''Before I'm Over You'' is a studio album 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, whil ...

singer-songwriter

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Ma ...

. It was released on June 22, 1964 via

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by 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 Decca's president. ...

and was produced by Owen Bradley. It was Lynn's second studio album issued in her recording career and contained a total of 12 tracks. Two songs from the record were released as a singles and became major hits 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 advertis ...

'' country chart: the title track and "

Wine, Women and Song "Wine, women, and song" is a hendiatris that endorses hedonistic lifestyles or behaviors. A more modern form of the idea is often expressed as " sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll", a phrase popularized by British singer Ian Dury in his son ...

." The album received positive reception from music publications after its release.

Background and content

''Before I'm Over You'' was Lynn's second studio album and second with the Decca label. Lynn had previously recorded and released singles for the

Zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation such as the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, 0 also serves as a placeholder numerical digit, which works by multiplying digits to the left of 0 by the radix, usu ...

label, which brought her first major hit in 1960. With the assistance of The Wilburn Brothers, Lynn signed with

in 1961 and released her first album with the label in 1963. Sessions for her second album took place between 1962 and 1964 at two separate studios in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

: the Bradley Studio and the Columbia Studio. All of the sessions were produced by Owen Bradley. The album consisted of 12 tracks. One of these tracks were self-composed by Lynn herself ("Where Were You") and another was composed by her husband ("This Haunted House.") The latter song was written about the death of

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Amon ...

, who was Lynn's good friend and mentor. Additional songs on the album were written by other songwriters and some had also been recorded previously. This included " Loose Talk," which was first a major country hit for Carl Smith. Also featured is a cover of

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although ...

's "My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You" and

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only ...

's " Fool No. 1." Lynn had originally recorded the demonstration tape of "Fool No. 1" before even being signed to Decca Records. Lynn's version was heard by producer Owen Bradley, who signed her to the record label shortly after receiving the demo recording. Lynn re-recorded the song for Decca for this release.

Release and reception

''Before I'm Over You'' was released on June 22, 1964 via Decca Records and was Lynn's second studio album released in her career. It was issued as a vinyl LP, containing six songs on each side of the record. ''Before I'm Over You'' became Lynn's second album release to also reach 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, peaking at number 11 in 1964. The album also included two singles that were previously released and became major hits. The first single to become a hit was the title track, which was released in October 1963. The song became Lynn's second top ten hit, reaching number four 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 sa ...

chart in 1964. "Wine, Women and Song" was released as the next single in April 1964, which reached number three on the ''Billboard'' country chart. ''Before I'm Over You'' received positive reviews upon its release. ''Billboard'' magazine gave it a favorable review in June 1964. "Loretta Lynn is a fine country artist. She sings with genuine feeling and honesty of approach," they wrote. In later years, the album received three out of five stars in a rating conducted by

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 dat ...

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 record sleeve, 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 n ...

of ''Before I'm Over You.'' Musical personnel * Harold Bradley – electric guitar *

Cecil Brower Cecil Lee Brower (November 28, 1914 – November 21, 1965) was a classically trained American jazz violinist who became an architect of Western swing in the 1930s. Perhaps the greatest swing fiddler, he could improvise as well as ''double shuff ...

– fiddle * Floyd Cramer – piano * Buddy Harman – drums * Don Helms –

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 ...

* Tommy Jackson – fiddle * The Jordanaires – background vocals *

Jerry Kennedy Jerry Glenn Kennedy (born 10 August 1940)Cusic, Don. (1998) "Jerry Kennedy". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, ed. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 277–278. is an American record producer, songwriter and guitar pl ...

– guitar *

– lead vocals *

Grady Martin Thomas Grady Martin (January 17, 1929 – December 3, 2001) was an American session guitarist in country music and rockabilly. A member of The Nashville A-Team, he played guitar on hits such as Marty Robbins' "El Paso", Loretta Lynn's " C ...

– electric guitar * Bob Moore – bass * Jack Pruett – electric guitar * Teddy Wilburn – guitar Technical personnel * Owen Bradley – producer * Hal Buksbaum – photography *

Johnny Mullins John Christopher Mullins (born 6 November 1985) is an English former professional footballer who primarily played as a centre-back. Mullins started his career with Reading, but it was during two separate loan spells with Kidderminster Harriers ...

– liner notes

Chart performance

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1964 albums Albums produced by Owen Bradley Decca Records albums Loretta Lynn albums