''Jan Howard'' is the seventh studio album released 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

Jan Howard Jan Howard (born Lula Grace Johnson; March 13, 1929 – March 28, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. As a singer, she placed 30 singles on the ''Billboard'' country songs chart, was a Grand Ole Opry member and was nomin ...

. The album was released in June 1969 on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

and was produced by

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sou ...

. The album spawned three singles, including the major hit "

My Son My or MY may refer to: Arts and entertainment * My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station * Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe * ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak * ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon Business * Market ...

". The album would also reach peak positions 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 ...

'' country chart upon its release.

Background and content

Howard's eponymous studio album was recorded at

Bradley's Barn ''Bradley's Barn'' is the fifth studio album by American rock group The Beau Brummels. Released in October 1968, it contains the singles "Long Walking Down to Misery" and "Cherokee Girl." The album has received critical acclaim as an early examp ...

, located in

Mount Juliet, Tennessee Mt. Juliet (also referred to as Mount Juliet) is a city located in western Wilson County, Tennessee. A suburb of Nashville, it is approximately east of downtown Nashville. Mt. Juliet is located mostly between two major national east-west routes, ...

. It was recorded in three sessions during 1968, a year before its official release. The album's tracks were produced by

, whom Howard had been collaborating with since signing with the

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

label. The album contained 10 tracks, many of which were written by other songwriters and artists. This included several tracks written by Bill Anderson, such as "

Happy State of Mind "Happy State of Mind" is a single by American country music artist Bill Anderson. Released in July 1968, it was the first single from his album ''Happy State of Mind''. The song peaked at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart. It ...

" and "

I Still Believe in Love "I Still Believe in Love" is a single by American country music artist Jan Howard. Released in July 1968, the song reached #28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart. The single was later released on Howard's 1969 self-titled album. The son ...

". The album also included

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960 ...

's "

Ribbon of Darkness "Ribbon of Darkness" is a song written by Gordon Lightfoot that was released in 1965 as a single by Marty Robbins. The song was Robbins' eleventh number one on the U.S. country singles chart, where it spent one week at the top and a total of nin ...

" and

Dallas Frazier Dallas Frazier (October 27, 1939 – January 14, 2022) was an American country musician and songwriter who had success in the 1950s and 1960s. Life and career Frazier was born in Spiro, Oklahoma, on October 27, 1939, but was raised in Bakersfie ...

's " Until My Dreams Come True". The fifth track, "

", was written entirely by Howard and was originally a letter written to her son fighting in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Howard's son would later be killed in battle before the song had become a major hit. The record's liner notes included a commentary by Bill Anderson. In his message, Anderson thanks Howard for their professional relationship and friendship. He also praises the tracks "My Son" and "When We Tried".

Release and reception

''Jan Howard'' was officially released in June 1969 via

on a

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

record format. The vinyl edition included 5 tracks on both sides of the record. The album reached number 25 on the ''

'' Country Albums chart in July 1969. The album also included three singles, one of which became a major hit in the United States. The first single issued was "

", which peaked at number 27 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 second single was Howard's self-written "My Son", which became a major hit, reaching number 15 on the ''Billboard'' country singles chart. "When We Tried" was the album's final single, peaking at number 24 on the country singles chart. Additionally, "I Still Believe in Love" and "My Son" would charted on Canada's '' RPM Country Tracks'' chart. "I Still Believe in Love" became a major hit on the ''RPM'' country chart, reaching number 8 in 1968.

Track listing

Personnel

* Bill Anderson –

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 ...

–

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

– lead vocals, background vocals

Chart performance

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1969 albums Jan Howard albums Albums produced by Owen Bradley Decca Records albums