''Heartbreaker'' is the twentieth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

. It was released on July 17, 1978, by RCA Victor. The album was produced by Gary Klein and Parton with

Charles Koppelman Charles Koppelman (March 30, 1940 – November 25, 2022) was an American musician, music producer, and businessman. He held executive positions at EMI and Steve Madden, and he was Chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. At the time of his ...

serving as executive producer, and was an even more direct aim at the pop charts, with several of its songs verging on disco. The album topped the '' Billboard''

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 ...

chart for nine consecutive weeks and peaked at number 27 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album produced two number one hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart, "Heartbreaker" and "I Really Got the Feeling", while "Baby I'm Burnin'" peaked at number 25 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The album has been certified Gold in the United States and Canada.

Content

Following the success of 1977's ''

Here You Come Again ''Here You Come Again'' is the nineteenth solo studio album by Dolly Parton. It was released on October 3, 1977, by RCA Victor. It was Parton's first album to be certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipping a mil ...

'', Parton again teamed up with producer Gary Klein for her follow-up album. The album furthers her transition into pop music and features disco influences as well. The album cover, a

gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½ inch, or 32.7 centimetre square). The larger gatefo ...

design depicting Parton in a series of surreal, dream-like images, was designed by graphic artist

Ed Caraeff Ed Caraeff (born April 18, 1950) is an American photographer, illustrator and graphic designer, who has worked largely in the music industry. He has art directed, photographed and designed more than 400 record album covers from 1967 to 1981 for ...

, who had also designed the cover art for ''Here You Come Again''.

Recording

The album was recorded from March 7–10, 1978 at Sound Labs in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Release and promotion

The album was released July 17, 1978 on LP, 8-track, and

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 ...

Singles

" Heartbreaker" was released as the first single from the album in July 1978. It peaked at number one on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart, number 12 on the ''Billboard''

Adult Contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

, and number 37 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In Canada, the song peaked at number one on both the Country Singles Chart and the Adult Contemporary Chart. The single also peaked at number 41 in Australia. " It's Too Late to Love Me Now" was released as a single in late 1978 in South Africa. The release did not chart. " Baby I'm Burnin'" and " I Really Got the Feeling" were released as a double A-side single in November 1978. "Baby I'm Burnin'" was aimed at pop radio and peaked at number 25 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 11 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart, and number 48 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. The song also saw success in Canada, peaking at number 30 on the Singles Chart, number nine on the Adult Contemporary Chart, and number one on the Country Singles Chart. The single was also a top 40 hit in Australia, peaking number 34. A 12-inch disco remix single was issued titled ''Dance with Dolly'' featuring remixes of "Baby I'm Burnin'" and "I Wanna Fall in Love". "Baby I'm Burnin'" peaked at number 15 on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart. "I Really Got the Feeling" was aimed at country radio and peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart.

Additional promotion

For

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

1979, Parton saturated the media. She co-headlined the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

TV special '' Dolly & Carol in Nashville'' alongside Carol Burnett, and

RCA 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 A ...

provided over 3,000 radio stations with copies of the album and boxes of candies for giveaways. Only a snippet of the title song was performed on the special as part of a heart-themed medley. Participating radio stations designed their own promotions, which included call-in giveaways, drawings, a poetry contest, and one in which winners were assigned gender-specific prizes (candy for ladies, records for men).

