''Sweet and Sentimental'' 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, Jan Howard. It was released in August 1962 via

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

and contained 12 tracks. The disc was a collection of country and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

covers and was her only album for the Capitol label.

Background and recording

Jan Howard had recently risen to country music commercial success after having a top 20 ''

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 ...

'' single with "

The One You Slip Around With "The One You Slip Around With" is a single by American country music artist Jan Howard. Released in October 1959, the song reached #13 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart, becoming Howard's first major hit single. The single was later ...

". In 1962, her recording contract with the smaller

Challenge Challenge may refer to: * Voter challenging or caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters * Euphemism for disability * Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty Places Geography *Challenge, C ...

label was bought by the larger

company. Initially, Howard recorded several sides with an unnamed producer. However, she later reported in her autobiography that the original sessions were "a disaster". Upset with the sessions, Howard contacted Capitol producer, Ken Nelson. He agreed to produce her next sessions. The recording sessions for the album were held between February and May 1962. The sessions took place at the Columbia 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 ...

and were produced by Nelson.

Content

''Sweet and Sentimental'' consisted of 12 tracks. Nelson attempted to market Howard's music towards a

and

Nashville Sound The Nashville Sound originated during the mid-1950s as a subgenre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of the rough honky tonk music, which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s, with "smooth strings and choruses", "sophist ...

direction. This resulted in several pop cover recordings to appear on the album. Pop covers included Nat King Cole's number five ''

'' pop single, " Looking Back", and

Toni Arden Antoinette Ardizzone (February 15, 1924 – May 29, 2012), known professionally as Toni Arden, was an American traditional pop music singer. Family Arden was born in New York City. Her father, Phillip Ardizzone, was a singer with the Metropolit ...

's number 13 ''Billboard'' pop song, " Padre". Howard also covered

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

's top ten pop single, " Everybody Loves a Lover". Several covers of popular country songs were also featured on the project. Among them was Marty Robbins's " Don't Worry", Ray Price's " Heartaches by the Number", Billy Walker's " Funny How Time Slips Away" and Harlan Howard's " He Called Me Baby". Several new selections were also part of the album. Many of these recordings were penned by Jan's husband, Harlan Howard, such as "Belle of the Ball", "They Listened While You Said Goodbye" and "This Sad Old House". The latter recording was co-written by Carlos Minor and was his first composition to be recorded by another artist. "This is my first song on a major record label, and I am happy and proud to say that it was two fine people in country music who helped me to the break," Minor told ''Billboard'' magazine.

Release and singles

''Sweet and Sentimental'' was released in August 1962 on Capitol Records. It was Howard's debut studio album in her recording career and her only album on the Capitol label. It was originally 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 ...

, consisting of six songs on either side of the record. On the album's original release, background singing group, The Jordanaires, were given dual credit. On the disc it was labeled as "Jan Howard with The Jordanaires". In 2013, it was re-released digitally for music download and streaming purposes. It was distributed through the label, Marmot Music. One

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 ...

was later spawned from the album. Howard's version of "Looking Back" was issued by Capitol Records in November 1962.

Track listing

Technical 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 ''Sweet and Sentimental''. * Jan Howard – Lead vocals * The Jordanaires – Background vocals * Ken Nelson – Producer * Ken Weedler – Cover photo

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1962 debut albums Albums produced by Ken Nelson (United States record producer) Capitol Records albums Jan Howard albums