitol Studios Capitol Studios are recording studios located at the landmark Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, California. The studios, which opened in 1956, were initially the primary recording studios for the American record label Capitol Records. While t ...

in April 1955. The session was produced by Ken Nelson.

Release, critical reception and chart performance

"Beautiful Lies" was released by Capitol Records as a seven-inch vinyl record single in September 1955. On the A side was the track "

I Thought of You "I Thought of You" is a popular song composed by Jimmy Rollins. Rollins copyrighted it in 1955 and renewed the copyright in 1983. The song was recorded as single by American country music artist Jean Shepard. It was released on the B-side of t ...

". The song received a positive reception following its release. ''

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 ...

'' magazine described the track as "feelingful". When reviewing Shepard's box set ''The Melody Ranch Girl'' (which featured "Beautiful Lies"),

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Thom Owens wrote that Shepard's performance on the track was full of "fiery, passionate honky tonk". Shepard herself said of the track, "I like the song but I had a lot that I liked better." "Beautiful Lies" made a higher position on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

country chart Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

than its A-side "I Thought of You". Entering the chart in October 1955, "Beautiful Lies" reached the number four position later that year. It became her fifth top ten ''Billboard'' country single and third as a solo artist.

Track listing

7" vinyl single * "

" – 2:35 * "Beautiful Lies" – 2:46

Charts

References

{{authority control 1955 songs 1955 singles Capitol Records singles Jean Shepard songs Songs written by Jack Rhodes Song recordings produced by Ken Nelson (American record producer)