Critical reception

The album received positive reviews from music critics. '' Billboard'' said that while "Parton continues to lean heavily towards the pop flavored song and delivery...there are subtle country textures and even one or two mainstream country songs." The review praised the album's upbeat songs and ballads as "executed in Parton's charming vocal manner." It went on to praise the album's material, calling Parton's own compositions "forceful", Gary Klein's production as "masterful," and the musicians "top notch." The review selected "I Really Got the Feeling", "Baby I'm Burnin'", "Heartbreaker", "We're Through Forever ('Til Tomorrow)", and "Nickels and Dimes" as the best cuts on the album. '' Cashbox'' also gave a positive review of the album. The review said the album "borders on perfection." While noting Parton's "deep roots sunk back in the hollows of East Tennessee," the review pointed out that "she is fast leaving country music." It went on to say that there isn't anything wrong with this, Parton is simply growing as an artist. The review closed by saying that "at this point, Dolly has to be considered a superstar in the largest sense." Zac Johnson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

gave the album four out of five stars. He felt that the album "showcases arton'sincreasing confidence beautifully."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 46 on the '' Billboard''

chart dated August 12, 1978. It peaked at number one on the chart dated September 9 where it remained for nine consecutive weeks. The album charted for a total of 45 weeks. It peaked at number 27 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart dated October 7. The album also topped the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Country Albums chart in Canada as well as peaking at number 20 on the ''RPM'' Top Albums chart. It also charted in Australia where it peaked at number 67. The album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on August 16, 1978 for shipment of 500,000 copies. It was certified Gold on December 1, 1978 by Music Canada for shipment of 50,000 copies. The album came in at number four on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums year-end chart in 1978 and number 10 on the 1979 chart.

Reissues

The album was reissued on CD by

Buddha Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foundin ...

in 1999 and 2002. It was released as a digital download on August 12, 2008.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes. Performance *Anita Ball – backing vocals *

Jeff Baxter Jeffrey Allen "Skunk" Baxter (born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, known for his stints in the rock bands Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers during the 1970s and Spirit in the 1980s. More recently, he has worked as a defense cons ...

– guitar synthesizer * Paulinho Da Costa – congas *Nick DeCaro – arrangements *Richard Dennison – backing vocals, duet vocals (track A3) *

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

– piano *Jim Gilstrap – backing vocals *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'', '' Rock with You'' ...

– trumpet * David Hungate – bass *Kim Hutchcroft – soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone *Augie Johnson – backing vocals *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...

– drums, special effects *Steve Madaio – trumpet *Myrna Matthews – backing vocals *Joe McGuffee – steel guitar * Michael Omartian – piano * David Paich – piano *

Dean Parks Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Albums Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher ...

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar *Dolly Parton – lead vocals *

Al Perkins Al Perkins (born January 18, 1944) is an American guitarist known primarily for his steel guitar work. The Gibson guitar company called Perkins "the world's most influential dobro player" and began producing an "Al Perkins Signature" Dobro in 2 ...

– pedal steel guitar *Gregg Perry – piano *

Mac Rebennack Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from t ...

– piano * Bill Reichenbach – trombone *Stephanie Spruill – backing vocals *Larry Williams – tenor saxophone, flute *

Angela Winbush Angela Lisa Winbush (born January 18, 1955) is an American R&B/soul singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who rose to fame first in the 1980s R&B duo René & Angela, also scoring hits as a solo artist. To date, Winbush has sold over ...

– backing vocals *David Wolfert – acoustic guitar, electric guitar Production *Nancy Atkins – production coordinator *Harry Bluestone – concert master *Frank DeCaro – album coordinator, music contractor *Nick DeCaro – string arrangements (tracks A1, A3, B3, B4) *Linda Gerrity – production coordinator *Jim Gilstrap – vocal coaching *Don Henderson – assistant engineer *

– horn arrangements (tracks A4, A5, B1, B2, B5) *

– executive producer * Gary Klein – producer *Dolly Parton – producer, rhythm arrangements (tracks A5, B3), vocal coaching *Gregg Perry – rhythm arrangements (tracks A3, B1, B5), string arrangements (track A2), vocal coaching *Armin Steiner – engineer, mixing *Linda Tyler – assistant engineer *David Wolfert – rhythm arrangements (tracks A1, A2 B2, B4) *Larry Williams – horn arrangements (tracks A4, A5, B1, B2, B5) Other personnel *

– art direction, photography, album design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Dolly Parton albums 1978 albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Gary Klein (producer)