''Black & White'' is a studio album by American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
artist
Janie Frickie
Jane Marie Fricke ( ; born December 19, 1947), known professionally as Janie Fricke, is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and clothing designer. She has placed seventeen singles in the top ten of the ''Billboard'' Ho ...
. It was released via
Columbia Records in July 1986. The project marked the eleventh studio album released in Frickie's music career. The album contained ten tracks of material that mixed country with
blues styles. It was the first and only album in Fricke's career to top the America's ''
Billboard''
country LP's chart. Its two
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 ...
releases would reach ''Billboard'' chart positions, beginning with "
Always Have, Always Will."
Background and content
Janie Frickie had become among the most commercially successful country artists of the 1980s, having a series of number one and top ten songs.
Her popular recordings varies in musical styles that ranged from ballads to up-tempo country pop material. These styles changed with each producer Frickie worked with during the decade. After working on several albums with
Bob Montgomery, Fricke collaborated with producer
Norro Wilson
Norris Denton "Norro" Wilson (April 4, 1938 – June 8, 2017) was an American country music singer-songwriter, producer, and member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Wilson wrote or co-wrote numerous hit songs during more than 40 ye ...
for 1986's ''Black & White''.
The album was produced in March 1986 at the Merit Recording Studio, located in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
. Wilson served as the project's only producer.
''Black & White'' was a collection of ten tracks.
The album consisted of both new recordings and covers of previously recorded material. Among its new tracks was Frickie's self-penned "I'd Take You Back Again",
Kent Robbins
Kent Marshall Robbins (April 23, 1947 – December 27, 1997) was an American country music songwriter.
Robbins was born in Mayfield, Kentucky. He began writing for Charley Pride's Pi-Gem music in 1974. Between then and his death, he wrote song ...
's "Treat Me Like a Vacation" and Johnny Mears's "Always Have, Always Will". Also included was a cover of the country song "
Till I Can't Take It Anymore
"Till I Can't Take It Anymore" is a song written by Clyde Otis and Ulysses Burton. It was first recorded by Ben E King in 1968. The song was featured in The Soul Clan's self-titled album ''The Soul Clan''. Dottie West and Don Gibson's version ch ...
".
Billy Joe Royal
Billy Joe Royal (April 3, 1942 – October 6, 2015) was an American country soul singer. His most successful record was " Down in the Boondocks" in 1965.
Life and career
Born in Valdosta, Georgia, to Clarence and Mary Sue Smith Royal, and rai ...
would later take his version of the song to the top five on the ''Billboard'' country chart in 1989.
Release, reception and singles
''Black & White'' was originally released in July 1986 on Columbia Records. It was Frickie's eleventh studio album released in her career. The album was distributed as a
vinyl LP
The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...
,
cassette
Cassette may refer to:
Technology
* Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback
** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in th ...
and
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...
.
In later years, the disc was re-released to digital platforms including
Apple Music
Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...
.
Due to constant mispronunciations of her last name, Columbia changed the spelling from "Fricke" to "Frickie" for ''Black & White''. The album was the first in Fricke's career to reach the number one spot on the ''Billboard''
Top Country Albums
Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales ...
chart.
The disc received positive review from critics. Jack Hurst of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' described it as "excellent" in 1986.
Writer Kurt Wolff praised Fricke's voice, calling it "gutsy" and "bluesy".
Two singles were spawned from ''Black & White''. The first was "Always Have, Always Will", which was issued by Columbia Records in June 1986. The song reached the number one spot on ''Billboards
Hot Country Songs chart in October 1986. It was Fricke's final number one single in her career.
In October 1986, "When a Woman Cries" was issued as the second and final single.
In early 1987, the single peaked at number 20 on the ''Billboard'' country chart, becoming her last top 20 song in her career.
Both singles reached similar chart positions on Canada's ''
RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
'' Country survey. "Always Have, Always Will" topped the ''RPM'' chart while "When a Woman Cries" climbed to the number ten spot.
Track listing
Vinyl and cassette versions
Compact disc and digital versions
Personnel
All credits are adapted from the
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desc ...
of ''Black & White''.
Musical personnel
* Michael Bowden – Musician
* Eddie Burton – Musician
* Thomas Brumley – Musician
*
Steve Cropper – Musician
* Walter Cunningham – Musician
* Janie Frickie – Lead vocals
* John Gardner – Musician
* Vickie Hampton – Background vocals
*
James Horn
James Horn (5 February 1855 – 11 December 1932) was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament from Otago, New Zealand.
Biography Early life
Horn was born in Inverkethney, Banffshire, Scotland and came to Otago in 1879. He was a storekeeper at Ba ...
– Musician
* Ronnie Hughes – Musician
* Bill Hullett – Musician
* Mike Lawler – Musician
* Sam Levine – Musician
* Randy McCormick – Musician
*
John Neel – Musician
*
Gary Nicholson – Musician
* Gary Prim – Musician
* Lisa Silver – Background vocals
* Robb Strandlund – Musician
* Diane Tidwell – Background vocals
*
John Ware – Musician
* Bill Warren – Background vocals
* Tony Wiggins – Background vocals
* Benny Wilson – Background vocals
Technical personnel
* Denny – Lacquer cut
* Tom Pick – Engineer
* Danny Purcell – Mastering
* Randee St. Nicholas – Photography
* Norro Wilson – Producer
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Release history
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black and White (Janie Fricke Album)
1986 albums
Albums produced by Norro Wilson
Janie Fricke albums
Columbia Records albums