''House of Love'' 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
Dottie West
Dorothy Marie Marsh West (October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and fellow recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most in ...
. It was released in May 1974 on
RCA Victor Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
and was produced by
Billy Davis. It was West's 22nd studio recording in her music career and contained ten tracks. Among its singles was the song "
Last Time I Saw", which became a top ten hit in 1974.
Background and content
''House of Love'' was recorded at the RCA Studio in January 1974. The sessions were produced by Billy Davis. Over the past several years, West had written music with Davis. Their songs were used as commercial jingles for the
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
company. However, after the success of their commercial (which was turned into a hit single) called "
Country Sunshine", Davis started producing West.
The album consisted of ten tracks.
Among its compositions was a song co-written by Davis, West and Byron Metcalf (her second husband). It also included a cover version of
Diana Ross
Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...
's pop hit from 1974, "
Last Time I Saw Him
''Last Time I Saw Him'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on December 6, 1973 by Motown Records. It reached #52 in the USA (#12 R&B) and sold over 200,000 copies.Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...
and a composition by
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...
.
Release and reception
''House of Love'' was released in May 1974 via RCA Victor Records and became West's 22nd studio album.
It was issued 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 five songs on each side of the record.
Unlike her previous studio release, ''House of Love'' did not reach the ''Billboard'' music charts, most notably the
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 a ...
chart. ''Billboard'' later reviewed ''House of Love'' and gave it a positive response. They praised the quality of the album's songs and its songwriting. "Utilizing some of the best songwriters around, Dottie has gathered some really great material for this album. Mostly soft ballads that she does with so much feeling, some up-tempo and some good country blues," writers commented.
The album included three singles that were released in 1974. "Last Time I Saw Him" was the first single released, which occurred in February 1974.
After 14 weeks on the ''Billboard''
Hot Country Singles
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 ...
chart, the single became a major hit, climbing to #8 by May. The title track was released as the album's second single in June 1974.
Spending 13 weeks chart, it eventually reached #21 on the country songs chart by September. "Lay Back Lover" was the final single released from the album (November 1974).
By early 1975, the song had reached #35 on the country songs list.
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 ''House of Love''.
Musical personnel
* Joe Allen — bass
* Brenton Banks —
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
* Bucky Barrett —
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
* George Binkley — violin
* Marvin Chantry —
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
*
Johnny Gimble
John Paul Gimble (May 30, 1926 – May 9, 2015) was an American country musician associated with Western swing. Gimble was considered one of the most important fiddlers in the genre. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 i ...
—
fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
* Martin Katahn — violin
* Sheldon Kurland — violin
* Byron Metcalf — Drums
* Martha McCrory —
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
*
Weldon Myrick
Weldon Myrick (born Weldon Merle Myrick; April 10, 1938 – June 2, 2014) was an American steel guitar player.steel guitar
A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...
* The Nashville Edition — background vocals
*
Kenny O'Dell
Kenneth Guy Gist Jr. (June 21, 1944 – March 27, 2018), known as Kenny O'Dell, was an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for writing the number-one country hits " Behind Closed Doors" (recorded by Charlie Rich, 1973) and ...
— acoustic guitar
* Ron Oates — piano, organ, vibes
* Dale Sellers — electric guitar
* Bobbe Seymour — steel guitar
* Steve Smith — violin
*
Buddy Spicher
Buddy Spicher (born July 28, 1938 in DuBois, Pennsylvania; pronounced “Spiker”) is an American country music fiddle player. He is a member of The Nashville A-Team of session musicians, and is Grammy-nominated. He was nominated as Instrumental ...
— fiddle
*
Henry Strzelecki
Henry Pershing Strzelecki (August 8, 1939 – December 30, 2014) was a Nashville studio musician who performed with Roy Orbison, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Eddy Arnold, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Ronnie Milsap, Merle Haggard, and man ...
— bass
* Chris Teal — violin
* Bobby Thompson — acoustic guitar, banjo
* David Vanderkooi — cello
* Gary Vanosdale — viola
* Bergen White — String arrangements
* Stephanie Woolf — violin
*
Chip Young
Chip Young (born Jerry Marvin Stembridge, May 19, 1938 – December 20, 2014) was an American session guitarist, and later record producer who worked primarily out of Nashville, Tennessee.
Biography
Chip Young was born Jerry Marvin Stembridge in ...
— acoustic guitar
Technical personnel
* Billy Davis — producer
* Al Pachucki — engineering
* Bill Vandevort — engineering
Release history
References
{{Authority control
1974 albums
Dottie West albums
RCA Records albums