''Happy Journey'' is a studio album 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–songwriter Hank Locklin. It was released in January 1962 via RCA Victor Records and was produced by Chet Atkins. ''Happy Journey'' was Locklin's third studio album released in his recording career. It contained a total of 12 tracks, three of which were hits on the country chart: "

You're the Reason "You're the Reason" is a song by Bobby Edwards, released as a single in the United States in 1961. The song reached number four on the Hot C&W Sides chart and number 11 on the Hot 100 chart. Chart performance Bobby Edwards Joe South Hank ...

," " Happy Birthday to Me" and the title track. It included a combination of new recordings and cover versions of songs previously recorded by other artists.

Background and content

In 1960, Hank Locklin had achieved his biggest hit with "

Please Help Me, I'm Falling "Please Help Me, I'm Falling" is a 1960 song written by Don Robertson and Hal Blair and first recorded by Hank Locklin. The single was Locklin's most successful recording and was his second number one on the country charts. "Please Help Me, I'm F ...

." The song topped the country charts but also became an international hit. From its success, he had several follow-up hits which would also prove to be successful. Several of these hits would be included in Locklin's album, ''Happy Journey.'' The sessions for the album took place between 1960 and 1961 in the RCA Studio, located in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. The sessions were produced by Chet Atkins. He had also produced Locklin's two previous studio efforts for the RCA label in 1958 and 1960. ''Happy Journey'' contained a total of 12 tracks, all of which were written by other songwriters. Many of these tracks were cover versions of songs first made famous by other music artists. This included a cover of

Bobby Edwards Bobby Edwards (born Robert Edward Moncrief; January 18, 1926 – July 31, 2012) was an American country music singer who recorded between 1959 and 1969. At the beginning of his career he performed and recorded under the name Bobby Moncrief. T ...

' "You're the Reason," Don Gibson's " I Can't Stop Loving You" and Tex Ritter's " Jealous Heart." Locklin also re-recorded his 1953 hit, " Let Me Be the One," which he first cut for the Four Star label. New material for the album included the title track, "Happy Birthday to Me" and "Johnny My Love (Grandma's Diary)."

Release

''Happy Journey'' was released in January 1962 on RCA Victor Records. It was Locklin's third studio album issued in his career. The record 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 a ...

, containing six tracks on both sides of the record. In total the album contained three singles that were major hits for Locklin. The first to be a hit was "You're the Reason," which was released in July 1961. The single spent 12 weeks on the ''

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 ...

Hot Country Songs 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 ...

and peaked at number 14 by November. Its

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

was "Happy Birthday to Me." The song also became a hit in November 1961, peaking at number seven on the ''Billboard'' country singles chart. The final single included in the album was its title track, which was released as a single in November 1961. It spent a total of 12 weeks on the ''Billboard'' country survey and peaked at number ten on the list in February 1962.

Track listing

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 desce ...

of ''Happy Journey''. Musical personnel *

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "half step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signature ...

– piano * Buddy Harman – drums *

Hank Garland Walter Louis Garland (11 November 1930 – 27 December 2004), professionally Hank Garland, was an American guitarist and songwriter. He started as a country musician, played rock and roll as it became popular in the 1950s, and released a jazz al ...

– guitar * The Jordanaires – background vocals *

Anita Kerr Anita Jean Kerr (née Grilli, October 13, 1927 – October 10, 2022) was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Eur ...

–

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

* The Anita Kerr Singers – background vocals * Hank Locklin – lead vocals * Dutch McMillin – saxophone *

Bob Moore Bob Loyce Moore (November 30, 1932 – September 22, 2021) was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented record ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Velma Smith – guitar *

Gordon Stoker The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocal ...

– accordion Technical personnel * Chet Atkins – producer * Archie Campbell – liner notes * Bill Porter – engineer

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1962 albums Albums produced by Chet Atkins Hank Locklin albums RCA Victor albums