''Inspiration'' 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 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 ...

artist

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...

. It was released in March 1969 via

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

and contained 11 tracks. It was Wynette's first collection of

inspirational music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

and her sixth studio album issued in her career. All of the album's songs were covers of

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

and other inspirational songs. It was received positively by several reviewers and charted on the American Country LP's chart following its original release.

Background, recording and content

Tammy Wynette was among country music's most popular artists during the 1960s and 1970s. Between 1968 and 1969 alone, she had five

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

reach the top of the American country songs chart. Among these songs was 1969's " Stand by Your Man", which became her most commercially-successful single. Epic Records released six studio albums by Wynette between 1969 and 1970. Following the '' Stand by Your Man'' LP, the label released Wynette's first album of religious music titled ''Inspiration''. The album was recorded in October 1968 at the Columbia Studio 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 ...

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger best known for his association with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Gl ...

served as the producer for the album's recording sessions. According to critic Thom Jurek, the album's traditional, religious material was modernized with a

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

production style. Jurek noted an emphasis on instruments such as the pedal steel guitar ,

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 ...

and "honky tonk upright pianos". ''Inspiration'' consisted of 11 tracks, all of which were covers of hymns or other inspirational numbers. The album opens with a cover of

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...

's "

You'll Never Walk Alone "You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''Carousel''. In the second act of the musical, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and enco ...

". Among its other covers are "

Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...

", "

How Great Thou Art "How Great Thou Art" is a Christian hymn based on an original Swedish hymn entitled "" written in 1885 by Carl Boberg (1859–1940). The English version of the hymn and its title are a loose translation by the English missionary Stuart K. Hine ...

" and " I Believe".

Release and reception

''Inspiration'' was originally released by Epic Records in March 1969. It was the sixth studio album of Wynette's career. The label initially issued it 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 ...

, containing five selections on "side A" and six selections on "side B". In 1998, the album was reissued by

Ranwood Records Ranwood Records was an American record label started in 1968 by Randy Wood (after he left Dot Records) and Lawrence Welk. Lawrence Welk owned all of the recordings that he released on Dot as they were produced and manufactured by Teleklew Produc ...

and

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

. The labels offered the album as both a

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 a

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, 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 rele ...

. A bonus track was also featured, which was Wynette's version of the hymn, " Precious Memories". It was reissued again in 2019 by Epic and Sony Legacy in a digital form. The album reached the American ''

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 ...

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 following its original release, peaking at number 19 in May 1969. On the ''Billboard'' 200, it reached number 189 during the same time period. The album received positive reception by writers and critics. In April 1969, ''Billboard'' magazine called it a "beautiful" and "inspiring" album. The publication also highlighted Wynette's singing, calling her vocal performance to have a "touch and go teardrop voice". Biographer Jimmy McDonough called it "a riveting collection of gospel numbers". He also noted that Wynette herself considered it among her most favorite album projects in her career. AllMusic's Thom Jurek gave the album three out of five stars. He found some selections to "pale in comparison" to the album's opener, "You'll Never Walk Alone". He also found other selections to be so "awe-inspiring" that they would make "a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

reconsider". Jurek concluded by saying, "This album may not appeal to everyone, but for those willing to consider it on its own terms, it's a gem."

Track listings

Vinyl version

CD version

Digital version

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the original

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 ''Inspiration''. Technical personnel * Bill Grimes – Photography * New World Photography – Photography * Don Richardson, Sr. – Liner notes * Billy Sherrill – Producer

Chart performance

Release history

References

Footnotes

Books

* {{Authority control 1969 albums Albums produced by Billy Sherrill Epic Records albums Tammy Wynette albums